I really, really hate alcohol and drugs.  I hate what abusing these substances does to lives.  If I really think about it for too long I can begin to feel rageful!  It’s even hard for me to be around people who drink socially at all.  I have that much disdain for it.  In light of all I’ve been through with my daugther’s addictions I guess it’s understandable.  I have had times where I jokingly told friends that I needed to have my own padded room in my home where I could go to safely vent these strong feelings!  What abusing alcohol and drugs can do to a life reminds me a lot of a hurricane or a tornado.  These powerful forces of nature cause terrible, unthinkable destruction, and often death.  They have the power to destroy lives, destroy families and relationships, destroy bodies and minds .   They destroy hopes and dreams for the future.  As parents, our hopes and dreams can be ruined by them, as well as whatever hopes and dreams our chidren may have had for themselves.

The dictionary definition of “destruction” = “The action or process of causing so much damage to something that it no longer exists or cannot be repaired.  Killing something.”   Pretty well sums it up, doesn’t it?  How many lives are ruined every year?  How many marriages ended?  How many men and women ended up in psych wards, rehabs or morgues?  How many killed in car accidents or suicides?  How many ended up homeless?  How many are under the age of 21?  Too many.

It makes me so angry and so sad.  It’s  horribly tragic.  Utterly heartbreaking.  Makes me feel so helpless.  Yet, I do have a choice what I will do with these feelings.  I can remain stuck feeling mad and sad and ultimately become an angry, bitter, depressed person —- or I can express the feelings (maybe to a counselor, in a support group, with a trusted friend, in a journal), get healthy (spiritually, emotionally and physically) myself and  keep moving forward on my own journey.  I choose to let my trials become my teachers.  My stepping stones.  I will learn what I can from the heartaches of this life and focus on being grateful.  Then these things will lose their power over me.  The hurricanes and tornados won’t destroy me, too.  I won’t become another victim.

No,  I’ve never had a problem with alcohol or drugs myself, but witnessing what they have done to my daughter could have destroyed me . . . if I let it.    What will you do with the destruction the hurricanes and tornados of your child’s life have brought into your life?

I like how this Bible verse speaks about learning from our adversities and afflictions.  He will direct us through it!

“Although the Lord gives the bread of adverstiy and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them.  Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’ ”  (Isaiah 30:20-21)

A great book that helped me so much was When I Lay My Isaac Down by Carol Kent.  You can order it for FREE today for your kindle and it is available at amazon!  I think it is only free today for your kindle.  It is a must have for any one facing unthinkable tragedies in their life!  God will meet you in it, take you through it and even bring good out of it!