• About Me
  • Being Brave Retreat
  • Invitation

Grace Notes

~ Be Brave, Love Big

Grace Notes

Tag Archives: addiction

Broken Places, Healing Spaces

18 Thursday Feb 2016

Posted by Kelly Johnson in #LiveFree Thursday, Brave, Faith, Grace, Link ups, mental health, Social Work, The Lamb Center

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

#livefreethursday, addiction, mental health, The Lamb Center

serenitychipI will always wonder if I did everything I could to save him.

I sat in the coffee shop with my new friend talking about our mutual love for the day shelter for homeless individuals where we both volunteer. As we shared our stories, I discovered we were drawn to this unique place of grace and mercy for some of the same reasons. Like me, she had a family member who battled addiction. Like me, she had helplessly watched someone she loved deeply hurtling head long down the path of self-destruction. Like me, something about this holy place brought healing to the broken places left behind.

When Daddy died in 2008, I wrote about the complicated messy reality of saying goodbye to my intelligent, charismatic, loving, tragic hero of a father. In spite of multiple treatments for his illness, he could never escape the demons which haunted him and ultimately killed him. My siblings and I, along with his parents and his multiple wives, begged, cajoled, scolded, ranted and cried hoping to convince him to stop drinking and take care of himself. We alternately tried to take control of his life and left him to fend for himself in our efforts to persuade him to do what he needed to do to get better. Ultimately, I couldn’t stand by and watch him bring about his own destruction and my contact with him in the last decade was strained and infrequent. He called on Thanksgiving, 3 days before his death, but I was too busy preparing the holiday meal and told him I would call him back later. I never spoke with him again. Continue reading →

Sharing is caring! Please share!

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 954 other followers

Be My FB Friend

Be My FB Friend

Popular Posts

  • Even More and Hungry Wolves
    Even More and Hungry Wolves
  • A Spacious Place
    A Spacious Place
  • Hope for the Perishing
    Hope for the Perishing
  • When You Really Need a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace
    When You Really Need a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace
  • Choosing Grace
    Choosing Grace

Huffington Post Contributor

The Glorious Table Contributor

She Speaks Graduate

#LiveFree Thursday Contributor

The Mighty Contributor

The Mighty Contributor

Compel Training Member

I am a member of COMPEL Training

Bible Gateway Grid Member

Recent Posts

  • We’ve Moved!! February 28, 2017
  • Head Shots and Other Grown Up Things February 7, 2017
  • Praying with our Feet: #Why I March January 19, 2017
  • Partnering with God in Your Calling January 17, 2017
  • The Perfect Audience: A Theology of Drama Mamas January 13, 2017

Things I Write About

#LiveFree Thursday Advent and Christmas Blogs Books Brave Creativity Current Affairs Drama/ Theater Empty Nest Faith Family Friday Five Gardens and Flowers Grace Guest Blogger Justice Lent Link ups Love and Marriage Missions Music My hair Parenting People I Admire Politics procrastination Random Musings Recommended Reading Scripture Social Work Speaking Ministry Teenagers The Church The Glorious Table The Lamb Center Things that make me laugh Throwback Thursday Weather Women Writing

Keyword Search

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
%d bloggers like this: