From Cherri Freeman
As I sat here thinking about what to include in this newsletter, I reflected on the reasons that Love Them To Life exists. They are as follows:
1. To bring glory to God. This is His ministry. The goal will always be to point people to the true hope, which is Jesus Christ.
2. To provide support for those who are dealing with a loved one in addiction. The weight of watching someone you love destroy themselves is staggering, and so we need each other.
3. To educate. There is so much misinformation about addiction under the guise of tradition and/or "evidence-based treatment," and it is easy to listen to the louder voices when it comes to addiction. However, when the basic presuppositions about addiction are flawed, treatment based on them rarely, if ever, works. We are seeing statistics that are hard to imagine: over 100,000 people died of drug overdose in 2021. That does not take into account those who died from alcohol-related issues, which is approximately 95,000 per year.
The LTTL support groups continue to meet in various locations. I lead the Monday night Zoom meeting and am blessed to have women from many locations join the group on a regular basis. We learn, laugh, cry, and learn together what it means to have our identity firmly rooted in Jesus Christ so that no matter what happens with our loved ones, we can get well. I also continue to take calls from women who need one-on-one coaching in this area.
The book Beside Still Waters: Discovering Peace in the Midst of Your Child's Addiction continues to impact lives. When I went to a writers' conference in February, I was shocked to learn that selling 300 books is considered a success. I am so grateful that the book has sold over 1,500 copies, which translates into many lives who have found hope and help through it. All of the profits of the book over the years have gone into supporting the ministry. If you know someone who could be helped by it, it is available on Amazon.
One of the big projects for this year was writing a second book that is a more general and deeper discussion of addiction in order to combat the misinformation that is so prevalent about the subject. What someone believes about addiction matters. The new book is nearing completion and will be titled Set Free: Finding Truth and Hope When a Loved One is Addicted.
The following is an excerpt from the new book:
"I thought I knew addiction. But I didn’t. Or rather, I knew about addiction but did not truly understand it until the lives of two of my children were threatened by it. I naively thought that growing up at America’s Keswick and having my kids live or spend much time there would addiction-proof them. It didn’t. As a result of much pain in their lives, some of which I take responsibility for, they made very destructive choices that could easily have ended their lives. I am profoundly thankful that both are doing well now, and the experience launched me into the ministry of Love Them To Life, which was never on the radar of my life plans (want to make God laugh? Tell Him your plans!). Did I ever want to know what it would be like to see my son in handcuffs or visit him in jail for months? Most emphatically no! Did I want to see my beautiful daughter looking like a skeleton due to her cocaine use? Never! But if you ask me if I know addiction these days, the answer would be “yes” and for a good reason this time.
"While I have not personally been enslaved to a substance, I understand being enslaved in other ways, including enabling destructive behavior because I did not know any better. God has taught me the very hard lessons so that the readers of this book have the opportunity to learn them in an easier way. His heart for us is that, no matter what happens to our loved ones who are in addiction, we can get well. We do not need to be enslaved to past mistakes and pain, to present turmoil and ineffective strategies to change our loved ones, and to fear of what could happen in the future. The enemy wants to kill, steal, and destroy us and those we love. But he doesn’t get to win. Jesus does."
Financial support to this ministry can given online at https://lovethemtolife.com/donate . Contributions can also be sent by mail through Grace Fellowship International, P.O. Box 368, Pigeon Forge, TN 37868. (Please mark clearly that the donation is for Love Them To Life.)
Your prayer and financial support for Love Them To Life is greatly appreciated.