Dear recovering addict,

I know when you were just a young boy playing in the dirt with your Tonka trucks, baseball cap, and small boo boo’s on your knees you never imagined living the hell you’ve been the past several years. My heart hurts knowing you’ve involuntarily volunteered yourself to endure some of the most darkest times of your life. I know one day that small boy had real dreams the size of this universe and a smile that really lit up this world, the real and natural kind, and the kind without a drug induced body. What happened? It’s not fair that this dark and fallen world seemed to capture some of the most young and prime years of your life; it's not fair satan stole so much happiness, youth, and health from you and our family. It's not fair it seems I hardly know you anymore, but dear recovering addict I have always hoped for you, prayed for you, and loved you unconditionally, despite how hard it has been.

Dear recovering addict,

I know the destructive behaviors were not you; they were not the dear soul God created within you. I know when you were at your worst, in your most narcotic state of mind, when you were held imprisoned, we were the enemy and you were rational. I understand these drugs took you from us and stole away your heart, soul, and mind. They made you do things you never would’ve thought you’d do in your life; they made you commit crimes you wish not even to dream about. The drugs manipulated and self-destructed the soul inside of you, it forged a monster we seemed to not relate with. This monster made us hate it with full hatred at times, with full anguish and disgust. The thing is, that monster was never you. I know that.

Drugs: they take what doesn’t belong to them; they hide and steal what was never theirs in the first place. They hurt people that never wanted anything to do with them; they damage and intend to destroy the weak and vulnerable, the broken and shattered, hoping to break them down completely. Hoping to tend to their sorry and sorrow state, hoping to relinquish the person they are to the unrecognizable death like version most cannot stand to bear. They will kill you and kill those around you who love you the most. Drugs steal from the poor and the rich; they take from the powerful and powerless, the young and the old. They live in schools, towns, churches, families, and marriages, ripping them apart. Their greatest purpose and deepest desire is to hold your soul hostage, commanding you to abandon everyone and everything you ever loved. They prey on you selling your soul. Drugs: they take what doesn’t belong to them; they hide and steal what was never theirs in the first place.

Dear recovering addict,

You are no different than any of the rest of us in that we all struggle and fight off demons that try and destroy us. Yes, some of us have to put on some extra armor and fight harder than others, but not any single one of us has what it takes to take on this world without our Father in heaven.

This world contains an immense amount of darkness in various forms and mannerisms that some find harder to overcome. Some turn to a monster they never anticipated would eat them alive the way it has; internally, physically, spiritually, and in every way physically and metaphorically possible.

Dear addict, and those in recovery, that needle in your arm is never going to sustain the realm and rush of pleasure and contentment you feel in that moment. Those pills are never going to fulfill your greatest desires or truest ambitions; I do promise they will however destroy, lie, and kill all that is good. I promise with my whole heart. That’s their work here and that’s what they do best. They will take your money, your future, your children’s future, and your innermost hopes and dreams. They will become your god and demand you worship them with highest honor furthering more destruction and ravish of your body. You will inevitably sacrifice your all for them. You will die for them.

Dear addict,

Know that you are loved,

Know that despite what these drugs have stolen from you, despite what they’ve had you do, regardless of who you became, or how they’ve made you feel, they never really won.

Know they never fully took you away; they never entirely stole your soul because you’re still here with a fight and a purpose.

Know that those people never stopped seeing you for who you were created to be, they never stopped loving you for who you really are and who you really want to be.

Dear addict,

Please keep fighting.

He has great plans and a purpose.

You’re still here, and you’ve won.

Dear addict,

Please know you’re loved.

****PLEASE keep loving those who are fighting this battle,

& if you are a user, please keep fighting & loving yourself enough to get help.

https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/treatment...

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