Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Book Review - Praying For Your Addicted Loved One - 90 In 90

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Watching someone you love self-destruct hurts.

Praying for Your Addicted Loved One: 90 in 90 tugs at the reader's heart in 90 days of candid devotions aimed at offering strength, hope, and encouragement to families in the throes of living with an addicted family member. Families get left behind in the recovery process, but their support is crucial. Realizing you are not alone in your family's struggles brings comfort and confidence to face day-by-day challenges. Reflection prompts and spaces for journaling encourage the reader to pen their thoughts on the verses and devotions. Each day's entry ends with a prayer.

The Cosbys, a middle-class family, lived the nightmare of addiction with their son for 18 years. Their lives were turned inside out and upside down as his dependence on painkillers escalated. The descent into a living hell challenged their faith as the addiction claimed more and more control. Sharron's middle-of-the-night reading of Jeremiah 30 and 31 changed the course of their lives and restoration became a reality.

The overall message of Praying for Your Addicted Loved One conveys hope to families caught in the addiction cycle. The various stages of the disease: abuse, recovery, and relapse, take their toll. Hopelessness grabs a family's heart and wrings it out with each slip of clean or sober time. The verses in Jeremiah 30 and 31, the foundation of the book, offer the promise of restoration and redemption.

90 in 90 reflects the 12 Step model of an addict attending 90 meetings in 90 days. While your loved one attends meetings, you will read a daily devotional to lend spiritual support to your addict.

"Today I pray for other lost addicts to find the hope of recovery. I pray the families reading this book will continue to have hope that an addict---any addict---can stop using drugs and find a new way to live. If there is one thing I can say to family members it is, never quit fighting. There is always hope. With hope, I---a once hopeless dope addict---am now a dope-less hope addict." ~Josh Cosby


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sharron Cosby is married to Dan, a Certified Addiction Professional, and together they have three adult children and five grandchildren. She works for an international charity by day and writes by night. Her passion is to share God's message of hope, strength, and encouragement with families living in the shadow of addiction.

Learn more about Sharron here: http://efamilyrecovery.com/


MY REVIEW:

I read this book in one evening and was so encouraged by each and every page. I don't have an addicted family member, but I really loved how this book gave so much information, Scriptures and hope for the family with an addicted loved one. 

This is rather set up like a devotional in that it starts with a Scripture then she shares in a paragraph or two, then there is a daily prayer. Finally, there is a full page with place for reflection which includes a place for you to journal. I think this is so helpful to put your thoughts onto paper as you reflect on what she is sharing.

Sharron shares about her own family struggles as they watched their son, Josh, spiral down into addiction. There were some really heart-breaking stories and I could just feel the pain that she and her family went through as they watched their son fight this horrible monster that threatened to take him down forever.  She also shares what to watch for in our children and the signs of the beginnings of trouble. Friends are also touched on - making sure your children have friends that are not into drugs or alcohol and dragging your child into their addictive world. 

I love how she really focuses on Jeremiah 30 and 31. I was so encouraged by her in-depth study of these Scriptures. She brings out things that I never really saw in these Scriptures and they have now become new favorites. 

If you have a child or loved one that fighting addiction, I highly recommend this book. It will encourage you and give you the help you need to pray them through it. It will also encourage you because when they are fighting it, so are you, and it's not an easy road at all. This would also be a great book for counselors or church leaders that are doing counseling. I think it would be especially great for youth leaders to read this so they could be aware of the signs of addiction. They would also benefit by knowing how to pray for the youth and family of an addicted young person. This is an excellent book to add to your library!

*This book was provided to me for my honest review by LitFuse Publicity Group

You can read more reviews of this book HERE


 


Blessings - Julie

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please leave me a message! I love hearing what you have to say and look forward to your comments.