Building In Christ

03/31/2026

Habitat for Humanity Servant's Heart Ministry very insightful

Your Walls Grow Mold. This $1 Fix Stops It FOREVER!Mold is silently growing inside millions of homes, often hidden behind drywall where you’ll never see it u...

01/18/2026

11/23/2025

Recently, we brought someone to a long-term, faith-based recovery program. This was a big step for this person, and you could even say getting her to this point was a miracle. God opened many doors.

However, before I was even home, I started receiving messages from well meaning friends and relatives.

* "I'd like to check up on her."

*"Can I visit?"

*"Do you think she can get out for Thanksgiving? - You know, just for the day?"

*"What about Christmas?"

Holidays are especially hard for friends and relatives of people in long-term, faith-based recovery programs. What will people think of them? How will they explain the absence?

This info helped me when a family member was in a program:

* Consider if you had a relative in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) in the hospital. Would you ever consider taking them out - even for a day? A recovery program is like ICU.

* During the first month of treatment, there are usually no visits - even (especially) on holidays. The person getting treatment needs to become acclimated to their new environment. Visits may make both parties homesick and may make your loved one want to leave the program.

* It usually takes a long time (sometimes years) for an individual to seek help. It will also take a while for them to unpack the pain and trauma that brought them there. Just because a person is sober physically, doesn't mean they're ready to go home.

While your loved one is in treatment, you also should consider getting support. You may have developed unhealthy behaviors while living with someone who was addicted. Groups like Families Anonymous, Al Anon, Celebrate Recovery and Desire 4 Hope's Monday night support group: Christian Freedom from Addictions are all extremely helpful.

The holidays are especially tough when your family doesn't match up to the world's ideal. But there is hope. And it's not us. It's Jesus.

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."
~Galations 5:1

10/31/2025

This is genius

10/29/2025

09/03/2025

08/25/2025

05/20/2025

This is a sad reality