Pastor and professor John Vawter and coach and athletic director Joe Broeker share their powerful testimonies of heartache and hope for families affected by addiction.

 “One thing stood solid over and over and over and that is the value to love our daughter.” – Joe Broeker

Joe has often heard that, as Christians, we are supposed to love the sinner but hate their sin. The transformation he went through was discovering that he needed to love the sinner but hate his own sin.

Although he had a deep hatred for the abuse of alcohol and any other substance that a person could abuse, he learned to not focus on his daughter’s illness, but on who she was in the eyes of Christ.

As John’s daughter was going through treatment, he learned valuable lessons along the way, including how to demonstrate tough love.

 “I learned that from a drug counselor who said ‘you have to let pain do its work.'” – John Vawter

As tough as it is to let go, there are times when we need to allow our family members to go through their own affliction until they come to a point when they are ready to surrender their will over to God.

We learn about the challenges within the family that may arise, but also are reminded that we never have to do it alone.

 “I believe parents or family members really need to move together so that tough love, letting pain do its work, can work.”

It doesn’t work if a mother is being tough but the father is slipping the child another five dollar bill here and there. Parents have to decide together and say ‘we are going to express this tough love.’

He also shares a story of a friend who recently told him that their daughter was in an abusive marriage. They tried to help her but she said no. Subsequently, the mother said it was so difficult to back up and let their daughter be hurt.  It wasn’t until she was willing to come to ask for help and to come back to God that any true transformation could take place. Vawter adds that it sounds as though it lacks mercy but in fact it is merciful.

 “Until a person is willing to say, ‘God I need you’ there’s nothing we can do to help them.” – John Vawter

Highlight: The transformation

Families affected by addiction