My last blog post regarding Relapse at Christmas seemed to hit the hearts of many. My blog hits, hit an all time high yet when I wrote it on that difficult morning I never anticipated that it would bring me Hope from a Stranger.
The email came from a known source telling me someone wanted to talk with me about my article. The phone number was in the email, I responded saying I would reach out to them in the morning. I made the call tentatively; cold calls have never been my forte. The voice on the other end was that of an older male, his voice a bit gruff sounding, yet calming and gentle.
As he shared his story with me I was taken aback. This man had every right to be held captive in grief and bitterness, yet he offered me Hope. You see he lost his son to the battle of addiction. His son’s life snuffed out at the hands of an overdose.
How is it he is now offering me hope?
I have found encouragement from parents whose children are making it down the road to Recovery, and from friends who only know addiction from the distance. Both have come along side me, to hold me up at times. Yet this source of Hope blew me away. As I spoke further with him I discovered what His hope was based on; this man knew the One who brings Hope. He shared his faith with me, his faith that even though his son was gone, he knew his strength and source of joy comes from God alone.
He went on to tell me about another family member who has made it out of the grasp of addiction, how he had witnessed many who made it past its snare. He shared story after story and gifted me with a Fresh batch of Hope. My spirit was lifted by this stranger, whose heart was filled with Hope. He had every right to be in despair over his loss, over what this Crisis of Epic proportions has done to his immediate family. Yet he reached out and offered Hope instead.
May I challenge you as we come into this New Year to do the same? To find ways to look beyond your despair, your loss, and reach out to someone else who may need a new portion of Hope. I challenged my new friend, now no longer a stranger to keep doing what he was doing. There are many of us who need his strength and his gift of Hope.
A Mothers Heart 
Thank you!!!
I am still in awe!!