The Heart of Recovery: How Compassion and Community Offer Hope in the Wake of Addiction by Deborah and David Beddoe:

This is  probably my last book review of the year; The Heart of Recovery: How Compassion and Community Offer Hope in the Wake of Addiction by Deborah and David Beddoe:

As a member of THE SUBSTANCE ABUSE COMMUNITY FORCE in Volusia County, I’m very happy to find such an in-depth book on the subject of addiction. Yes, it takes a community to help bring sanity back into lives that have gone long astray.

I loved what Dave said in Chapter Two, Reviving Compassion, “In its simplest form, recovery is a return to health.” He went on to say, “RECOVERY TAKES TIME.”

“People don’t get into addiction overnight. It can happen through a series of poor choices, or it can happen through a series of legal prescriptions, or both. It took time to dig the hole and it will take time to get out. The damage you’ve done in your addiction doesn’t go away when you stop using. It takes time to mend relationships, rebuild homes and careers. It takes time to form new habits and to put into practice new ways of coping with stress or grief. It takes time to recognize and process underlying issues. It takes time to regain trust---and to trust. And it takes time to get back on your feet financially. Recovery is learning how to live without the drug or drink that has helped you get by for so long at the same time as you are trying to build a healthier life.”

Deborah writes from the position of the mate, who is supportive, yet going through the pain also, the dilemma of a marriage that didn’t turn out to be what she’d signed up for. She talks about it getting worse before it got better. She prayed the prayer that many mates, parents and other loved ones end up praying, the prayer of surrender. In her own words, “I finally set everything out before God; Do your will, whatever it takes to heal him. And I prayed, God if he’s using, don’t let him get away with it. And then I let go.”

As a family member of loved ones with addictions, I’ve sometimes prayed that prayer of surrender daily, putting my loved ones on the altar of God. And yes, that there is a spiritual component to recovery is major for me, and it is stressed in this book. They portray Christians who are not perfect but who keep trying.

There is a wealth of resources mentioned and something I’ve never seen before, but loved, A TENTATIVE CHART OF ALCOHOL ADDICTION AND RECOVERY.

I received this book free of charge from Revell Reads in exchange for my honest review.

https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Recovery-Compassion-Community-Addiction/dp/0800736559/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8