May 2017 Newsletter

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A Mother’s Day Message

Emily’s mother had an addiction problem that poured into her life too. Poor supervision and a lack of intervention caused the daughter to follow the mother’s bad example. Emily sought relief in the same substance that was causing the problem she wanted to escape. She said, “I started weed at 15; it was the in thing to do. I was emotionally unstable in life, back and forth between my mom and grandma. I was looking for my grounding. I was very shy, smoking weed made me socially acceptable. I got to hang out with everybody. It numbed me to escape reality.” At the same young age, she started using meth, another party drug. She said, “I just wanted to try it; everyone else was doing it.”

Twenty years have elapsed since that fateful plunge into a destructive lifestyle. In the wake of that time lie cycles of addiction and freedom, on again-off again relationships, employment and dependence, and motherhood. Emily has three children, (left to right in photo) James (10), Brianna (15) and Seanna (12), with periods of having custody of them and not. The grandmother’s behavior has now affected the third generation.

A few years ago, Emily stayed at Samaritan Inn for seven months. She said, “It is a safe place, has boundaries, structure, accountability, and reconnected me to God.” She remembered the roots of her grandma taking her to church and the presence of the Lord through her troubled life. Oh for the fourth generation to now have the same Christian motherly influence. When she left here, she experienced years of success in uniting her family, clean and sober living, employment and housing. Then a series of events set progress back. When her son got sick, she stayed home with him, because he was her priority. She lost her job, then her housing. She is now back here once more. She said, “I feel so blessed to have this place. It is important to know that my kids have a safe bed to sleep. All the staff and programmers are always giving of themselves. Its like walking into a family. I cannot wait to get my own place, but this is a great middle ground to be.”

Samaritan Inn is helping to stop the generational cycle of abuse. Mothers and children alike benefit from the model here of a healthy society. This is a controlled environment that allows people to develop new thought patterns and plan a future. For many, it is a new experience to be out of a subculture of addiction and abuse. It is an introduction to wholesome living and the Word of God. Independence is far better than the destructive nature of codependent relationships that were formed only for the sake of acceptance or survival. One can actually thrive and enjoy it!

Mother’s Day is set aside as a time to honor mothers for their very important role. There is no complete substitute for mom when a child has known his or her mom and she is fit. The family unit is a special, close bond like no other. And keeping all the siblings together provides comfort, stability, belonging, identity. Lifelong memories are made. Intact families ideally function as a unit, not as individuals focused on themselves. They look after the well-being of one another, then the world around them.