Anchored in Hope: Help for Loving Someone in AddictionSample

So what does it mean to be anchored in hope? You may be feeling completely hopeless to the point where there isn’t any hope left to be found. My prayer for this reading plan is that HOPE returns to your vocabulary.

The word “anchor” has many connotations, but they all resonate with the idea of security and stability. We all have anchors, but not all of those anchors hold fast when life’s roughest storms approach. Pandemics, sickness, job loss, addiction, prison, divorce, single parenting, raising grandkids… each of these storms can test our anchors and show them whether they have what it takes to provide the stability we rely on.

In the midst of my own journey of family addiction, I learned that, when I am not anchored down, things start to spin more and more out of control and get rougher.

Early in my husband’s addiction, I would come home each night and find him either be passed out in his chair or crying in bed. I truly believed this was what my life was going to be like for the rest of our lives. I was so un-anchored that I truly believed we would be living in misery forever, and I wanted out. I didn’t ever believe he would get better or that our marriage would be mended.

I was depressed, angry, unforgiving, lonely, uneasy, shameful, frustrated, sick, and HOPELESS. I was closing off my life to those who should’ve been closest: my best friends, my parents, my sister… I was jealous of what others had and didn’t ever believe it would happen for me. I truly didn’t believe I could ever be happy again or have any HOPE. I was just waiting and anticipating the time when the boat of my marriage would flip over and sink.

Then I discovered some true anchors and everything began to change. I had hope once more—even to the point where, when my husband relapsed, I was able to navigate that storm with much more hope in my heart.

Tomorrow, we’ll look more at some anchors you can have and how they need to point you toward hope. In the meantime, take some time today to write down the storms you’ve endured to this point (or may be currently enduring). Give a name to your trials.