Have you ever watched someone you love struggle through addiction? Or perhaps you were the one with an addiction and saw the devestating impact it had on those who loved you most? How do you heal, on either side of an addiction?

For Geoffrey Banks, a youthful curiousity turned into years long struggle with drug addiction while his father, James, endured the pain of watching his son walk through so much self-inflicted pain. Now, years later, Geoffrey is sober and has followed his father's footsteps into ministry. Both serve as pastors and they've taken their heartbreaking journey through the pain of addiction and shared their story with others who are on a similar path, either as the adult child or the parent. Together, they shared what they've walked through in their book, Hope Lies Ahead: Encouragement for Parents of Prodigals from a Family that’s Been There. Addiction can feel relentless with one step forward and three steps back, but Geoffrey and James prove that through Christ true healing can come.

In this episode, Davey talks with Geoffrey and James about the spiritual warfare that can take place amidst addictive struggles, how to love well those who wrestle with addiction, how our journey with Jesus doesn't always look neat and tidy, and the role identity can play in our pain and our healing.

Whether you've walked through an addiction or know someone who has, this conversation will remind you that even when things seem bleak, hope can restore even the most broken stories.

Every parent looks into the eyes of their young child with hopeful anticipation for their future. What do you do when the dreams you had seem to shatter and you find your relationship with your child not what you had imagined? How do you continue to love well when their choices are taking them down a road of relational disconnection, personal pain or destruction?

Through her own parenting journey and by watching others, Mary DeMuth has learned how to surrender her ideas of what should be and lean into what is when it comes to her children. In fact, her most recent book, Love, Pray, Listen: Parenting Your Wayward Adult Kids with Joy, is a guide to help any parent navigating the murky waters of parenting adult children who have chosen a path contrary to what was hoped for.

As a sexual abuse survivor, Mary had to learn how to parent well while healing from her own story. She also had to learn to trust God in the messiness of her own children's stories and not to parent out of fear, but instead rely on God's love for her kids to be enough. By looking at Scripture and the first example of wayward children in the Garden of Eden, Mary has found comfort and solace in knowing that God not only sees her pain, but also understands the journey she is on.

In this raw conversation, Mary and Davey talk about how our healing can often come through our giftings, why formulas don't work in parenting and the power of surrendering our kids and their journeys to the loving care of the Lord.

No matter where you are in parenting, this episode will help you remember that ultimately God is in control of your children's lives and that no matter what, He cares for them and for you.