Faith Filled Family Magazine August 2016 | Page 84

look back again if he didn’t give
me the strength to. It is ironic
that I am writing this article on
July 4th because in reality, I have
found my independence through
God. He set me free on Dec.
26, 2007. That was my Independence Day! That was the day
that changed my life forever!
Of course there is a whole lot
more to my story than this, but
I wanted to hit some points to
show that addictions are a family
problem not just an addict problem. Addictions affect the whole
family not just the addict. I hope
and pray that people from all
sides of addictions can read
this article and realize there is
hope. If you are an addict, there
is hope. If your family member
is an addict, there is still hope.
Never give up hope until they
leave this earth, because you
just never know.

ried for over 13 years and stronger than ever. We have a 4 ½
year old son who is everything to
us and we both know that if God
didn’t step in with my addictions
I may be dead right now and we
would not be together today. We
would also not have Lil’ Chris,
so there is life after addictions.
Once you have been clean for a
while, you start to see the world
differently and you start to see a
world of possibilities instead of
life through an addict’s eyes!

One of our passions in life is to
see marriages heal. That is why
we feel that God healed me so
that we can eventually speak
on this topic to churches and
conventions. That part is in our
future. God will always use your
hard times to change the lives of
others. We know that is where
God is leading us in this day and
time. Doors haven’t opened up
yet for that, but we know one
Sandy and I now have been mar- day they will. When they do, we

are willing to walk through those
doors!
As I said, there is a whole lot
more to my story. I left out so
many things but I think you get
the point.
Chris Benton
Web: TheChrisBenton.com
FB: @TheChrisBenton
Twitter: @TheChrisBenton
I am Chris Benton. I run a Christian Blog and am launching a
marriage ministry because God’s
purpose for mine and my wife’s
life is to help marriages. I have
been writing for several years
now and have found a great
passion in writing, so because of
that I am writing a book on my 19
years of addictions that I finally
walked away from over 8 years
ago! I have also started creating
short video messages.