Aloha! I’m Melanie.

If you’re here, then we have several things in common. We both love someone who struggles with addiction. We both recognize that we are losing ourselves in the battle. And we both believe that God is our only hope.

I’ve been where you are now. You’re in God’s waiting room. I’ve waited years for God to do a miracle in my loved one. Seventeen long years to be exact. But, I didn’t wait well for the first fifteen.

While my world became unceasingly chaotic, I doubted God, I took matters into my own hands, and I caved in to ungodly thoughts and reactions. I listened to the world and took a fight or flight approach - fight with the addict until his behavior changed or leave him. Jail, seven rehabs, numerous outpatient programs, and ultimatums didn’t compel him to stay clean. 

Over the years the only person who changed was me. I became resentful, wrecked with fear, wearied, and spiraled into depression. What was left in the wake of an everyday battle with his addiction was a woman broken, struggling with her own identity and worth making unhealthy choices. Hardly the warrior in the war against addiction.

The problem was clear: I loved someone I didn’t know how to help and I was losing myself in the fight.

So I took the only option I had left - I surrendered. I asked God to do what only He could do. I came to accept that I couldn’t change, fix, or save my loved one. I realized it wasn’t my job in the first place, it was God’s. My job was to put my trust in God, obey His voice, and to love him where he’s at.

So for two years that’s what I did. I no longer focused on my husband but fixed my eyes on God. And instead of the fight-or-flight approach, I took a stand. I stood on the promises of God. And that’s when the miracle came.

After twenty years of drug addiction and by God’s grace, my husband got clean and sober and I’ve been praising God ever since!

What God has done for me and my husband, He can do for you and your loved one! And that’s why I’m here. To tell you that your loved one can recover, that you can heal too and become the best version of yourself, and that God can redeem and restore your broken past.

I struggled for years on my own. The programs that were available at that time for the family members just didn’t feel right. I left meetings even more hopeless and in despair. But today there is a treatment program that empowers the loved ones to motivate change in the one who struggles with addiction.

It offers a new perspective, equips you with powerful communication and behavioral tools, provides different treatment options, shows you how to take better care of yourself, and teaches you the skills to make peace with the things you cannot change.

It’s called Invitation to Change (ITC) and I am a certified ITC recovery coach. I’m passionate about helping families through this amazing program that takes science and kindness, then I add faith to the mix. I’d love to help you!

This is what Hope Releasers is all about! It’s a faith-based community where we share hope and encouragement, become a refuge to others, and learn the skills, tools, and strategies to help the ones we love end their addiction.

You’re not alone, I’m here for you. We all are. Let’s recover with hope together.

Standing on God’s Promises for You and Yours,