100+ articles, episodes, and guides for families, church leaders, and anyone walking this road.
When your child is far from home and you don't know what to say, what to pray, or how to hold on — these letters are for you.
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80% of the calls we received at our residential program came from families, not the person struggling. So we rebuilt everything around that truth. Here's what's new at SVTC.info and JustinFranich.com.
Sometimes the phrases we reach for feel thin. Not false… just thin. This is what it sounds like to believe God has a plan and still sit in the ache of timing, loss, and questions that don’t resolve.
Over two decades after its founding, Shenandoah Valley Teen Challenge is transitioning from residential programming back to a community-based recovery model rooted in its original mission.
Aaron Gordon grew up in Washington, DC when it was known as the murder capital of the world—and he wasn’t “supposed” to make it. Instead, he defied every expectation, graduated from West Point, and built a military career. At 54, he’s still discovering the layers of identity and purpose God placed in him.
A tribute to my father, Rev. John Franich founder of Shenandoah Valley Teen Challenge and the quiet, faithful obedience that helped break a cycle in our family and restore hundreds of lives.
You did the hard work—got clean, rebuilt trust, started making progress. So why do you still feel anxious and restless? This post breaks down the difference between the world’s peace and God’s peace, and why only one can actually restore your soul.
A personal account of early addiction, the moment of collapse that led to help, and how identity and discipleship shaped life after getting clean.
Wade shares his journey from childhood exposure to pornography through years of bondage and into lasting freedom through Scripture, fasting, and spiritual warfare.
An overview of the Rebuilding Life After Addiction framework and the Prodigal Son roadmap of identity, authority, and mission beyond sobriety.
Many people reach sobriety yet remain trapped in shame, performance, and spiritual exhaustion. This article explores the deeper journey from being clean to experiencing true freedom through grace, surrender, and relationship with Christ.
Nobody told me recovery might hurt worse than addiction. At 3 AM with drug dreams and racing thoughts, I was mad at myself, mad at everyone, and angry at God. The pain almost broke me before I realized it was actually healing me.
How to welcome your loved one home from treatment without enabling them—practical wisdom on communication, trust, and treating your adult child like an adult
A reflection on the older brother in Luke 15 and how faithfulness, resentment, and grace often collide in recovery families.
Discover the practical systems that sustain long-term freedom after addiction. 33 years of combined recovery experience reveals what actually works.
What you lost to addiction, God can restore through your children. Here is how your story becomes their inheritance.
Most people relapse after treatment, not during it. This article explores what the first year of life after rehab actually looks like and why sobriety is only the starting point.
Sometimes sharing your addiction story with your kids does more harm than good. Here is how to know if you are ready, and what to do if you are not.
How much should you tell your kids about your past? A guide for parents in recovery on sharing your story wisely, protecting innocence, and building trust.
Silence isn't peace. It's permission. Learn why confronting sin in your brother is the most loving thing you can do.
You can forgive someone and still set boundaries. Understanding the difference between releasing bitterness and inviting harm back in.
Real forgiveness requires uncomfortable conversations. Learn why avoiding confrontation keeps both you and your brother stuck in sin.
When your loved one breaks their promise again, how do you avoid bitterness? Learn why offenses are inevitable but being offended is a choice—and how Joseph's story shows us the path to forgiveness.
On paper, Ben Fuller had everything going for him. Captain of the football team. A work ethic that could outpace anyone his age. A childhood on a beautiful Vermont dairy farm surrounded by mountains, early mornings, and honest labor. But inside, he was drowning.
When ministry was thriving and family was healthy, depression hit hardest. I hid upstairs during my daughter's birthday party, unable to face the joy below. These 20 Bible verses became lifelines when well-meaning advice failed and shame crushed harder.
After years away, Ashley and I are returning to Shenandoah Valley Teen Challenge as Directors. The place where we served from 2007-2019 shaped us, and now God is bringing us full circle to continue the legacy my father built.
Can a marriage thrive when one spouse comes from addiction and the other doesn't? Ashley Franich shares 15 years of saying "yes" to God—from marrying someone fresh out of Teen Challenge to leading women through recovery to foster care and beyond
Addiction leaves deep relational wounds, but Scripture offers a clear path toward healing. This article outlines five biblical steps for restoring broken relationships through humility, boundaries, forgiveness, and patient faithfulness.
Struggling with a lack of hope while dealing with a loved one's addiction? Discover how God can transform your broken pieces into a beautiful masterpiece and why accepting Christ's forgiveness is the first step toward moving forward.
You didn't sign up for this. But here you are, raising your grandchildren while your child battles addiction. Here's how to find strength, hope, and grace for the journey.
A raw and honest conversation with the team from Eddie James Ministries about calling, obedience, addiction, trauma, and the real cost of following God. This episode explores why sobriety is only the beginning, how accountability and submission lead to lasting freedom, and how God redeems brokenness into purpose.
Two pulls off a cigarette after six months clean. It wasn't about nicotine—it was about breaking agreement with a master that had ruled my life for years. Confession brought mercy. And I've never smoked since.
Hope deferred makes the heart sick—not discouraged, sick. When all your energy funnels into one person who keeps rejecting help, hope drains away. Sometimes God restores hope not by changing them, but by widening your world again.
You were counting down the days. Then it happened—a broken promise, that familiar look. What was meant to restore you now feels stolen. Speaking truth in love means holding hope and honesty at the same time.
You've tried everything. Talked, pleaded, set boundaries, prayed. The most powerful help isn't fixing the problem—it's believing for them when they can't believe for themselves, restoring their purpose, and helping them release guilt.
There's a particular exhaustion that comes from loving someone who can't see past themselves. You try to help and still end up being the problem. The answer isn't rescuing harder—it's leading with strength.
You finally said something. And it exploded. Anger, blame, withdrawal—different reactions, same purpose: control. When intervention blows up, you need boundaries. And boundaries require clarity about what's yours to carry.
No one wants to be alone. But a good thing at the wrong time can become destructive. Dating in recovery comes down to two questions: who and when. Get them both right, and relationships become gift instead of risk.
The two hardest words for someone leaving rehab aren't "drugs" or "temptation"—they're "what now?" Long-term sobriety isn't sustained by rules alone. It requires exchange: old habits for new, old goals for new, old activities for new.
The holidays can make addiction impossible to ignore. But knowing when a program is necessary—and when it's actually possible—requires asking the right questions about both need and timing.
When the person you love enters a program, you finally have margin. For the first time in a long time, you're not fighting fires. What you do with that space matters—because they're not the only one who needs healing.
Distance hurts—whether it's miles of separation or the emotional absence of someone living under the same roof. Both situations ache deeply. But neither one is hopeless.
Friends say to quit. Family says to move on. They call you crazy for still hoping. But holding onto faith, hope, and love—the things Scripture says last forever—isn't foolish. It's foundation.
We use the word "grace" so often it loses weight. But understanding what grace actually contains—free, true, and authentic—changes how we love someone through addiction without enabling destruction.
When an addict says "you made me do this," they're using guilt as leverage. But accusation does not equal truth. You are not responsible for another person's decision to use—and you never were.
Should you wait until the struggle is over to share your story? Like a drowning person being thrown a lifejacket, sometimes testimony isn't the reward for victory—it's part of how victory comes.
When we share the freedom we found in Christ from addiction, something powerful happens—not just for the person hearing it, but for us too. Testimony gives meaning to our pain and restores purpose to our story.
The phrase "once an addict, always an addict" gets repeated so often it's treated like settled fact. But what does that statement actually do to someone trying to rebuild their life—and does it line up with Scripture?
A complete guide for families supporting someone through addiction. Learn what actually helps, when treatment is needed, how to set boundaries, and what real recovery looks like.