A Break From The Usual Chaos

...a prayer often repeated

There has been peace in our household for several weeks now.  Stress levels are at an all-time low, a peaceful quiet has settled in and much of the usual clutter in the living room has dissipated.  We desperately needed this stretch of serenity, a break from the usual chaos here.  

Our addicted son has been in jail since the first week of August, thus explaining the reason for the presence of peace in our household.  He was taken to jail for charges on disturbing the peace of a family and has been held there for failure to pay old fines.  According to the judge, he will be released on or about October 12th, as his fines will be settled by that date.  By then, he will have been in jail about 2 and ½ months, longer than any previous incarcerations.  

I have had no contact with our son other than one time when I visited him for about ten minutes. When I first laid eyes on him during jail visitation, I was reminded of how my son looked before addiction- clean- cut and handsome.  Just a few weeks prior, he had become scruffy and unkempt, which was his usual pattern during a downward spiral.   I thought to myself how sad it is that my son’s physical appearance has actually improved as an inmate.  That’s just not normal.  But, neither is addiction.

I miss him.  I miss talking to him, hearing his voice, seeing his face.  Yes, I miss my son, but I don’t miss the tremendous strain placed on everyone in our household because of his careless and destructive behavior.

  

During the time our son has been incarcerated, my husband and I have discussed some of our past mistakes in handling his addiction and our present options.  We need to seriously decide together how we are going to handle the situation once he is released from jail.  It would be beneficial for our son and for us if he could enter a halfway house upon release from jail.  That is just one of the options we are considering, if it is available in our area or nearby.  

Right now I only know that we cannot go back to where we were before he was recently incarcerated.  I don’t think the pieces of our remaining sanity or marriage could handle it.  Praying for guidance…