105. Stop Praying For Me - Part 1 (w/ Lauren McDonald)

In this episode, Lauren McDonald and her mother join the Jesus Loves Addicts podcast to tell a raw, two-perspective account of addiction, family, and faith. Lauren recounts a decade-long slide from social drinking and experimentation in high school to homelessness and meth addiction, the role of peer pressure and compromises, and the moment God met her in a jail cell. Topics include early warning signs, the slow fade into harder drugs, the strain on parent-child relationships, co-occurring behaviors like gambling, and the practical tensions of enabling versus protecting a child. Guests discuss conviction, the importance of intentional recovery, accountability, and how Christ and community (including resources like Home of Grace) played a part in restoration. Listeners can expect an honest conversation about failure and hope: how addiction affects families, what recovery can look like, and the message that—even in the darkest places—redemption is possible.