Making Discoveries

Talking with Kathryn Mae Inman, author of Counting Spoons, about her now sober son.

Liz: What was the hardest thing you learned about yourself during Justin’s worst years of active addiction, when he was using heroin and living on the streets?

Kathryn: I think it was the lack of control I felt. I prided myself on being composed, rational, having it all together. When things started crumbling, I had no control. It broke me to learn I was not as strong as I thought. Instead of being a superstar, I was broken, lying in a puddle on the ground. The experience revealed to me how weak I was.

I didn’t know I needed a savior.

I’d come to the end of myself, literally on the ground, not sure I could keep on living. I couldn’t carry the burden of my son—I felt like I couldn’t breathe. “If you’re there God, I need you now.”

That’s when I discovered the Lord, when Christ came into my life. Learning to lean on him has changed my life, Justin’s too. He’s eight years sober and has a family now. I couldn’t be more grateful