- [Man] Lorie Hartshorn is the co-host

of The 700 Club Canadian edition.

She's also an author and Bible teacher.

She and her husband, Dean,

brought their children up

to know and love God,

so they were blindsided

when all three of themdecided to reject him.

- There were drugs and alcohol,

and some very dark heavy metal music.

You know just dealing with the reality

of at times not knowing where they were.

- [Man] Today Lorie shares her journey

from devastation to victory,

and recounts what causedthe dramatic reversal

in the lives of her children.

- Well joining me now is Lorie Hartshorn.

It's wonderful to have you with us.

- Thank you, Terry, thank you.

- You know for Christian parents,

I think we are kind

of set up within our own hearts and minds

that if we just teach our children

about the Lord, talkabout what we believe,

get them to church on Sunday,

pray before every meal

and get them into the word

that everything's going to be well.

- Well we think perhaps underneath all

of that, which we felt like we tried to do

the best we could, right?

- [Terry] Yes, you did do all of that.

- And the desire is good,

but I think we have this illusion

that it's all about us.

And you know it's funny, as parents,

we like to take creditwhen our kids do well,

but why do we take credit for when they're

not doing so well?

Underneath that it'sreally not all about us.

- [Terry] Yes.

- Our need to be in control,

even for our own reputation, right?

- Yes.

Mostly for our own reputation, yes.

Well talk about, you had seven years,

what did you have threebabies in three years?

- Three babies in three years.

My dad did say you realizes

you're gonna have threeteenagers in three years.

(laughing)

I'm like what's the big deal?

- Too late.

So seven dark years where your kids

really wandered away from the faith

they had been raised with,

and that were difficult years for you.

Talk about that time andwhat you went through

in that seven year period.

- Well I think the angstwhen you see your kids

not doing well,

and whether we follow Jesus or not we all

want our kids to do well.

So this broke,

a parents broken heartis a very common thing

because you just love your kids so much.

And seeing drugs and alcohol

and the party scene.

And my oldest son wouldsay he wasn't sober

for over six years.

He every day used.

You know this was this good Christian boy.

And you're disappointed,

you're angry, you're a bit ticked off,

you feel a bit ripped off.

- What are you thinking?

- Right?

And just like how have I failed?

How have we failed?

I talked to so many parents, Terry,

and the reason I know that

really it's not our story,

it is God's story,

but I can relate to how difficult

and how it really put me on the couch.

It just about took meright out of the game,

and that's the goal of the enemy.

- Well it's the goal of the enemy,

and I think one of the reasons

that that happens is we keep thinking

that we have to findthe magic button to push

that's gonna just bring it all back,

and make this kid realize,

you with your eldestfinally came to a place

where you had to boothim out of the house.

What was that like?

- Oh well my husbandwould have done it sooner

than me to be honest.

- [Terry] That's prettycommon I think (laughing).

- I'm like no, no, no we need to help him.

And then I realize weactually need to release him

to his choices.

That's a scary thing for a parent,

but it was very, very clear to me

that we had to, in a sense,back out of the way, right?

So that really God hada direct line of fire.

- In some ways it's kind

of like both the child andthe parent have to come

to the end of themselves.

I pray that for my children that are

not in the circle at the moment.

But I don't know that I pray that as much

for myself as a parent,

and we need to.

- You know what, thisis a humbling journey.

And actually I'm sograteful for it, Terry.

I'm a different person.

And I don't know that person before,

like bye bye.

Honestly the Lord has used this,

and will use it in our life

if we're willing to surrender to him.

The key is surrender.

We love control,

he loves surrender.

- [Terry] Yes.

- And when you allow God, nomatter what your pain, right?

Whether it's with your kids,

your prodigals, your marriage,

maybe you're a young person

and you're strugglingwith your own addictions

or those same struggles mykids were going through,

God just loves a surrendered heart.

He can do anything witha surrendered heart.

And he restored our family.

It wasn't overnight.

- How did that begin to happen?

- Well I think it began on our knees.

I really do.

I think-

- [Terry] As most things do.

- Oh, right.

And you know we really fell to our knees,

as you said, even in our own selves.

Just Lord whatever you want with us,

we're gonna serve you,

even if our kids don't.

But I was just like,

but I believe they will.

It was a step of faith and trust,

and I started to pray in a way

that I really hadn't prayed before.

And I would say my husbandand I prayed together,

which is a real,

I'm telling you, that's wherepower really starts to happen.

And I talk to many families,

we encourage many families with our story,

and one of the number one things we say,

we're not counselors,

but we can tell you,

if you have a spouse who iswilling to pray with you,

pray together.

And invite other people too.

- You are running a household together,

and what you're wanting is thischild's heart to come home.

- Right.

But we often, you know,

we just kind of can treat prayer lightly.

- We say all I could do was pray.

- Right.

And sometimes my prayers were help.

- Yes.

- So really, to be real,

my husband and I

were at a time when you're so deep in pain

we didn't know what to pray.

And honestly, Stormie Omartian's book

The Power of a Praying Parent.

There's one, The Power ofPraying for your Adult Children.

We literally, we would take turns.

Your turn.

And we would read these prayers

because sometimes it's just like

you need someone to tell you how to pray.

I mean the disciples saidJesus teaches how to pray.

So sometimes just lookingtowards those written prayers.

- So where are your kids at today?

- Oh well it's truly a miracle that they,

Jesus went after them,

they had an encounter with Jesus.

- [Terry] Amen.

- The living Christ who is so powerful,

over come addiction, freed my son

like that of drugs and alcohol

when he surrendered to Jesus.

My next son who wasreally a worship leader

for the other side,

heavy metal music, demonic oppression,

he was delivered and set free.

So my one son is serving in worship music,

my other son is an evangelistand church planter.

(laughing)

Involved in a movement across Canada.

- Take that Satan.

- Right?

Right?

And this mother bear is not backing off.

And my daughter returned to Jesus.

And now she's not actuallytoo far from here.

She's got a degree fromMoody Bible Institute.

She's a worship leader,

and now she's doing this program

called The 18 inch journey with (mumbles).

And I don't know God'sstill writing these stories,

but they love Jesus,

they wanna serve him.

And it's not about us,

can I just say that.

It's not all about you.

It's about what God wantsto do in your family

if you will let him.

- [Terry] Yes.

- Right.

And you just persevere in prayer.

Keep being the person God called you to be

in the middle of that mess.

- And having done all, stand.

- [Lorie] Yes, amen.

- Well, I mean you havesuch a message to share.

You can see why she'shosting The 700 Club Canada,

can't you?

But I wanna tell you thatif you want to learn more

about Lorie's journeyand wisdom for your own,

she has a five part Bible study,

it's called Finding Freedom,

to help teach and encourage you.

You can get the DVD

and the guidebook,

and we'll tell you how to do that.

Just go to cbn.com.

Thank you so much.

- Thank you, Terry.

- How wonderful to haveyou on this campus.

- Thank you,

and thank you for yourgreat example to me.

We have the best job, don't we?

- We have the best job.

I love having you here.

- [Lorie] Thank you.