Famous Wife, Divided Life: Doug Johnson on 'The Look' That Exposed His Addiction and Finally Giving It to Jesus

Doug Johnson knew his drinking had gotten bad. There were bottles of whiskey disappearing over a weekend, around $1,000 a month going toward alcohol, Everclear mixed into sweet tea, and drinking at 10 in the morning. But he still wasn't ready to admit it was a problem.

Then came "the look"—the moment his wife, Abby, looked at him and had seemingly lost all hope after making one request: don't get drunk. She needed to know their kids were going to be safe while she was gone. Despite his promise, he could see she felt she was rolling the dice.

At last, he couldn't ignore it. And it started him on a path not to sobriety, but to Jesus in a new way.

In this episode, Doug joins Jon Seidl to talk about the resentment, loneliness, and purposelessness that helped turn alcohol into what he calls “the cure”; how addiction affected his marriage to popular pro-life advocate Abby Johnson; his faith; why he believes getting sober became an act of sacrificial love; and what it took to rebuild trust.

Five years after his last drink, Doug explains why freedom wasn't ultimately about replacing alcohol with something else, but rather fully surrendering at the feet of Jesus.

Follow Doug on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dougontap
Watch Unplanned
Learn more about Abby Johnson's work: https://abortionworker.com
Listen to the the episode with Ian Faulkner here
Explore the FREE Veritas Recovery Community to connect with people on a similar journey
Get Gospel-centered addiction recovery resources and help at veritasrecovery.org
Follow Jon: @jonseidl
Order Jon's book: Confessions of a Christian Alcoholic
Watch this episode ad-free at The Vertias Daily

We explore:

—When alcohol stops being the problem and starts becoming “the cure”
—The resentment, loneliness, and purposelessness underneath Doug's drinking
—The look from Abby that finally broke through his denial
—Why Doug believes getting sober became an act of sacrificial love
—The fears that come with imagining life without alcohol
—Why replacing one addiction with another isn't true freedom
—What rebuilding trust actually looked like in Doug and Abby's marriage
—Why healing required more than simply stopping drinking
—What it means to fully surrender at the feet of Jesus

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