July 30, 2025 • 22 mins
In this powerful episode of the Covenant Eyes Podcast, host Karen Potter welcomes John Boyle, author of Appalachian Kid, to share his remarkable testimony of overcoming childhood trauma, addiction, and ultimately finding healing through faith and mentorship.
John opens up about growing up in a violent home in rural West Virginia, his lifelong battle with undiagnosed PTSD, and the decades-long struggle with alcohol that nearly took his life. He recounts the turning point — a lifeline offered during a chance conversation at a bar — and the spiritual awakening that led him to sobriety, Harvard Business School, and a new mission to help others find hope.
Through his story, listeners will discover:
✅ The true meaning of biblical hope as "confident expectation"
✅ How mentorship and community saved his life
✅ Why we must rise again after being knocked down
✅ The power of faith in recovery and finding purpose after addiction
John also discusses his nonprofit involvement with Building Hope, which combats bullying in Appalachian high schools, and how the students he mentored gave him new perspective on his own life story.
John's website: https://www.appalachiankid.com/
John's book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJ8H8GRM/ref=sr_1_1?crid=WIMU8S7S1V0O&keywords=john+boyle+appalachian+kid&qid=1695063468&sprefix=john+boyle+appala%2Caps%2C108&sr=8-1
🎧 Whether you’re battling addiction, walking alongside someone who is, or seeking inspiration to turn your life around, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:06):
Hey friends, welcome back toThe Covenant Eyes
Podcast, Karen here, and I'mso glad to have you joining us.
Make sure that you likeand subscribe to the podcast.
We love getting your feedback,so make sure you
leave us commentsor send us an email.
All the detailsare in the show notes.
Today's show is going to bea really wonderful conversation
with a new friend.
His name is John Boyleand he's the author
(00:28):
of Appalachian Kid,and it is a book
that really showcasesthe importance of kindness,
mentorship, aovercoming adversity,
addiction, finding faith, hope,and helping people in need.
We're going to lovethis conversation today
together, friends.
So let's welcomeJohn to the podcast.
Hi, John.
(00:48):
Hi, Karen.
Thank you so much for having me.
It's an honorto be on your podcast.
Yes. Thank you.
Thank you.
And why don't you sharewith our listeners
a little bit about youryour history and what led
you to a placeto write this book?
Sure.
That's that's easy for me.
I am from a very small area,very small town in north
(01:11):
central West Virginia.
I grew up in a mining communityin the middle of nowhere.
And, I grew up in a, in a greatcommunity, but
in a violent home.
And I didn't really knowit was a violent home
when I was.
I was a young kid.
I started to realize that therewere differences between my home
(01:32):
and others as I went throughgrade school.
And so, you know, really,I started to experience,
symptoms of PTSDat a very young age.
I didn't know what I haduntil I was, in my late 30s.
And, really, I struggleda lot as a kid.
And so, I almost failedsixth grade.
(01:55):
My sixth gradeteacher told my parents,
and I had a parentteacher conference that I
would never make it to college.
I almost failed 10th grade,and I really struggled
just to focus.
I my, it's it's almost likeI was disassociating
and my brain at schoolwas trying to make sense
of the circumstances at home.
Not all the time, butmore often than not.
(02:18):
And so when I gotinto high school, my,
my father had goneto a boarding school
when he was in high school, so,I was encouraged to do the same.
And really, that was my wayout of that situation.
And even though,the circumstances changed for me
and my day to day routine,my home life became a
boarding school and a dormitoryand friends
(02:41):
versus family, right.
And educators versus parents.
I really struggled to,to, to to focus, to understand
and to be congruent in life,if that makes sense.
One day would be good,two days would be bad,
two days would be good,three days would be bad.
(03:01):
It would just be thisroller coaster of up and down.
And so what I figured outearly in college, which I did
make it to college, I went toengineering school at West
Virginia University.
And, what I found out in collegewas that alcohol
covered up my symptoms.
And so I used alcoholfor a very long time
until I reached the age of 37and my liver went into failure.
(03:26):
And that is when I found God.
Or rather, God senta lifeline to me.
And that's where I ultimately,chose to go to rehab
and quit drinking.
I've been sober for 11 years,and that's where I found out
that I had PTSD,and I finally knew
what to work on.
I was misdiagnosedfor over ten years, so I know I,
(03:49):
I gave you a lot ofinformation there,
but that is it in a nutshell.
And believe it or not,after I got sober, I,
enrolled in HarvardBusiness School,
as a 38 year old studentand, in a family business class.
I told my story and my friendsafter that class encouraged me
(04:12):
to write a book.
And one friend, Thomas Weiglman,one from Munich, Germany,
did not stop encouraging meuntil I published.
And so that is why I'msitting here talking to you.
Wow, that is an incredible storyand I'm sorry that you had to go
through all of that,but it sounds like in the end,
God really had a plan.
(04:33):
And oftentimeswhen we're going through
struggles in life, we don't seethe end result.
But God has been with youthe entire journey.
You just became aware of itlater in your own
personal journey.
So that's great.
That's that's a wow.
Thank you for sharing that.
Let's talk a little bit aboutso the book itself, what
what is the book about and how,how does it relate
(04:56):
to your personal story.
Well, that's athat's a great question.
The book is a memoir.
It's about my life from ages.
My earliest memory until 40.
I'm 48 now, and, the book is,it's bookended
with a story of mevolunteering at
(05:18):
my hometown high schoolin Preston
County, West Virginia.
And my friend has a charitycalled Building Hope.
And that charity goes into high schools
in West Virginia and, the groupwhere they form
volunteer groups.
But the core group of BuildingHope goes around West
Virginia, talks to freshmanage students about,
(05:40):
the impact of bullying,the negative impact of bullying,
and really trying to replacebullying with empathy,
understanding, right?
Seek first to understandand then be understood.
Those are Stephen Covey's wordsand the Seven Habits of Highly
Successful People.
But that is what Building Hopeessentially does.
And so I volunteered.
It was my first timevolunteering at his charity
(06:01):
and his charity, by the way,is is nationally acclaimed.
He, he holds a,and a distinction,
an award from the FBI directorfor, having
that much of an impactin American schools.
And so it's, it's moving,what the group has done.
And so I, I volunteeredat my hometown high school,
(06:22):
and I met four freshmanage students, and I sat
in a small groupwith them all day.
And, I write about, how thisday changed the lenses of how
I viewed my own life.
And so I tell my story,in between the story
of volunteering at my hometownhigh school and, just
(06:42):
just to kind of build it outjust a little bit.
Three of the four studentsthat were in my small group
were victims of domestic abusefrom either from their parents
or loved ones.
And, I come from avery poor area.
And so, really hopeis, a fairy tale
to many young people.
(07:03):
And, and I, I just did my best,to do what I could in the first
half of that day.
But in the secondhalf of the day,
I started to share my journey,my knowledge of God and,
how I was able to,to get out of, of,
of my difficulties.
And, and I shared my experienceof growing up with them
(07:26):
and, it's, my, my brief snippetisn't doing the story
justice, but,they did more to change
the lenses of howI viewed my own life,
and I think I was ableto help them.
But it's a very moving story.
And, you know, thatthat took place
about five years ago now. Wow.
That's amazing.
(07:46):
And I love that you'reyou're reaching back out
into your communityand kind of discipling
these young people and walkingalongside of them.
And I think that's so importantbecause each one of us
has experience different.
Some of us haveexperienced trauma or abuse
or addiction or, you know,we all have
our things that we have,and we really do need to be able
(08:08):
to share our testimoniesand reach out to others.
So I'm really excited for peopleto take a look at the book
and get into the story.
Let's spend a minutejust kind of maybe going into
just some of the the specificsin the book that, you know,
you were on a journey recoveringfrom addiction to alcohol.
And a lot of the listenersof our podcast
are also strugglingwith addictions.
(08:29):
Let's talk a little bit about,you know, that path to freedom
from addiction and whatthat looked like for you
and how that playedout in your life.
Sure. So, I grew up in a, my,my parents didn't drink,
but I grew up inan Irish family,
an Irish Catholic familythat loved alcohol.
(08:51):
You know, it was it wasit was something that,
I really didn'tsee anybody in my family
struggle with alcohol myself.
I, I saw it as a norm.
Right.
And so I saw itas some innocuous,
drug that, that, that was legal,that didn't really do any harm.
Right.
(09:11):
And so I used itquite liberally, and I
really started drinking morein my early 20s, as I struggled
as a, as a young parent,at 28 or 29,
when I had my first son,I really started to struggle
with flashbacks.
I was already dealingwith insomnia,
but the flashbacksbecame something
(09:33):
that really plagued me,with my first child.
It hasn't with my second,but I struggled there,
and so I just drank more.
And then stress at work,came on top of that.
And my my father got sickand I took over the
family business, and there wasmore stress,
(09:53):
and I just used alcoholto decompress, to disassociate,
to numb.
And I becamevery addicted. At went.
When I went to quit caring,I drank every day.
And to my recollection,I drank for ten years
straight every day.
And, sometimes it would be,you know, 5 or 6 drinks,
(10:17):
sometimes it would bea fifth of vodka or more.
And I, I had an extremetolerance for it.
And so I could drinkand drink and drink and it would
take me more and more every yearjust to,
to be able to numb that.
Right.
And I knew when I was doing itit wasn't something that
that would last.
But, you know,I just kicked down
the can down the roadto tomorrow, to
(10:38):
be honest with you.
Where where where I came across,extreme difficulty was I
started to turn white.
My my skin,it turned really white.
And I went to the doctorand I found out
I was malnourishedand that my liver
was not processing vitamins.
It was processing alcohol.
(11:00):
And I wasn't ableto keep food down.
I have, a tear in my esophagus.
I was in bad shape,and I started trying
to quit on my own.
Around the timethat I got that news,
there were some peoplein my in my life
who were saying, you know, youyou may want to consider
detox or,you may want to consider
going to rehab.
But to be honest with you,most people
didn't know the degreeto which I had a problem
(11:22):
with alcohol because I wasvery successful.
I ran a, several businessesthat did well.
I employed many, many people,hundreds of people.
I think I employed650 at the time
that I went to rehab.
And, you know, it was justsomething that,
you know, people.
I wasn't approachable.
I really had to hit rock bottomand so rock bottom for me
(11:44):
was not being ableto keep food down and really,
you know, having bloodshot eyes.
And when I went to quit drinkingevery night,
I wouldn't make it until seven,
8 (11:53):
00 in the evening.
I would be sweating, you know,I would be trembling.
And, I was scared.
And at one pointI just kind of gave
up, you know, I had been tryingfor maybe a month, and I
went to a baron a Saturday night
with a friend of mine,and I was sitting at the bar
ordering a drink,and my friend asked me,
I was doing.
And I told him the truth,and he he said,
(12:16):
why don't you cometo church with me?
And I, I just looked at him.
I said, you go to church.
You know,this is not a discussion
that happens in a barin Morgantown,
West Virginia, on aSaturday night, right?
Right.
But I started to realize veryquickly, and I had a feeling
came over me that that this wasa lifeline.
And so I, I didn't say no.
(12:38):
I asked what time,and when I went,
I just felt a peacecome over me.
And so Iit was an instantaneous.
Right.
It was, well, I'mgoing to go back next Sunday
and I'm going to go backnext Sunday.
And then I started to realizethat the life I was living
was in conflict with the lifethat God intended for me.
And so I, I again,I was sick, right?
(13:00):
I was trying to taper backwhat I was drinking, but,
ultimatelyI made the decision to
go to rehab, and I prayedthe night before I left,
and I askedGod to take the urges
away from me that I was done.
And that was April 1st, 2014.
And the next daywhen I went to rehab,
(13:21):
that was a hard day.
But I can tell youthat I've never had
an urge to drink againfrom that day forward.
And I knowthat that is a blessing from God
and what I've learned.
You know, just to wrap upwhat I'm saying,
what I've learned through thewhole process
is that my whole lifehas been a miracle.
(13:41):
But I had to see thatthrough eyes of faith.
I couldn't see thatthrough the life I was living
before I choseJesus over alcohol.
And that's essentially thethe bottom line.
Wow. Oh my goodness.
But that that is a reallypainful story.
But, something that I thinkyeah, I mean, that's
that's very painful, but I thinkit's something
(14:02):
that a lot of people can relateto because oftentimes
when we're strugglingwith addiction,
you know, you mentionedlike you were good at hiding it.
Well, like people didn't knowyou were very successful.
And that's the thingis that often our addictions,
we we do hide them.
Well, we don'twe don't make that
known to others.
But it took a friend sitting ina strange place
to invite you to churchthat started you on this path.
(14:24):
It's amazing how God uses peoplein our lives, I love that.
So, as we kind of, direct peopleback to the book, you know,
I really want them tokind of understand what is it
that the book hopesto accomplish?
So once you're oncea reader goes through the book,
what is it thatthey'll walk away with?
Well, I think, I think thecontext is in the eye of
(14:49):
the beholder.
And so if someone's notstruggled with alcohol
themselves or, child abuse,I think the story is, is,
you know, the the valueof overcoming adversity
and not quitting. Right?
If someone is strugglewith child abuse, maybe it is
that the take away isis more about there is hope
(15:11):
and what hope really isand I talk a lot
about hope in my bookand we can unpack that
if you want, to someonewho's drinking, or has a problem
with alcohol, I think themessage is one of,
there is a path that works.
And look,you know, I was hooked,
(15:31):
and I tried everythingout there that I could do,
to quit drinking on my own.
And it was not possible.
I absolutely neededmy higher power.
And, I tried everythingbefore that,
and it didn't work, so,so I, you know,
I think that the book,shows the importance
(15:51):
of mentorship as well.
So to someone who has overcometheir difficulties,
maybe they see my bookin a different lens.
But, my, not not togive everything
in my book away, but,at the end of my book,
I share a story ofwhen I graduated
from Harvard University and the,my class speaker,
(16:13):
a guy named Chris,had been homeless in his life.
And it was so movingbecause this guy was older
than me, right?
I'm 40 and I'm graduating,and he's he's probably got me
by 10 or 15 years, and he was,he was a homeless vet,
who had servedin the Marine Corps and,
was one of the, one of theone of the soldiers who was hurt
(16:37):
in the Lebanon bombing barracksin 1981.
And he just got upand talked about it.
And he, he he didn't talk abouthimself at all care.
And he only talked aboutthe people who had helped him
get from A to B.
That's it.
And and, you know, helpingpeople was already something
that's ingrained to youwhen you grow up
in West Virginia because there'sthere's not a lot of hope there
(16:58):
and there's a lot of poverty.
And so you, you learnto help each other
because no one elseis coming in to do that
in many cases. Right.
So, you know, just, just I justI felt strongly
about ending my bookby crediting the people
who had helped me along the way.
And so I it it showcasesthe essence of mentorship,
(17:23):
from a mentee who whoselife was changed,
who had no hope, who was toldhe would never succeed,
never make it to college.
I was never going to be anythingif I listened to other people.
But the peoplewho invested in me changed the
trajectory of my life,and I credit them,
you know, in the ending.
(17:43):
So that's beautiful.
Those are my I love yeah,I love that.
And I love how you really,are sharing you know,
our need for communityand one another ness.
That's a very biblical concept.
Like, we can't do this alone.
And I just feel that that is animportant message that somebody
can take away.
Well, John, how do peopleget their hands
(18:04):
on a copy of the bookso that they can
begin a journey on that?
So my book, Appalachian Kidcan be found on Amazon.
It's available in hardback,paperback, Kindle.
And there's an audio book.
Just type in my name,John P. Boyle.
And, Appalachian Kidand it will come right up.
(18:25):
And, I can also be foundon, on LinkedIn.
John P.
Boyle, and, I have a website,AppalachianKid.com, which has
some endorsements from peoplewho've read my book.
And, it's got a little snippetabout my life story and,
and the synopsis of the book.
Awesome.
Well, we'll put linksin our show notes so that all of
(18:47):
our guestscan take a look at that
and get a copy for themselves.
John, in closing, you know,what is a message of closing
that you want to offerto our listeners
who maybe are strugglingbecause a lot of our listeners
are struggling with pornographyaddiction specifically.
But, you know,they're struggling.
Maybe they're overcoming,maybe they're on a path
to try to figure outhow to become,
(19:08):
you know, a mentor to others.
Maybe they've made itthrough the other side
like you have,and they want to find
a way to get back.
Can you offer them some hopeor some wisdom in our closing
messages today?
Absolutely.
Struggles are common.
We all have them.
Some have them toa greater degree
than others. Right.
So I've got two, two snippetsI'll give you.
(19:32):
The first is, is a boxinganalogy, right?
In boxing you don't you don't,you don't lose.
If you get knocked down,you lose if you stay down.
So my first message is,if you're struggling in any way,
you have to get up and fight.
You have to.
That's the first requirement.
And secondly, when youwhen you talk about hope,
(19:52):
just quickly,the world sees hope
as wishful thinking.
If if you careand if you were to get
the dictionary outand old school right,
or Google it,you'll see a definition
that essentiallyhas a lot of words,
but it's just wishful thinking.
I hope you have a good day.
I hope my job works outon down the line. Right.
(20:14):
But there's a lesser known,definition of hope
that can be found in the Bibleand essentially the definition
in the Bible says that hope.
Hope is a confident expectationthat God's promises
will come to pass.
Hebrews 11 says that faithis being sure
(20:34):
of what you hope forand being certain
of what you do not see.
And that hope is presentday faith projected into
the future.
And when you rely onGod's promises,
they will come to pass.
Absolutely beautiful.
(20:55):
Thank you so much, John.
Well, to all of our listeners,make sure you check out the link
in the show notes.
Get a copy of John'sbook, Appalachian Kid.
I think it is a beautiful storythat is going to
touch your heart and move you,and hopefully it will be
a blessing to you in your lifeand share it with your friends
and family as well.
That need toto hear that message.
John, it has been an honorgetting to know you today,
(21:18):
and thank you for,pouring your story,
your testimony into this bookso that it could be shared
with the world.
I think that is so important.
As Christians, we must get ourtestimonies out there,
because really,it is the works of God
in our life and it can helpand touch so many other people.
So I'm just so grateful for youtaking the time to to
come on our show todayand share the message.
(21:39):
Thank you so muchfor having me, Karen.
I enjoyed my. Time. You good.
Thank you so much.
And to all of our listeners,please tune in
to the next episode.
We'll talk to you againreal soon.
Take care. God bless.
Hey friends, welcome back toThe Covenant Eyes
Podcast, Karen here, and I'mso glad to have you joining us.
Make sure that you likeand subscribe to the podcast.
We love getting your feedback,so make sure you
leave us commentsor send us an email.
All the detailsare in the show notes.
Today's show is going to bea really wonderful conversation
with a new friend.
His name is John Boyleand he's the author
(00:28):
of Appalachian Kid,and it is a book
that really showcasesthe importance of kindness,
mentorship, aovercoming adversity,
addiction, finding faith, hope,and helping people in need.
We're going to lovethis conversation today
together, friends.
So let's welcomeJohn to the podcast.
Hi, John.
(00:48):
Hi, Karen.
Thank you so much for having me.
It's an honorto be on your podcast.
Yes. Thank you.
Thank you.
And why don't you sharewith our listeners
a little bit about youryour history and what led
you to a placeto write this book?
Sure.
That's that's easy for me.
I am from a very small area,very small town in north
(01:11):
central West Virginia.
I grew up in a mining communityin the middle of nowhere.
And, I grew up in a, in a greatcommunity, but
in a violent home.
And I didn't really knowit was a violent home
when I was.
I was a young kid.
I started to realize that therewere differences between my home
(01:32):
and others as I went throughgrade school.
And so, you know, really,I started to experience,
symptoms of PTSDat a very young age.
I didn't know what I haduntil I was, in my late 30s.
And, really, I struggleda lot as a kid.
And so, I almost failedsixth grade.
(01:55):
My sixth gradeteacher told my parents,
and I had a parentteacher conference that I
would never make it to college.
I almost failed 10th grade,and I really struggled
just to focus.
I my, it's it's almost likeI was disassociating
and my brain at schoolwas trying to make sense
of the circumstances at home.
Not all the time, butmore often than not.
(02:18):
And so when I gotinto high school, my,
my father had goneto a boarding school
when he was in high school, so,I was encouraged to do the same.
And really, that was my wayout of that situation.
And even though,the circumstances changed for me
and my day to day routine,my home life became a
boarding school and a dormitoryand friends
(02:41):
versus family, right.
And educators versus parents.
I really struggled to,to, to to focus, to understand
and to be congruent in life,if that makes sense.
One day would be good,two days would be bad,
two days would be good,three days would be bad.
(03:01):
It would just be thisroller coaster of up and down.
And so what I figured outearly in college, which I did
make it to college, I went toengineering school at West
Virginia University.
And, what I found out in collegewas that alcohol
covered up my symptoms.
And so I used alcoholfor a very long time
until I reached the age of 37and my liver went into failure.
(03:26):
And that is when I found God.
Or rather, God senta lifeline to me.
And that's where I ultimately,chose to go to rehab
and quit drinking.
I've been sober for 11 years,and that's where I found out
that I had PTSD,and I finally knew
what to work on.
I was misdiagnosedfor over ten years, so I know I,
(03:49):
I gave you a lot ofinformation there,
but that is it in a nutshell.
And believe it or not,after I got sober, I,
enrolled in HarvardBusiness School,
as a 38 year old studentand, in a family business class.
I told my story and my friendsafter that class encouraged me
(04:12):
to write a book.
And one friend, Thomas Weiglman,one from Munich, Germany,
did not stop encouraging meuntil I published.
And so that is why I'msitting here talking to you.
Wow, that is an incredible storyand I'm sorry that you had to go
through all of that,but it sounds like in the end,
God really had a plan.
(04:33):
And oftentimeswhen we're going through
struggles in life, we don't seethe end result.
But God has been with youthe entire journey.
You just became aware of itlater in your own
personal journey.
So that's great.
That's that's a wow.
Thank you for sharing that.
Let's talk a little bit aboutso the book itself, what
what is the book about and how,how does it relate
(04:56):
to your personal story.
Well, that's athat's a great question.
The book is a memoir.
It's about my life from ages.
My earliest memory until 40.
I'm 48 now, and, the book is,it's bookended
with a story of mevolunteering at
(05:18):
my hometown high schoolin Preston
County, West Virginia.
And my friend has a charitycalled Building Hope.
And that charity goes into high schools
in West Virginia and, the groupwhere they form
volunteer groups.
But the core group of BuildingHope goes around West
Virginia, talks to freshmanage students about,
(05:40):
the impact of bullying,the negative impact of bullying,
and really trying to replacebullying with empathy,
understanding, right?
Seek first to understandand then be understood.
Those are Stephen Covey's wordsand the Seven Habits of Highly
Successful People.
But that is what Building Hopeessentially does.
And so I volunteered.
It was my first timevolunteering at his charity
(06:01):
and his charity, by the way,is is nationally acclaimed.
He, he holds a,and a distinction,
an award from the FBI directorfor, having
that much of an impactin American schools.
And so it's, it's moving,what the group has done.
And so I, I volunteeredat my hometown high school,
(06:22):
and I met four freshmanage students, and I sat
in a small groupwith them all day.
And, I write about, how thisday changed the lenses of how
I viewed my own life.
And so I tell my story,in between the story
of volunteering at my hometownhigh school and, just
(06:42):
just to kind of build it outjust a little bit.
Three of the four studentsthat were in my small group
were victims of domestic abusefrom either from their parents
or loved ones.
And, I come from avery poor area.
And so, really hopeis, a fairy tale
to many young people.
(07:03):
And, and I, I just did my best,to do what I could in the first
half of that day.
But in the secondhalf of the day,
I started to share my journey,my knowledge of God and,
how I was able to,to get out of, of,
of my difficulties.
And, and I shared my experienceof growing up with them
(07:26):
and, it's, my, my brief snippetisn't doing the story
justice, but,they did more to change
the lenses of howI viewed my own life,
and I think I was ableto help them.
But it's a very moving story.
And, you know, thatthat took place
about five years ago now. Wow.
That's amazing.
(07:46):
And I love that you'reyou're reaching back out
into your communityand kind of discipling
these young people and walkingalongside of them.
And I think that's so importantbecause each one of us
has experience different.
Some of us haveexperienced trauma or abuse
or addiction or, you know,we all have
our things that we have,and we really do need to be able
(08:08):
to share our testimoniesand reach out to others.
So I'm really excited for peopleto take a look at the book
and get into the story.
Let's spend a minutejust kind of maybe going into
just some of the the specificsin the book that, you know,
you were on a journey recoveringfrom addiction to alcohol.
And a lot of the listenersof our podcast
are also strugglingwith addictions.
(08:29):
Let's talk a little bit about,you know, that path to freedom
from addiction and whatthat looked like for you
and how that playedout in your life.
Sure. So, I grew up in a, my,my parents didn't drink,
but I grew up inan Irish family,
an Irish Catholic familythat loved alcohol.
(08:51):
You know, it was it wasit was something that,
I really didn'tsee anybody in my family
struggle with alcohol myself.
I, I saw it as a norm.
Right.
And so I saw itas some innocuous,
drug that, that, that was legal,that didn't really do any harm.
Right.
(09:11):
And so I used itquite liberally, and I
really started drinking morein my early 20s, as I struggled
as a, as a young parent,at 28 or 29,
when I had my first son,I really started to struggle
with flashbacks.
I was already dealingwith insomnia,
but the flashbacksbecame something
(09:33):
that really plagued me,with my first child.
It hasn't with my second,but I struggled there,
and so I just drank more.
And then stress at work,came on top of that.
And my my father got sickand I took over the
family business, and there wasmore stress,
(09:53):
and I just used alcoholto decompress, to disassociate,
to numb.
And I becamevery addicted. At went.
When I went to quit caring,I drank every day.
And to my recollection,I drank for ten years
straight every day.
And, sometimes it would be,you know, 5 or 6 drinks,
(10:17):
sometimes it would bea fifth of vodka or more.
And I, I had an extremetolerance for it.
And so I could drinkand drink and drink and it would
take me more and more every yearjust to,
to be able to numb that.
Right.
And I knew when I was doing itit wasn't something that
that would last.
But, you know,I just kicked down
the can down the roadto tomorrow, to
(10:38):
be honest with you.
Where where where I came across,extreme difficulty was I
started to turn white.
My my skin,it turned really white.
And I went to the doctorand I found out
I was malnourishedand that my liver
was not processing vitamins.
It was processing alcohol.
(11:00):
And I wasn't ableto keep food down.
I have, a tear in my esophagus.
I was in bad shape,and I started trying
to quit on my own.
Around the timethat I got that news,
there were some peoplein my in my life
who were saying, you know, youyou may want to consider
detox or,you may want to consider
going to rehab.
But to be honest with you,most people
didn't know the degreeto which I had a problem
(11:22):
with alcohol because I wasvery successful.
I ran a, several businessesthat did well.
I employed many, many people,hundreds of people.
I think I employed650 at the time
that I went to rehab.
And, you know, it was justsomething that,
you know, people.
I wasn't approachable.
I really had to hit rock bottomand so rock bottom for me
(11:44):
was not being ableto keep food down and really,
you know, having bloodshot eyes.
And when I went to quit drinkingevery night,
I wouldn't make it until seven,
8 (11:53):
00 in the evening.
I would be sweating, you know,I would be trembling.
And, I was scared.
And at one pointI just kind of gave
up, you know, I had been tryingfor maybe a month, and I
went to a baron a Saturday night
with a friend of mine,and I was sitting at the bar
ordering a drink,and my friend asked me,
I was doing.
And I told him the truth,and he he said,
(12:16):
why don't you cometo church with me?
And I, I just looked at him.
I said, you go to church.
You know,this is not a discussion
that happens in a barin Morgantown,
West Virginia, on aSaturday night, right?
Right.
But I started to realize veryquickly, and I had a feeling
came over me that that this wasa lifeline.
And so I, I didn't say no.
(12:38):
I asked what time,and when I went,
I just felt a peacecome over me.
And so Iit was an instantaneous.
Right.
It was, well, I'mgoing to go back next Sunday
and I'm going to go backnext Sunday.
And then I started to realizethat the life I was living
was in conflict with the lifethat God intended for me.
And so I, I again,I was sick, right?
(13:00):
I was trying to taper backwhat I was drinking, but,
ultimatelyI made the decision to
go to rehab, and I prayedthe night before I left,
and I askedGod to take the urges
away from me that I was done.
And that was April 1st, 2014.
And the next daywhen I went to rehab,
(13:21):
that was a hard day.
But I can tell youthat I've never had
an urge to drink againfrom that day forward.
And I knowthat that is a blessing from God
and what I've learned.
You know, just to wrap upwhat I'm saying,
what I've learned through thewhole process
is that my whole lifehas been a miracle.
(13:41):
But I had to see thatthrough eyes of faith.
I couldn't see thatthrough the life I was living
before I choseJesus over alcohol.
And that's essentially thethe bottom line.
Wow. Oh my goodness.
But that that is a reallypainful story.
But, something that I thinkyeah, I mean, that's
that's very painful, but I thinkit's something
(14:02):
that a lot of people can relateto because oftentimes
when we're strugglingwith addiction,
you know, you mentionedlike you were good at hiding it.
Well, like people didn't knowyou were very successful.
And that's the thingis that often our addictions,
we we do hide them.
Well, we don'twe don't make that
known to others.
But it took a friend sitting ina strange place
to invite you to churchthat started you on this path.
(14:24):
It's amazing how God uses peoplein our lives, I love that.
So, as we kind of, direct peopleback to the book, you know,
I really want them tokind of understand what is it
that the book hopesto accomplish?
So once you're oncea reader goes through the book,
what is it thatthey'll walk away with?
Well, I think, I think thecontext is in the eye of
(14:49):
the beholder.
And so if someone's notstruggled with alcohol
themselves or, child abuse,I think the story is, is,
you know, the the valueof overcoming adversity
and not quitting. Right?
If someone is strugglewith child abuse, maybe it is
that the take away isis more about there is hope
(15:11):
and what hope really isand I talk a lot
about hope in my bookand we can unpack that
if you want, to someonewho's drinking, or has a problem
with alcohol, I think themessage is one of,
there is a path that works.
And look,you know, I was hooked,
(15:31):
and I tried everythingout there that I could do,
to quit drinking on my own.
And it was not possible.
I absolutely neededmy higher power.
And, I tried everythingbefore that,
and it didn't work, so,so I, you know,
I think that the book,shows the importance
(15:51):
of mentorship as well.
So to someone who has overcometheir difficulties,
maybe they see my bookin a different lens.
But, my, not not togive everything
in my book away, but,at the end of my book,
I share a story ofwhen I graduated
from Harvard University and the,my class speaker,
(16:13):
a guy named Chris,had been homeless in his life.
And it was so movingbecause this guy was older
than me, right?
I'm 40 and I'm graduating,and he's he's probably got me
by 10 or 15 years, and he was,he was a homeless vet,
who had servedin the Marine Corps and,
was one of the, one of theone of the soldiers who was hurt
(16:37):
in the Lebanon bombing barracksin 1981.
And he just got upand talked about it.
And he, he he didn't talk abouthimself at all care.
And he only talked aboutthe people who had helped him
get from A to B.
That's it.
And and, you know, helpingpeople was already something
that's ingrained to youwhen you grow up
in West Virginia because there'sthere's not a lot of hope there
(16:58):
and there's a lot of poverty.
And so you, you learnto help each other
because no one elseis coming in to do that
in many cases. Right.
So, you know, just, just I justI felt strongly
about ending my bookby crediting the people
who had helped me along the way.
And so I it it showcasesthe essence of mentorship,
(17:23):
from a mentee who whoselife was changed,
who had no hope, who was toldhe would never succeed,
never make it to college.
I was never going to be anythingif I listened to other people.
But the peoplewho invested in me changed the
trajectory of my life,and I credit them,
you know, in the ending.
(17:43):
So that's beautiful.
Those are my I love yeah,I love that.
And I love how you really,are sharing you know,
our need for communityand one another ness.
That's a very biblical concept.
Like, we can't do this alone.
And I just feel that that is animportant message that somebody
can take away.
Well, John, how do peopleget their hands
(18:04):
on a copy of the bookso that they can
begin a journey on that?
So my book, Appalachian Kidcan be found on Amazon.
It's available in hardback,paperback, Kindle.
And there's an audio book.
Just type in my name,John P. Boyle.
And, Appalachian Kidand it will come right up.
(18:25):
And, I can also be foundon, on LinkedIn.
John P.
Boyle, and, I have a website,AppalachianKid.com, which has
some endorsements from peoplewho've read my book.
And, it's got a little snippetabout my life story and,
and the synopsis of the book.
Awesome.
Well, we'll put linksin our show notes so that all of
(18:47):
our guestscan take a look at that
and get a copy for themselves.
John, in closing, you know,what is a message of closing
that you want to offerto our listeners
who maybe are strugglingbecause a lot of our listeners
are struggling with pornographyaddiction specifically.
But, you know,they're struggling.
Maybe they're overcoming,maybe they're on a path
to try to figure outhow to become,
(19:08):
you know, a mentor to others.
Maybe they've made itthrough the other side
like you have,and they want to find
a way to get back.
Can you offer them some hopeor some wisdom in our closing
messages today?
Absolutely.
Struggles are common.
We all have them.
Some have them toa greater degree
than others. Right.
So I've got two, two snippetsI'll give you.
(19:32):
The first is, is a boxinganalogy, right?
In boxing you don't you don't,you don't lose.
If you get knocked down,you lose if you stay down.
So my first message is,if you're struggling in any way,
you have to get up and fight.
You have to.
That's the first requirement.
And secondly, when youwhen you talk about hope,
(19:52):
just quickly,the world sees hope
as wishful thinking.
If if you careand if you were to get
the dictionary outand old school right,
or Google it,you'll see a definition
that essentiallyhas a lot of words,
but it's just wishful thinking.
I hope you have a good day.
I hope my job works outon down the line. Right.
(20:14):
But there's a lesser known,definition of hope
that can be found in the Bibleand essentially the definition
in the Bible says that hope.
Hope is a confident expectationthat God's promises
will come to pass.
Hebrews 11 says that faithis being sure
(20:34):
of what you hope forand being certain
of what you do not see.
And that hope is presentday faith projected into
the future.
And when you rely onGod's promises,
they will come to pass.
Absolutely beautiful.
(20:55):
Thank you so much, John.
Well, to all of our listeners,make sure you check out the link
in the show notes.
Get a copy of John'sbook, Appalachian Kid.
I think it is a beautiful storythat is going to
touch your heart and move you,and hopefully it will be
a blessing to you in your lifeand share it with your friends
and family as well.
That need toto hear that message.
John, it has been an honorgetting to know you today,
(21:18):
and thank you for,pouring your story,
your testimony into this bookso that it could be shared
with the world.
I think that is so important.
As Christians, we must get ourtestimonies out there,
because really,it is the works of God
in our life and it can helpand touch so many other people.
So I'm just so grateful for youtaking the time to to
come on our show todayand share the message.
(21:39):
Thank you so muchfor having me, Karen.
I enjoyed my. Time. You good.
Thank you so much.
And to all of our listeners,please tune in
to the next episode.
We'll talk to you againreal soon.
Take care. God bless.
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