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Celebrate Recovery

Last night I went to a "Celebrate Recovery' meeting in Groton,CT at the Lifehouse Foursquare Church. This coming Monday I shall attend another meeting of Celebrate Recovery, this one at the Groton Bible Chapel [I can't seem to get out of Groton most weeknights]. Having spent many years in a mainstream 12 step fellowship, I want to make it plain that I love it and recognize wholeheartedly that I am there as a result of prayer. Moreover, I could never imagine the number of people helped by it who would have otherwise not found any recovery from alcohol or other substances. However, I have been sensing the need for something more Christ-centered and this seems to fit the bill. [I don't want to give the reader the impression that I am replacing my involvement with regular twelve step fellowship meetings with something else; this is meant to augment my recovery--not fundamentally change it]. I will not attempt to explain Celebrate Recovery or offer any in-depth

Finding What You Need

Step 1 in Celebrate Recovery: 1. We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Romans 7:18 NIV One of the things Karen and I have been doing recently is attending a Bible study in another town close to Willimantic where there are many people both new to a relationship with Jesus and also to living sober one day at a time. We have developed a passion for this and Karen, in particular, has reached out to some of the girls that are new (and some not so new) to forge strong friendships as we fellowship together on our journey to be more Christ-like every day. Having been a longtime member of a 12 step organization, I am not so worried about fighting the urge to have another drink or use another drug -- although I know that it is important to remember where I came from, so I don&

One Day At A Time

Early in sobriety everybody said "take it a day at a time" or "one day at a time."  Sometimes, it was 5 minutes at a time.  I sure thought I had a grasp on that concept back then!  Of course, being new, the focus was strictly on going another day without a drink or chemical substitute.  Today the focus tends to be more on confronting those many "faces of fear" I learned of.  I thought those faces existed only to haunt me; through my tenure in this fellowship, I have discovered they actually motivate me to move into a closer relationship with my Higher Power. I relish the spiritual enlightenment that comes with that. As the years advance, I have come to terms with another meaning of living a day at a time, one not so easily defined by words as it is through experience.  During my journey through sobriety, I have experienced many wonderful things, brought about by continually staying sober and gaining years on the planet.  Sometimes those wonderful things