Nobody knows for sure how it works, it's God's intervention on fixing us. I started Celebrated Recovery because I needed serious help in getting my drinking under control. I was going out one to many times a week, drinking one to many, and just wasting my time and my life away. I dwell ed on the past thinking what could I done different. I used alcohol to self medicate my pain from my divorce, my depression, and the separation from my children. My friends I once knew when I was married walked out of my life. ONLY one or two remained, the others were just associates who I met at work nothing else. My first step was to walk out of Denial that I admit I have a Serious problem to alcohol, anger and severe depression . October 2006 I started to attend church services, first time I actually attended church in about five years. My life at the time was going no where. I found my self in a rat race, low self esteem with a bleak future. Yes I stepped out of denial, and I joined a men's dependency group at Celebrate Recovery. There I quickly learned I was not alone. I was greeted with a warm welcome supported, and never judged or looked down upon. I found it hard to open up with my "issues" at first, but than I found it much easier when time went on. My second step: Getting help, Earnestly believe that God exist, That I matter to Him, and that he has the power to help me recover. This step I found a little better than the first. Remember the first step was denial, because I lived life not thinking I had a problem. I started to think and realize my two children were suffering growing up without their father in their lives. A REAL SERIOUS PROBLEM WOULD YOU THINK? I wanted to move on with life, I wanted my life back the way it use to be before I was married, at a time where I attended Catholic mass Sunday after Sunday 52 weeks out of the year. I lost touch with the Lord Jesus Christ in my life and I asked Him to return to my life. Jesus said in Revelation 3:20 "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."The Third Step was easier than the first two, here I made a commitment, I eagerly got involved into service to others, rather than lay around the house and watch TV, I actually got involved on Saturday church projects and functions. I joined at least two small groups in prayer, and studying the bible. My mind and the way I think started to change. June 15, 2008 was my first day of sobriety, the day I stopped drinking alcohol. Part of the process of Celebrate Recovery I was assigned a sponsor a person who has been through the program and has dealt with far worst scenarios than I ever imagine. I started to meet my sponsor once a week during the weekday to discuss my addiction to alcohol, how to manage stress, and most important my relationship with my children. I started to count the number of days of sobriety in my journal, I started reading the bible on a daily basis, and started to pray everyday. There was nothing different about me at first, than I observed settle changes in my attitude. I had to fill the void with something positive to replace the negative activities I use to do 2 to 3 times a week (IE. Drinking Alcohol). As the days turned into weeks, the weeks turned to months. My mind and body was getting rid of ALL THAT TOXIC IMPURITIES. My appearance changed, My attitude changed, and the people who I once knew along with other people I would meet started to keep in touch. The Fourth Step: Openly Examine and confess my faults to myself, to God and to someone I trust. This step was the toughest. This is the step where I had to write down all of my hurts, hang-ups, and habits. The Bad as well as the Good. The incidents were I hurt people, The times where I was hurt by someone else. I was to spell out the circumstances, how it was my fault, what Part I did and what part did the other person do. This is called Inventory. An INVENTORY OF YOUR ENTIRE LIFE AND YOU OPENLY CONFESS TO GOD AND TO SOMEONE YOU TRUST, ( ONLY TO ONE PERSON). This Process like I said before was HARD, because I was divulging every dark secret that I held within. As James 5:16 reads
"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."
After I completed Step Four, My mind became CLEAR, and ALL THE PAIN, THE ANXIETY, ALL THE HURTS I KEPT INSIDE ME WENT AWAY!!
TO BE CONTINUED.....
