Christians in Recovery

2012-10-29T21:43:00.001-04:00

My Story
By Dale White

I’m a believer in Jesus Christ who’s in recovery for alcoholism, I have struggled and do struggle with other things which you will hear about tonight. My name is Dale, I’m 57 years old and I’ve experienced quite a bit in those years. So do to time constraints I’m going to give you a summarized version of those years. I want to save time for the good stuff, the recovery st

uff!
I grew up in South Florida in Delray Beach. My early years were actually the best anyone could ask for. My family farmed tomatoes until the 1970’s. Both sets of my grandparents, Mom and Dad were very loving, caring people. My brother, sister and I attended church and Sunday school on Sundays. My family had large get-togethers on weekends and holidays . There were no alcohol or drug problems nor fighting and abuse.
When I was thirteen everything changed for me when my parents divorced and I started to change too. I remember how hard it was on my Mom and remember hearing her crying in her bedroom, from how bad she was hurting. I wanted to ease her pain, but didn’t know how. I remember vividly, laying curled up in my bed listening to a record of the Lord’s prayer over and over, thinking, praying that God would make it all better. When things got worse, I began to question whether God existed or if he did, why wasn’t he doing anything to help me?
My parents re-married other people and I didn’t like my step-parents. I was living with my Mom and Step-Father at age fourteen when I started smoking cigarettes and experimenting with alcohol. Actually, there wasn’t any experimenting to it. The first time I drank I had a blackout and couldn’t remember what I had done. The best part was that it took away the hurt and pain I had inside.
By the time I was 18 years old I had been to military school to straighten me out. I had been arrested for possession of pot with intent to distribute, I had totaled two cars, one of which I rolled over. I walked away from both accidents without a scratch and no charges were against me in the accidents. I also got one DUI when I was seventeen and another when I was eighteen. I was no longer allowed to live at home. I was living out of my van and parking in the parking lot at a restaurant where I worked. I had one friend that was brain dead from a bad acid trip and another had taken his own life.
I remember very clearly one morning during that time when I was still living at home, waking up and not remembering what I had done the night before. I couldn’t find my wallet or car keys and my car wasn’t in the driveway. There was only one thing in my pockets, a poem written on a worn piece of paper titled “Footprints.” To this day, I don’t know how it got there.
After you hear the rest of my story you will realize how many times there was only one set of footprints in the sand and how many times he’s carried me.
I took my first geographical cure and moved to Va.Beach, Virginia for a restaurant job I got through some connections my Dad had. It was run by an Italian family and they became my family for five years. I married a waitress I met there. Before we got married, she had gotten pregnant and we weren’t ready for kids, so she had an abortion. After we were married she got pregnant again and got another abortion. She didn’t want kids and I didn’t know what I wanted. I wasn’t even sure why I had gotten married. Throughout my marriage there were numerous infidelities . The husband and wife that I worked for had three kids all in their twenties, the same age I was at that time. Alcohol and drug use was already accepted and happened on a daily basis, meaning all day long. Most mornings were started with a drink to get over the night before. Maria, the owner’s daughter who I dated at one time was heavily into drugs and was murdered in a drug deal gone bad.
Gambling also had become a regular part of life as my boss ran a bookmaking operation. At this time I was gambling heavily and drinking around the clock, despite being a very accomplished chef, which was either a gift or a curse. Also at this time I took another geographical cure and went to France to culinary school for six months, while my wife stayed in the United States. But once again my days consisted of cooking and drinking, because we had to pair food and wine. I would drink all day at school and continued to do so when I went home at night.
When I returned to France, I landed a job in Washington D.C. at Maison Blanche, a restaurant across the street from the White House. I moved there without my wife, but she was to follow me after I got settled. I again found another perfect job. Drinking was not only allowed at work, they provided the drinks.
I was again drinking around the clock, but this didn’t affect my job, which I always excelled at. My wife eventually joined me, but my unfaithfulness continued. We moved back to Va. Beach when the owner of a restaurant I had worked for before I went to France offered me a partnership in the business. He put up the money, I put up the talent and we opened the Gourmet Room. By this time I had been written up in many magazines and newspapers for my culinary skills. I was also on the advisory board for the Culinary Arts program at a community college. My partner was a silent partner and I was doing well in the restaurant, so I began skimming money out of the cash I was taking in, to support my alcohol and drug use as well as my gambling addiction. I also continued cheating on my wife.
My wine distributor knew I wanted to get rid of my partner, but my partner wouldn’t sell, so the wine distributor loaned me a quarter of a million dollars and Dale’s at Chick’s Beach on the Chesapeake Bay opened in 1983. The place I built is now owned by “Hell’s Kitchen.” But it was Hell’s Kitchen for me!
I opened to a packed house every day for lunch and dinner with a full liquor license and was open until 2 A.M.I was also doing a little TV segment on the local station and working 80-100 hours a week and still drinking and doing drugs around the clock. I also had a mistress where I would go to exercise my cocaine habit. It was on one of those occasions that my wife started banging on her door, yelling, screaming and telling me to come and open the restaurant. This was one of my lowest moments and I decided to enter my 1st of 5 treatment programs.
When I left the program it wasn’t long before I relapsed and this relapse cost me everything. I had stopped paying on my restaurant loan and my restaurant was taken from me, but they kept my wife on to manage it. I had lost my restaurant, my marriage was over and I didn’t know it at the time but my career also. I walked away with just the clothes on my back.
I took another geographical cure and moved to a place in North Carolina where I had friends from my summer camp days as a kid and lived in a secluded cabin with no electricity or windows and just cold running water from a hose. It was just me and my dog. I had little money and there was a time when all I had enough money for was dog food and a whiskey. So my dog and I ate puppy chow and I chased it with whiskey. My dog was the only one who still lived me or so I thought.
I called home one day and my Mother agreed to help me, so I moved back to Florida to check into my 2nd treatment center. When I got out of treatment I got a job working for MetLife selling life insurance and eventually relapsed. I got another DUI which was fortunately reduced to reckless driving. After that incident , I had a head on collision in which I caused serious bodily injury to the other person. I walked away without a scratch and I got my 3rd DUI. I received five years probation and no jail time, because I had checked into a 3rd treatment center. When I finished 30 days I went to long term residential treatment for three months , started attending AA meetings every day and getting better.
I got a job as a roofer with some guys in recovery (who are still sober today and who I have contact with again). I found a sponsor and started working the steps. I made an attempt and actually did a fourth and fifth step with my sponsor. I now know that I had never resolved my issues I had with my belief in God. In my head I thought there must be a God, but I had a lot of doubt and didn’t have a relationship with Him. The extent of my belief expressed itself in the occasional “help me God” and that was about it.
I also didn’t follow direction about staying out of romantic involvement in my first year. In the BIG BOOK of Alcoholics Anonymous in “How It Works” in chapter five it says “Half measures avail us nothing!” That’s the way I was working my program. I was going to meetings every day, I was chairing meetings , I was not drinking or doing drugs, but I skipped from step five to step thirteen. I was continually acting out on my lust and none of these relationships was healthy, let alone Godly. These women I became involved with became my Higher Power. In my third year of sobriety I met Roberta and fell in love. She was sober a few more years than I was and we moved in together with her twelve year old son. That relationship was a tough one. We were on and off again, both struggling with issues. We separated but I thought I could fix everything. At 4 ½ years sober, I checked into a Co-dependency Treatment, thinking I would figure out how to fix it and get Roberta back. Needless to say, I was the problem, not the solution. I was in so much emotional pain that I couldn’t focus on anything, except how I was going to get her back. I had stopped calling my sponsor, I wasn’t praying or going to meetings. I was crazy and I knew how to kill the pain. I thought of suicide a number of times and I drank. Not a good choice! I’m going to repeat that. Not a good choice!!!
I got my fourth DUI with three days left on my five years of probation and to make matters worse I rear-ended a cop, causing them serious injury. I was sentenced to 6 ½ years in prison and my driver’s license was taken for life. I was a broken man. While I was in prison Roberta took her own life. I cried out to God to please help me. I was scared. More scared than I had ever been in my whole life. A peace came over me and I remember telling my Mom on the phone not to worry, that I was OK. While I was in prison I drew closer to God, attended AA meetings and Kairos Prison Ministry. I also enrolled in college correspondence courses to work towards a Ministry degree. My prison time was hard, but as I mentioned that poem “Footprints” earlier, it was God carrying me I know. At three years into my sentence I was sent to work-release and Publix hired me as a Deli Clerk. I was released when I had three and a half years of my six and a half year sentence served. After that I transferred from West Palm Beach to Tallahassee with Publix, so that I could be closer to my Mom and sister who live here and are here tonight. I love you both so much!
After I was released, I attended some AA meetings here, went to church a few times, but wasn’t working any kind of program. I had stopped talking to God and wasn’t reading my Bible or praying. I again thought I could just have a couple of beers and I would be fine. I couldn’t stop on my own. I had learned my lesson after all. I had put my life back together. I bought a house right down the street from here in Arbor Hills and I had a good job. I had become a productive member of society. I was capable of having a few beers and not get carried away. Surely, smoking pot wouldn’t hurt me I thought. But once again I was on a downward spiral. I lost my house because I could no longer afford the payments. I was drinking and smoking the money away. I decided to take another geographical cure and moved to Colorado to play cowboy. I had five years in with Publix so I gave my notice, took an early retirement and moved to Colorado where I found a job as a wrangler on a ranch. As a wrangler I drove a sleigh during the winter months. After two years of this I was completely broken again, so I called Publix and they hired me back over the phone. I packed up and came home. My rehire date was 7/7/07.
I continued to drink when I got back, but I tried to control it and I did although not very well for a little while. I began drinking on my lunch break and was soon confronted about it at work and through the employee assistance program I went to counseling to save my job, but then relapsed again. I went to my 4th treatment center in California and for the first time I was able to see the huge amount of unforgiveness and hurt I was carrying inside. I also was told about a twelve step Christian Recovery Program I had never heard of before called Celebrate Recovery. When I was released from treatment I came back to Tallahassee and came to CR for the first time. I came a few times and was going to AA meetings, but I was struggling. I drank again. It took me to the lowest point of my life. The BIG BOOK of AA talks about an incomprehensible demoralization. That’s where I was and what I was feeling. It also talks of those of us who are consistently incapable of being honest with ourselves. There are such unfortunates it says. I was almost sure I must be one of those.
I was a totally broken man. I didn’t want to live and I was afraid to die. I was suspended from work and ready to lose my job. I checked into Detox at TMH. I had to choose inpatient or outpatient treatment after detox. I chose outpatient because it was designed to help me build a support group, which I had never done before. During this time I came back to CR. I started looking for a sponsor and kept asking around but I kept getting told they weren’t taking any new people or couldn’t do it for whatever reason, so I started to get discouraged. I went to Jim K. and asked him if he could recommend anyone. He said, “Well, there is this one guy. He helps a lot of people. He and his wife came here. He’s really, really tall. His wife does the announcements up front sometimes.” He wasn’t there that night, but when I was at church that Sunday I saw Sharon standing at the coffee pot and this really tall man standing next to her. I said to myself, “That must me Lonny.” So I went up to him and said, “ Jim K. suggested I talk to you. I’m looking for a sponsor.” He looked at me and said, “Well, I’ve got one opening at 7 am on Sunday mornings.” Without hesitation I said, “I’ll take it!”
I will be a year next month that I’ve been meeting Lonny on Sunday mornings. I believe God put him in my life. I have no doubt about that. Sunday mornings are very special to me. I thank God for him and so does my dear Mother and sister. I love you Lonny! Thank you! The one thing I have always struggled with is my Faith. Lonny suggested I read a book called, “Extraordinary Living For Ordinary Men” by Sam Shoemaker.
For those of you who don’t know who he is, he was the Reverend Camon Sam Shoemaker, who’s teachings and writings influenced the Oxford Group and Bill Wilson, who co-founded AA. Bill Wilson actually asked him to write the 12 steps and he said no, that they needed to be written by an alcoholic. Anyway he talked about how to find faith in Chapter 2 of this book. He suggests a spiritual experiment in your own life and goes on to tell you how to go about it.
(Insert Sam Shoemaker----------Chapter-------------------------------------------------Insert)
I did the experiment and all my doubt was taken from me.
Step 2- Came to Believe. It was in doing this experiment that I had my spiritual experience, which is talked about in Step 12. James 4:8 says come hear to God and “He will come near to you.”
Another of my favorite verses is Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” That’s happening in my life as a result of Step 3, we made a decision to run our wills and our lives over to the care of God. The best way I can explain Step 3 to anyone is to put it in poker terms, “I’m all In”, Everything” all of me!
Step 3 is about letting God do whatever He wants to do with me. I’ve proved that my way didn’t work. I hope you can learn from my experience and not have to go through the things I went through
Steps 4&5, helped me remove more of the blocks and walls I had put up that kept God out of my life. They also helped me to release a lot of the unforgiveness, pain, and hurts I had been carrying around with me.
Steps 6-9, bring me even closer to God and help me to grow spiritually.
Step 10, is like cleaning my house daily and taking out the trash.
Step 11, is my special time every day with God. It’s the most important part of my day. It’s when I talk to God and when He talks to me. It’s what makes everything possible, because without Him I’m lost
Step 12, having lad a spiritual experience as the result of these steps
AS THE RESULT. LET ME SAY THAT AGAIN, AS THE RESULT OF THESE STEPS!
I promise you if you work these steps to the best of your ability you will have a spiritual experience. I’ve seen it over and over again and you will want to carry this message. The message of God’s undeserved Grace, love and forgiveness. It is so awesome there are wo words to describe it!
Philippians 1:6 says and I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day when Jesus Christ returns. What’s my life like today? Beyond my wildest dreams. All my family relationships have been restored. I love you Mom! I love you Shery! When I went into treatment they were ready to fire me at work. My last evaluation they gave me rolemodel! I was blessed to go to the Summit this year. I’ve been visiting prison every week with CR Inside for 10 months now and this past week I visited two different prisons carrying the message of recovery to those who are still lost.
I had a man in prison for his 6th time this past week who swore he would never do a fifth step, share his 5th step with me and cry like a baby as Jesus began the healing process in him. I see God at work right before my very eyes every time I go into a prison. My drivers license was taken for life back in 1996, but when I celebrate a year sober next month a door has been opened for me to get my drivers license back. I will also be nicotine free for a year in December after 40 years of smoking. I no longer gamble and I’ve stayed out of relationships and romantic involvements my first year so I could focus on my recovery. My current struggle is with “FOOD”. But now that I have all of you as accountability partners, I’m quite certain God will help me recover in that area too! I want leave you with a couple of things.
Trust God!
Clean house!
Help others!
God loves you and so do I.

2012-07-12T06:53:00.002-04:00

I am doing something I have never done before by asking for prayer and financial help to help pay for my trip for Leadership Training @ the Celebrate Recovery Summit in California ,August 8-11,2012. I was told pride was what was keeping me from asking so I am stepping out in faith and trusting God . Thanks for your prayers and your support.

Click here to support Send Me to the Celebrate Recovery Summit by Dale white

Your donations will allow me to attend the Summit for training so I can become a better ministry leader.Any donations that exceed what I need will go to help Celebrate Recovery Inside Prison Ministry. The purpose of Saddleback Church's Celebrate Recovery ministry is to fellowship and celebrat...

2012-07-12T06:52:00.001-04:00

"I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me. I will be found by you," says the Lord.
Jeremiah 29:11-14, page 766

2012-07-05T09:30:00.002-04:00

Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks.
Matthew 7:7-8, page 937

2012-07-04T06:47:00.002-04:00

THE POWER OF HABIT

I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am completely at your command.
Half the things you do you might as well turn over to me,
And I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.
I am easily managed; you must merely be firm with me.
Show me exactly how you want something done,
And after a few lessons I will do it automatically.
I am the servant of all great individuals
And, alas, of all failures as well.
Those who are great I have made great
Those who are failures I have made failures.
I am not a machine,
Though I work with all the precision of a machine
Plus the intelligence of a human being.
You may run me for profit or run me for ruin;
It makes no difference to me.
Take me, train me, be firm with me,
And I will put the world at your feet
Be easy with me, and I will destroy you.
Who am I?
I am habit!

2012-06-30T06:28:00.002-04:00

Therefore,since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1

2012-06-29T05:22:00.000-04:00

CELEBRATE RECOVERY'S EIGHT BIBLICAL PRINCIPALS

CELEBRATE RECOVERY’S EIGHT RECOVERY PRINCIPLES
The Road to Recovery
Based on the Beatitudes

Realize I’m not God; I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life is unmanageable. (Step 1)

“Happy are those who know that they are spiritually poor.”

Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him and that He has the power to help me recover. (Step 2

“Happy are those how mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control. (Step 3)

“Happy are the meek.”

Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust. (Steps 4 and 5)

“Happy are the pure in heart.”

Voluntarily submit to any and all changes God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character defects. (Steps 6 and 7)

“Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires”

Evaluate all my relationships. Offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me and make amends for harm I’ve done to others when possible, except when to do so would harm them or others. (Steps 8 and 9)

“Happy are the merciful.”

“Happy are the peacemakers”

Reserve a time with God for self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will. (Steps 10 and 11)

Yield myself to God to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and my words. (Step 12)

“Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires.”

2012-06-29T04:58:00.003-04:00

VERSE OF THE DAY
Don't let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. – Colossians 2: 8

2012-06-28T09:19:00.002-04:00

For Today. ...."Be glad for all God is planning for you .Be patient in trouble,and prayerful always." Romans 12:12

2012-06-27T05:51:00.002-04:00

Today's meditation....VERSE OF THE DAY
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. – Philippians 4: 8

Christians in Recovery: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your lif...

2012-06-25T07:25:00.003-04:00

Christians in Recovery: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your lif...: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more im...

2012-06-25T07:25:00.001-04:00

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?"

2012-06-24T08:38:00.002-04:00

From Mac @ Celebrate recovery....THANK YOU !.....Our daughter and her family are staying with us for the summer while her husband completes his internship with a company. Their two sons love to come down early in the morning. The first thing they ask is, "Papa, will you fix us some pancakes?" I love hearing those words because they are still dependent on us to meet their needs. I know they are growing up and will eventually take care of their own physical needs. So right now, I love fixing pancakes.

In just a couple of hours we will be going to meet with our Forever Family and worship our Heavenly Father. I will be reminded how in my relationship with Him, I will never "grow up" so much that I can do things on my own. At times, I will try and will come up short. And then I have to remember, there is a direct connection between how well things go in my life and how much I rely on Him. Today, I understand that being "grown up" means I rely on Him. Guide my life today, Father, it's yours. Mac CR Natl. Dir. West

2012-06-24T05:51:00.000-04:00

New beginnings.....God always wants to give you a fresh beginning. No matter what has happened to you, God still has a plan for your life. He will meet you right where you are. Ask him into your heart now and seek and look for him with all your heart. Go all in with God and surrender everything to Him and watch and see what happens.

2012-06-19T21:07:00.001-04:00

CELEBRATE RECOVERY...

CELEBRATE RECOVERY At this year's Summit, Celebrate Recovery will be starting a new decade. This program has now been changing lives for over 20 years! Make sure you're a part of this 3-day event. This event has sold out each of the last 5 years. Be sure to reserve your spot today!

Lives are changing! Over 800,000 people have gone through the Celebrate Recovery program in more than 18,000 churches worldwide. Celebr...ate Recovery helps those struggling with hurts, habits and hang-ups find the loving, healing power of Jesus Christ through the recovery process.

The Summit is designed to help churches of all sizes launch and grow a Christ-centered recovery program. You’ll learn from co-founders John and Cheryl Baker, and many more. You will have the opportunity to explore several new, practical, and transformational workshops! If you’ve attended the Celebrate Recovery Summit before, bring new leaders with you this year.

More conference information athttp://www.celebraterecovery.com/?page_id=2659! TO DONATE TO HELP ME ATTEND THE SUMMIT CLICK ON THE GO FUND ME LINK TO THE RIGHT AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE . THANKS AND GOD BLESS.

2012-06-19T10:35:00.000-04:00

CELEBRATE RECOVERY SUMMIT. I am very active in Celebrate Recovery . I am trying to raise enough funds to attend a training summit @Saddleback Church in California from August 8-10,2012. This summit will help me to become a better ministry leader . Part of my CR service is with Celebrate Recovery Inside where I go into prisons every week to share recovery with those incarcerated. Any donations can be made to Gofundme.com/summit . There is also a link to your right on this page . Click on the link to learn more.

2012-06-17T07:38:00.001-04:00

Was very blessed yesterday as we kicked off another Celebrate Recovery 12 step study @ Wakulla Correctional Institution .It's always great when we have the Wardens support and this morning he addressed the new group and thanked the inmates for taking the steps to better their lives so that when they are released they won't be coming back. 95 (ninety-five) % of those inmates will be released within 5 years. God is working through Celebrate Recovery to reach these men and transform their lives . It's amazing to see the changes God makes in these men in about 12 weeks time through the 12 Steps and 8 Christian principals taken from the Beatitudes. What an awesome God we serve !!!

There's No Room for God When I'm Full of Myself

2012-01-13T06:57:00.002-05:00

I have found that when I am full of myself, meaning that when I am my focus, when it's all about me, when all I care about is how whatever happens affects me, I am in trouble. When my EGO is involved I am in trouble. EGO (Easing God Out ) is my real trouble with my life. I have to get rid of my selfishness and self-centeredness and put God first. Christ said that He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. So how do we find that life? Christ also says "He that loveth his life loseth it; and he that hateth life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." God wants us to have an abuntant life. He want us to have happiness and peace , and love and joy. But we have to go the way of the cross. His way of finding abuntant life is to die to self. We don't usually die to self by just making that decision. We usually have it forced on us by life. To quote Sam Shoemaker in his book" Extraordinary Living for ordinary Men", " our sins and the cruelty with which others meet them reduce us to humiliation. We are confronted with a decision which puts Christ and other people first and runs the same minus sign through our own selves as the cross ran through Christ." When we get out of the way , so God can move and work in us and through us , then we find the abundant life that He wants us to have. Giving of self- which means dying to self- we find ourselves..We come to believe this by looking around and seeing those that live by giving themselves , being that they are not out to succeed or to have power or to amass a fortune but only to do the will of God. And we watch those that live for themselves go through life struggling to get their share and come to a lonely old age. When we watch those that make the unselfish decision to let the minus sign cross them out and take the way of the cross, we see the fruits and the results and hear people rise up and call them blessed. And better yet, hear God's voice saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant.....Quoting Sam Shoemaker again ," When we voluntarily take the way of the cross ,the way of sacrificing self,of giving self, for God and for others, then we will not have the way of the cross of war thrust upon us. We must learn that the way of the cross is written into the constitution of this universe, and it is the only way that leads to life and to peace. " If you would like to get a copy of "Extraordinary Living for Ordinary Men " by Sam Shoemaker you can click on the link on the sidebar to take you to Amazon and to Sam Shoemakers books. Your comments are welcome . Please come by often.

TURN IT OVER TO GOD

2012-01-10T10:51:00.000-05:00

I want to preface my posts on this blog by telling you that GOD gets the credit for anything good that comes from me, as I hope will be the case here. It's only through GOD'S awesome Grace that I am able to do this. My life belongs to Him. It took me a long time to understand that. Most of my life I have tried to control everything that I did and everything others did, and I always came up short. This site is a place where I can share with you where I've been , what happened, and what my life is like today. Recovery from our hurts, habits, addictions, hangups or whatever is troubling us starts right where we are today. We can not change the past .When I really hit bottom I was a broken man. I drank alcoholicly for 30 some years and it took me places I never thought I would ever go. I made countless attempts to quit on my own , sometimes for other people , and sometimes because I was tired of being sick and tired. There were a couple of times in my life when I made successful attempts to sober up through the help of AA. I was able to stay sober 5 years in one such attempt and my life got better in spite of myself. The problem was , I was not drinking but I was still trying to run my life. I was full of myself. I made an attempt at working my way through the 12 steps in AA, but half measures availed me nothing in the long run. My life was run on fear and selfishess, self-centerdness and I failed miserably. I found out how the progression of the disease of addiction continues to grow in us even when we aren't using. After 5 years of being sober (or dry) I drank and was arrested for my 4th DUI after I wrecked another car and this time I crashed into a policeman. I was sentenced to 6+ years in prison and I served 3+ years. I went to AA in prison and stayed clean and sober while in prison. I reached out to God during this period of my life and He was with me I know. I tell you this because when I got out of prison and everything was going ok for a while I stopped reaching out to God and was again trying to run my life my way . I tried a little controlled drinking and for a while I did ok , but once again alcohol kicked my butt !!! I was a beaten, broken man . I feared I was one of those the Big Book of AA refers to as constitutionally incapable of being honest with myself. I was scared of living and afraid to die although I wanted to die to stop the pain and turmoil that constituted my life. I was lost ,broken and didn't know what to do or where to go . I feared God wouldn't help me if there was a God ,and I had my doubts that there was a God. I had one little moment of hope and I asked God to help me. That's where my recovery began and what an awesome journey it has been so far. I surrendered my life to God. I had finally gotten to the point where I knew my ways had never worked so I let God have all of me. That was the turning point in my life. I prayed for God to help me especially with my doubts and unbelief . In Mark 9:23-24 Jesus tells us "Everything is possible for him who believes." And the boys father said "I believe, help me with my unbelief." That has been my prayer at times when I feel doubt that God is with me. And that "All things are possible to him who believes." Remarkable things began to happen in my life and I knew without any doubt that God was with me and working in my life. I didn't do all of this on my own. God put some very special people in my life , like my sponsor and my friends in Celebrate Recovery and AA and my Church. God has also blessed me with a wonderful family who supports me . I know in my heart that God loves me and has a purpose for my life. Everyday is a gift from God and I ask Him to lead me and guide me in what it is He wants me to do. I go to Him with everything throughout my day and ask Him what it is I should do. And I thank Him for His awesome love and grace. If you would like to share your experience ,strength and hope I welcome any comments . Please join me often as we continue to seek God and His will for us .

HOW TO FIND FAITH

2012-01-10T10:50:00.000-05:00

Have you ever doubted your faith ? I was one who considered myself a Christian and said I believed in Jesus Christ. But my problem was that my faith was superficial. Deep down inside I had doubt. If there was a God ,how could He allow all these bad things to happen in this world and to me? So for years of being in and out of recovery with continous relapses I struggled. Because deep down inside I really didn't believe in a power greater than myself. Which really takes me back to Step One. I admitted I was powerless over alcohol and my other addictions because they continually destroyed my life but because I really didn't have a faith that was SURE I struggled in my own power to control my addictions. See any insanity there ? So Step 2 , CAME TO BELIEVE in a power greater than myself was where I was having a problem . I tried everything in my power to think my way out of this box I was in. I was powerless over my addictions (I later figured out I was powerless over just about everything), my life was unmanageable, but I had no power to stop . I needed to erase the doubts I had about GOD. I've been blessed with a really awesome sponsor, and He had suggested I read some books by Sam Shoemaker. It was in Sam Shoemaker's book "Extraordinary Living for Ordinary Men"that I found the solution which set me free. The second chapter in the book is titled , How To Find Faith. That chapter helped me immensely, but there was one particular segment which really caught me . It said I should begin a spiritual experiment in my own life. So, I began doing that. The experiment of faith is simple. Begin reading your Bible. Begin going to church.Begin acting as if God were, by praying. If you feel doubt, tell Him so.Be Honest. ( This was new to me . How could I tell God I doubted whether he was real or not .) Call on Him when you awaken in the morning. Say over the old familiar things like the Lord's Prayer. Ask Him to use this day, to guide you in working out the solution to your problems, all of them. Try that. Go as far with it as you can. Behave and live as if God were ,and you will find that He is. Reach out to Him in every way open to you, and He will make Himself known to you.Try and continue to try the spiritual experiment. And then act. Doubt of any kind cannot be removed except by action. You can't guide a bicycle that is leaning against a wall-you can only guide a bicycle that is in motion. God can't guide a person who always stands still, paralyzed by doubt and misgiving. Better step out and make a mistake, and really get in motion-then God can get at you and correct the mistake. WOW !!! I encourage you to try this experiment in your own life and see what happens. Pray a simple prayer -Lord ,I believe, help me with my unbelief. And try this experiment , and I believe it will change your life . You will not only find faith and remove the doubts you may have , you will be amazed at the remarkable things that begin to happen in your life. And you will come to know in your heart and soul that God is with you .I would recomend reading any books by Sam Shoemaker and you can find them on Amazon.com by clicking on any of the links I have provided here on my site. I especially would suggest EXTRAORDINARY LIVING FOR ORDINARY MEN. What an awesome book. I would love to hear the outcomes of your experiments. Hope to hear from you and God Bless you.

RENEWING YOUR MIND

2012-01-06T06:51:00.001-05:00

This post is taken from "JESUS LIVES" , a devotional by Sarah Young, Author of" JESUS CALLING". I really love this so I wanted to share it with you. RENEWING YOUR MIND DO NOT BE CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD,BUT BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND.I understand your struggles; I know that the world exerts relentless preassure on you, trying to squeeze you into its mold. This is why you need time alone with Me. When you open up to Me and invite me to transform you, I can work freely in you and accomplish amazing things. One of My most challenging tasks is renovating your mind, and My Spirit is always at work on this project. He does not overwhelm you with His Power. Instead ,He prompts you gently and convicts you cleanly-showing you where you need to make changes and helping you develop new attitudes. Many Christians are unable to discern My will because their minds are entangled in worldliness. The glitter and glamour of this world distract them from Me, so they do not sense My nearness. As you are transformed by the renewing of your mind, you progress in your ability to discern My good and perfect will. You also become increasingly aware of My loving Presence with you. This awareness is so pleasureable that it draws you ever closer to Me-increasing the effectiveness of My work in you, creating an upward spiral of transformation. thus you grow not only closer to Me but also more like Me. This is a fortaste of what is to come when I am fully revealed: YOU WILL BE LIKE ME, FOR YOU WILL SEE ME AS I AM. BIBLE VERSE FOR THE DAY : "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." ROMANS 12:2 Hope everyone has a day blessed with God's renewing and transforming power.