“Lord, please don’t let me lose my love for my husband,” I would pray. After years of living with a man with active alcoholism, I felt anything but loving. In fact, I was often in despair, full of fear, grief, and resentment, and on my knees with this prayer on my...
In my own recovery, I have found many helpful tools in St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises. I could almost call the Exercises a recovery program for addiction and codependency. Within these exercises, St. Ignatius offers rules for the “discernment of...
What does the term “unmanageable” even mean? I asked Google Bard AI for a definition, and here is what it returned: “Unmanageable means difficult or impossible to control or manage. It can be used to describe a person, an animal, a situation, or an object.” Synonyms...
I am a miracle. I am a recovering alcoholic and anorexic. It is my hope that by sharing my experience of addiction and recovery, I can bring awareness to others that there is a solution, and that through it they may experience a “spiritual awakening.” A spiritual...
When I was younger, I thought I would never be the type of person that was going to have a history of opioid addiction. I was the “good girl.” I was homeschooled. I was one of seven kids who had Christian parents (my Dad was a pastor!). Drugs were never even on my...
Each week, I drive by a beautiful park on my way to a recovery meeting. During my drive, I always notice a particular bench and remind myself that that’s where “it” happened—the Lord’s miraculous healing of my alcoholism. I came into the rooms of Recovery in 2013. I...
Step 9 - Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. The ninth step meant something quite different to me during my first attempt to work the steps. And as a result of my insane thinking and lack of...
Is your heart breaking and do you feel helpless from watching a family member or someone you love struggle with active addiction? Are you struggling to cope with the negative consequences that their addiction had brought into your life and theirs? If so, you are not...
We learn to live sober through the Twelve Steps. In doing so we find God. And in finding God we find ourselves. Miracles occur when we finally surrender everything to God and take action. One of the biggest miracles is realizing we can actually live without drugs and...
“Same dances in the same old shoes Some habits that you just can't lose There's no telling what a man might use After the thrill is gone” - The Eagles A few months ago, I was going back and forth in a text conversation with a friend from my home 12-step group. Though...