I remember being at a Catholic spirituality conference the summer before I got married. The conference included a time of Eucharistic adoration, and so in the silence of that space, I did what any faithful Catholic fiancée would do and opened up to God about my fears....
Growing up amidst the turbulence of alcoholism and dysfunction, my instinctive urge for control was born from a longing for stability. As I navigate this journey of healing, I am discovering that true liberation springs not only from acceptance but from surrendering...
Growing up as an adult child of a dysfunctional home (ACDH) can leave lasting emotional scars. One of the most challenging aspects of our journey to healing is confronting painful relationships with controlling, manipulative, and abusive family members. That is why...
My forty-sixth birthday had just passed. I looked in the mirror on my husband’s side of the room. He was in the bathroom, and his was the only mirror available. I pressed my fingertips to the sides of my cheeks. There was no denying it: my laugh lines, the parentheses...
When I had been dating my husband for about three months, I told him I was getting concerned about our relationship. I was feeling like he wasn’t listening to me as much as I was listening to him, and I was wondering if we could address this so we could work things...
For members of Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACA), part of our solution for healing is to become our own loving parents. We do this through 12-step work and by taking a blameless inventory of our caregivers to recognize the wounds that we received from them so that we...
I remember the moment I came to terms with my addiction: the moment I stepped out of denial and into God’s healing light. I had no idea what would happen. I was scared and overwhelmed with guilt and shame. I had gone almost twenty years without openly acknowledging...
“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...
I was a cradle Catholic raised as the oldest of four children. Being part of a large extended Irish-Catholic family, we had lots of celebrations where beer and liquor were always plentiful. When I was 10 years old my world fell apart, my father was a detective and he...
As time passes, our recovery brings with it new growth and awareness of God and ourselves. By living a life of honesty, openness, and willingness, God fills our hearts, minds, and spirits with new knowledge and wisdom, or “God thoughts.” For me, these thoughts have...