What does it take to be in recovery from an addiction I had lived with for almost 45 years? In 2010, I thought I had the answer. October of that year I took my last drink and with the Lord’s help day-to-day and sometimes minute to minute I said no. I was a recovered alcoholic, right? I sure thought so.
Then sometime in 2011 I started watching a program called Celebrating Life in Recovery. I liked the format and thought that the ministry was awesome. Every week I would see another recovery story and for some reason they would always make me a little uncomfortable. I would walk away feeling like something was missing in my life and if I could admit it in my recovery. But overall, life was good, I wasn’t drinking or drugging, I was a baptized Christian. What more could I ask?
Life continued with its ups and its downs but late in 2014 my wife passed away and suddenly, I found that all the ground I had gained in my fight with addictions almost completely slip away. The urges were back. I could smell the booze every time I walked past a liquor store. I knew now that my recovery had been built on sand. And at any moment it could be blown away. Just not drinking was not enough. I needed help.
As I was praying about this about 3 months later. I was impressed to turn on 3ABN, the Christian channel I watched often. As I did I saw that Celebrating Life in Recovery was on. I hadn’t watched it in a long time but as I did now the interview seemed to be directed right at me. I heard the word of God addressing my life. When the program was over, I felt a new strength. It was so different from when I had watched years before. This is what I had needed, God had thrown me a life line. And with the help and prayers of Christian friends and regular watching of CLIR, life seemed good again. Full recovery, right?
I did not know that there was still a unknown road ahead for me. By God’s grace I was now sharing my testimony of a recovered man whenever I could which led my wife’s cousin Pastor Vern and his wife Patty to ask me if I would share a testimony at their church in Cave Junction, Oregon. They were involved in a program that had just begun and asked if I had ever heard of Celebrating Life in Recovery. I thought “Hmm, that’s a coincidence. Them asking me to testify at a CLIR meeting.” But, of course, there are no coincidences with an all-knowing God. He knew something I didn’t, it was time for me to take another step in having the recovered life He wanted for me. And even though I thought I was at the end of the road, He knew it was just the beginning.
So, I went and I did testify. But in the process, I attended my first Celebrating Life in Recovery meeting and I have never left. I came back the next week, this time as a group leader. The program had taken the heart and soul of the TV show and combined it with a love fest which included recovery I had never considered. Not just spiritually, but in body. Small groups where sharing brings healing. With lessons based on one of the best Christian books ever written, Steps to Christ and the Word of God. I had found my home.
The program is now part of my life and ministry. I was the team leader for the Grants Pass, Oregon church in the fall of 2015. After re-marring and moving to the Macon, Georgia area I continued to lead the program and when the pandemic struck I teamed up with True Step Ministries founder and CLIR creator Cheri Peters to start an online program. Now I am blessed to be part of this ministry sharing writings, and continuing to connect to many through CLIR online and in person now in Texas. But the best thing of all is, I know now, recovery is not an end. Nor is it only for addicts. The word of God says, “for us all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:33) but He is, as my friend Cheri says, crazy about us and wants us to lead a full life. And that is what Celebrating Life in Recovery is all about.
Note: Celebrating Life in Recovery is a free 14 week program based on the TV series by the same name, hosted by Cheri Peters. Filled with spiritual lessons, health topics and centered on small group discussion. It is not just for those with addictions but for anyone who is struggling with issues that are keeping them from healthy relationships with others and with God. For more information, please check out www.truestepcelebratinglife.org . Also look for new ministry opportunities to share and connect: Second Monday Celebrate Life Café and Celebrating Life Through the Arts. More info is available by contacting Cheri and there is so much more to come!!