Celebrate Recovery at First Baptist Dallas

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009-01-06T18:20:00.002-06:00

I hope that this year has started off well for you so far. I know that there have been times in which the new years felt more like a curse due to my issues. Years can seem so long and for those who are right smack in the middle of dealing with something, this can be an extremely overwhelming time.

I hope you know that you do not have to face these fears by yourself. In the midst of all of your new year's resolutions, why not resolve to finally begin the most rewarding journey of your lifetime? It will be difficult and at times it will make absolutely no sense, but I promise you that God has a plan - and wants you - to live a free life.

As we begin at the beginning, we are going to look at denial. Specifically we admitted that we were powerless over our dependencies (regardless of what your dependency is) - that our lives had become unmanageable. Sometimes we are powerless because of our stations in life. We may be in a situation where other people have power over us. We may feel that we are trapped by the demands of others and that there's no way to please them all. it's a double bind: To please one is to disappoint another. Sometimes when we feel stuck and frustrated with our relationships, we look for a measure of control by escaping through our addictive behaviors and habits.

June Hunt goes on to elaborate in her book, Counseling Through Your Bible Handbook, by stating that:

Much of a habit's power rests in your belief that you are "on your own" during times of temptations. However, if you are a Christian, you are never alone. You have 'Christ in you'...to win the victory through you. The Bible says you are united with Christ, that you are 'one with him.' This means if you yield to temptation to be pulled down by a negative habit, you pull down Christ with you! Likewise, if you yield to Christ, He will pull you up above the temptation and be glorified within you. This understanding can be a life-changing motivator for you to reconsider your choices! - p. 208

So the key here is to be involved in a relationship with Christ. If this is foreign to you please, please ask me about this. I would love to personally share with you about what it means to engage in a relationship with Jesus...and not in the schmoozy, formulaic way that many churches tend to portray. Jesus is our Higher Power and He is our way - period. He has the power to help you break your addictions and habits whether it be drugs, pornography, codependecy, anger and/or anything else that is robbing you of your life.

Come check us out on Wednesday and see more for yourself. We're safe and we promise that you will not have to do anything that is embarrassing to you. We have all been where you are and many of us can attest to the fact that there is a way to beat your addictions and bad habits.

We'll see you at our new time - 6:30p. Until then, take care!

Welcome to Celebrate Recovery!

2008-11-14T01:23:00.002-06:00

For those of you who have never been with us before....WELCOME! Celebrate Recovery (CR) is a Jesus Christ-based, 12 step program to provide support to you regardless of your issues. We are a ministry of First Baptist Dallas and are proud to be part of a larger group that truly does care for your well-being.

Please take a moment to check out all of our information on the left of your screen. If you can't find what you're looking for, then please feel free to email us at pastoralmin@firstdallas.org; or feel free to publish a post and I can get back with you.

So what issues do we deal with at CR? Those who have joined us so far have dealt with some of the following:
- codependency
- sexual addiction
- eating disorders
- alcohol/chemical dependency
- depression/anxiety
- emotional abandonment
-sexual/physical/verbal abuse
- and the list just goes on...

The beautiful thing about CR is that the program is for any and all hurts, habits or hang-ups. We acknowledge that healing comes from a Higher Power....the Higher Power Himself, Jesus Christ. It is through a relationship with Him that we can find our way to recovery. The 12 steps that we use are tools to help us grow in our relationship withe Jesus. The steps help us evaluate our life and offer us solutions to make us well. Again, the 12 steps are not a magical formula and will not work if you don't grasp the relational aspect of this program. If you think about recovery in these terms, then you can easily say that everyone could be in recovery for something.

Aren't you tired of pretending that you have everything under control and that everything is okay? We do not have to pretend anymore. There is a place for us to come forward and admit that we have been hurt and feel stuck. Come check us out and I promise you that we won't embarrass you or call you out. We won't judge you either because we've all been where you're at right now. It's hard work, but God does promise us freedom and wholeness.

See you on Wednesday.

Obtaining Victory

2008-08-18T19:18:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone -

I hope this finds you all well. I took the month of July off from several of my duties so that I could rest up a bit. Now that we're practically into September, there are some awesome things that I hope to be sharing with you all within the next few posts.

This Wednesday we will be talking about Victory; specifically tackling the question: "How can you have victory over your character defects?" Now I want you to stop for a couple of moments and think about how you have attempted to gain victory over your habits. Maybe your head is instantaneously bombarded with strong, self-imposed resolutions such as, "I am not ever going to look at pornography again!"; or, "I am going to get eat less and exercise every other day!!"; or even better: "I am going to wake up early and spend time with God!!!"

Now perhaps you're able to make these calls and then automatically follow through with them without much effort or help. It is my experience and my understanding that tells me that many times, we come across with these wonderful statements of good intentions; only to end up failing because we're not as strong as we thought; which only makes us even more shameful, depressed and/or angry; which then leads us to more addictive, compulsive behaviors and so on and so on.

Principle 5 is in my opinion, one of the most incredible principles that we rely upon. It says:

Voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character defects.

James 4:10 promises us that if we humble ourselves before God - assuming that we are relationship with Him - that he will lift us up. Will it be easy? Probably not, but God has yet to follow through on His promises. We, however, must first keep our end of the deal and submit to His power, which is much easier said than done.

Be sure to join us on Wednesday evening as our teacher tells us in much more depth how to go about obtaining victory and what it means to "submit to His power."

Hope to see you all there -
JH

Cardboard Testimonies

2008-06-30T20:51:00.001-06:00

Casting Your Cares

2008-06-11T13:44:00.001-06:00

Please know up front that I cannot take credit for writing what you see below. One of our awesome CR leaders sent this to me and I thought that it was completely worthy of blog-posting. Read on and enjoy...truly meditate on the words below.

Casting All your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

1 Peter 5:7

As you’ve no doubt discovered, becoming a Christian does not make your problems go away. But it does give you an Advocate to whom you can take every concern. The Christians Peter addressed were facing persecution. They did not know whom they could trust; a friend, a neighbor, or even a family member could betray them, resulting in suffering and even death. But Peter had walked with the risen Christ, and he had personally experienced the love that Jesus had for His followers. He knew that Christ was in control, capable of handling every trial and that He wanted to do so as an expression of His love.

Casting our cares is a choice. It means consciously handing over our anxiety to Christ and allowing Him to carry the weight of our problems. At times this is the most difficult part of trusting God! We don’t like turning over the responsibility for our problems. We have been taught that self-reliance is good and praiseworthy We may even enjoy worrying. Yet if we are to be freed from the burden of our concerns, we must choose to cast them into the strong hands of our Father.

Peter does not distinguish between little cares and big cares. God does not differentiate between problems we should handle on our own and God-sized needs. He asks us to turn them all over to Him. Once our greatest errors is to assume we can deal with something ourselves, only to discover that we really can’t.

God sees you as His frail child, burdened with a load that surpasses your strength. He stands prepared to take your load and to carry it for you. Will you let Him?

Way Overdue!!!

2008-06-08T21:34:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone -

I hope that this finds everyone well. I'm sorry that it's been a month since I've last updated our blog but it has been craaaazzzy these last five weeks. In addition to graduating (which meant cramming a lot of work into two weeks :) I took on a new job that I absolutely thought was going to be incredible. In case you don't know this already....I am a people-person...that's the whole reason that I chose Counseling and Human Resources Management. So I was extremely excited to begin this new job which was advertised as "HR with 'light' bookkeeping for a small firm." I interviewed well and gladly took the job...without reading a job description. I know what you're thinking: "Jeremy! What kind of HR person are you? You NEVER take a job without reading a description!!!!" This was a hard lesson learned for me....especially for the newbie, in-experienced HR person that I am :). My job was straight-up accounting for 8 hours a day and it's been soooo uninspiring. This alone, I feel that I would've eventually gotten over, but to make matters worse, my boss is the antithesis of a people-person. Unfortunately, this man has created an atmosphere of utter fear and intimidation in his office and I, along with several other coworkers, have been the target of verbal/emotional abuse. Not being dramatic here folks....it really is that serious and it has made my life's balance just about unmanageable at times. FORTUNATELY for me, I have an awesome network of friends both inside and outside of CR that have truly helped me along this path - especially my wife, my sponsor, my accountability group, and our CR leadership.

However, I have learned some valuable lessons throughout all of this:

1.) Always get a job-description.
It is absurd to jump into a job not knowing what is expected. Our recovery journey is somewhat similar I suppose. In order to reach a place of recovery, we need a structured description or plan of action, if you will. Celebrate Recovery is a good plan of action for recovery. Not only does it lay out 12 steps, but it mandates a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ as well as encouraging service and giving back. It also lets you know that there is a good bit of work involved. Tonight, we just finished our first step but it has taken us two meetings to do so. There are 11 more steps to go.....roll up your sleeves folks because the job description for CR tells us that there is a good amount of recovery work to do.

2.) Be on the alert for hidden junk.
When I tell most people in CR that I have struggled with trust and abandonment, I usually get a furrowed brow and sometimes - if I'm lucky - a sympathetic head nod. It's hard to comprehend until I go deeper. Due to my trust issues I have battled pornography in the past. However, these last few weeks have revealed to me that I also deal with codependency issues. For an easy to understand website that explains codependency in greater detail, check out: http://www.nmha.org/go/codependency.

3.) Relationships are key!
This one is simple:
If you want a productive office, treat your employees fairly and respectfully. Value them.
If you want to truly experience grace and healing, you need to engage in a relationship with Jesus Christ.
If you don't want to be overwhelmingly alone, then you need to form supportive, healthy relationships with others - even when it's the last thing you want to do on earth.

Below is a video for a most incredible song that has really ministered to me throughout the past month. It's called "Whatever You're Doing" by the group Sanctus Real. Check it out :)

Also, one good song deserves another. This one is called "Revelation Song" and it's INCREDIBLE! Check out the link below and it should bring up the lyrics in addition to the tune. We introduced this song last week in CR and will be adding it to our praise and worship set so be ready to sing to our wonderful God!

Well....that's it for now. I will do my best not to neglect the blog for a month again. I hope to see you at CR this Wednesday. Until then, take care.
:)

Life Without Limbs

2008-04-17T15:55:00.003-06:00

Oh my goodness....be prepared to be blown away! I had heard of this young man months ago but didn't think twice about it until my wife and my uncle both forwarded his testimony to me. I want to share it with you now. It takes a couple of minutes to download and is about 13 minutes in length but please make sure you watch it in its entirety. This young man has bound to have had many hurts caused by this condition but is now a shining example of how anyone can experience the freedom and joy of Jesus Christ. It is my hope that you are equally inspired by this during your recovery journey!

Check it out and then let's talk about it. Comments will be open...

Slow Down

2008-04-15T19:09:00.000-06:00

In recent years, I’ve come to learn the value of a good old dictionary. For in its pages are found a king’s ransom worth of knowledge.

In Prov. 19:2 we read “Also it’s not good for a person to be without knowledge. And he who hurries his footsteps errs.” The knowledge we are to learn here is the negative consequences of moving or acting in haste. I found it very interesting that the word hurricane (a windstorm of intense severity) precedes the word hurry and the word hurt follows right after it in the dictionary (just a coincidence?)

How many times has our impatience spirit turned a delicate situation into a tropical cyclone leaving behind a host of hurt (injured, damaged, grieved, distressed, and wounded) people!

Its here that one’s inability to wait causes us to err (go astray; to be mistaken and to sin.) Isn’t a shame, when all the dust finally settles to find out, that it was all just a big misunderstanding? If we would of just slowed down a-bit and waited patiently. You see, it’s only in that state of being, that we can see the whole picture, and find a peaceful solution.

James 1:19 “This you know, my beloved, brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger.”

My friends, if we must – must open up our big mouths, let us direct our words in manner recommended in Phillippians 4: 6, 7 “Be anxious for NOTHING, but in EVERTHING by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the PEACE Of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

I believe with all my heart that if we can muster up the courage to apply this solution, we will hear the voice of the Master saying to the storm, “Peace be still.”

Your friend always in the Journey

Temecula, Ca.

Worshipping Around the World

2008-03-31T12:32:00.002-06:00

Generally, dance and choreography are not commonly used within the Southern Baptist tradition. Although I agree while some of this dancing bit at times is somewhat corny, sometimes it's absolutely beautiful and it helps us worship in a totally different sense.

Below is a dance by a ministry from S. Korea called "Father's Love: Body Worship Dance." It's really neat to see how other cultures worship and the song that they chose is a song that we will soon be doing at CR.

Remember, worship is a huge part of Celebrate Recovery. Come see us on Wednesday evenings and truly worship the one, living Higher Power - Jesus Christ- with us!

P.S. Just ignore the first corny 18 seconds of the video :)

Am I really insane?

2008-03-18T20:31:00.003-06:00

I remember asking myself this the first time that I read Step 2. It states that:

"We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."

Now I've been told that many people struggle with the first step because they have trouble admitting that they are powerless. This was not the case for me as I knew straight from the get go that I was failing miserably at my own "recovery," but I really struggled with this second step for a while. It turns out that I had the wrong definition of the word "sanity" reeling through my head.

Like you, I thought that insanity simply meant crazy....as in he-needs-to-be-in-a-padded-room crazy. But that is not what it implies at all in CR. Simply put, insanity is defined as "doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result each time." It reminds me of geometry homework. Now...geometry was my least favorite, most hated and most horrid class during my high school tenure. To this day I still want to throw up when I hear of complex word problems involving two trains going to a station....LOL. Anyway, I remember struggling with many problems at home and I would spend long periods of time on one problem. I could never get the answer though because every time I tried to tackle the problem, I would do it the same, wrong way that I had done before. Before I knew it, my wrong way of thinking had become habitual in the way that I tackled geometry and it made for a really difficult semester for me. So this is a baby example, but try to apply this definition of insanity to your own life. How many times have you gotten high expecting a different result. Or how many times have you looked at an inappropriate website just knowing that this would be the last time? Or...how many times have you gone back into that abusive relationship thinking that this time it would be different?

Sanity, on the other hand, is a "wholeness of mind; making decisions based on the truth." Going back to math hell...if I had sought truth from my instructor by going to tutoring then I would have broken my insane habits and would have been able to make better, whole decisions about my homework. As believers, we are armed with truth at every angle. We have God's Word that helps us make decisions about everything...including our recovery. We have the Holy Spirit that lives within us, guiding us every step of the way if we will just let him. We have each other - sponsors, accountability partners and fellow recoverers that can help us have a wholeness of mind.

Remember that the first step to dealing with your insanity is believing....to earnestly believe that God exists, that you matter to Him, and that He has the power to help you recover. Without this foundational principle, your recovery isn't going to go anywhere. You'll get frustrated with it, and yourself and before you know it, you'll be doing the same exact things that you were doing before hoping that this time will be different. Move from chaos into hope...believe in God and all that He promises to do.

Hope to see you on Wednesday.

Dealing with Rain...

2008-03-07T15:41:00.002-06:00

Here is a beautiful, song that deals with God's timing in our lives. If you enjoy Southern Gospel music then you're especially going to love this song!

Here's to better things....

2008-03-04T15:09:00.002-06:00

Have you ever thought about "hope" and its meaning. The dictionary defines hope as "a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen." I personally think that hope - and the action of hoping - is a beautiful thing. Unfortunately though, it's one of those buzzwords that everyone likes to throw around so much that it tends to lose its significance in our daily lives.

Principle 2 is called the Hope Principle in our CR literature. It says this:
Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him, and that He has the power to help me recovery."

Much like our recovery, having hope is not just something that happens to us; rather, it is something that grows and develops as we put effort into it. As always, the founder of CR, Pastor John Baker has come up with an acrostic for HOPE. Usually I find these rather irritating after awhile but this one is short and extremely applicable (they're all applicable by the way...).

H - Higher Power
Alright guys, this is what separates CR from other addiction programs. We do not believe in an ambiguous higher power that we cannot name or experience and we certainly don't believe that recovery happens on our own. We believe in the one, true higher power- Jesus Christ - the ever-living, resurrected Son of God who came to save each of us.

O - Openness to Change
This is hard for many people because we tend to want to stick to our own ways of doing things....EVEN WHEN WE KNOW THEY'RE WRONG! It's the whole "dog returning to eat its vomit" example. We must be open to a new way of doing things in order to experience the freedom of true recovery. Step 2 says that "We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."

"We came..." We took the first step when we attended our first recovery meeting.
"We came to..." We stopped denying our hurts, habits and hang-ups.
"We came to believe..." We started to believe and receive God's power to help us recover.

P - Power to Change
It's not enough to be open to change, we must be empowered to change. As was stated earlier: that empowerment does not come from us or anything on this earth...it comes from God Himself. Hope draws its power from a deep trust in God. We are able to hope because we trust that what God says He will do, that He will actually do. God has told us that through His Son that we 1.) have the ability to become new creations, 2.) that we have the ability to directly approach the throne of God with confidence, 3.) that He will never abandon us and 4.) that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength....including kicking your addictions!

E - Expect to Change
You have got to make a mental decision to expect change to happen. Our cognitive processes are pretty powerful and actually have a good bit of influence in how we behave. We must expect that we are changing even if we can't see it happening. Remember, change is not an overnight process for us. Even though our salvation is instantaneous, it still takes us a while before we can catch up to it...sometimes a lifetime even. I want you to know that that's okay! God is pleased with us on a daily basis if we put our faith, hope and actions in His care. Remember, we're not the ones that are responsible for healing ourselves...God is. We are only responsible for contributing where necessary.

I hope that you will join us on Wednesday evening!
Until next time...

Plug into the Power Source!!!

2008-02-19T10:51:00.003-06:00

I wish you guys could've seen my youth camp t-shirt back in the early 90's. It was black with neon yellow and green letters that said Plug into the Power Source!!! Behind it were these bright blue and aqua-ish lightening bolts. It was something to behold! I can't even find it in a Google search. Looking back on that time period....I can't believe I ever wore that shirt! Just like I can't believe that I still find myself thinking that I am in complete control and have power over my harmful, addictive tendencies.

Two weeks ago we learned that in order to begin our recovery process, we had to stop denying that there was a problem. This week, we will still be looking at Step 1 as we confront the fact that we are powerless.

We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable.

I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. - Romans 7:18.

Ummmm....so shouldn't it be comforting that super-apostle Paul admitted that even he was powerless over his own harmful behavior?!? This is the Paul - as in the Paul, who met Jesus on the road Paul. He understood that he alone could not be the good, whole person that God wanted him to be. If it were left up to just him then he'd still be missing the puck (I love ice hockey...).

Come on and say it with me...you'll feel better as you come to realize your own powerlessness. Altogether now:

I admit that I am powerless over my addiction(s) and compulsive behavior(s). My life has become unmanageable.

There...don't you feel somewhat better already just admitting this?

"Before we admitted we were powerless, we tried to escape and hide from our hurts, habits and hang-ups by getting involved in unhealthy relationships, by abusing drugs such as alcohol, by eating or not eating, and so forth. Trying to escape pain drains us of precious energy. When we take this first step, however, God opens true escape routes to show His power and grace. 'For the light is capable of showing up everything for what it really is. It is possible for the light to tur the thing it shines upon into light also' (Ephesians 5:13-14)." - John Baker

So...let's all truly plug into the Power Source. He can take over and accomplish things where we cannot even begin to go. See you all on Wednesday!

Let's start from the very beginning...a very good place to start...

2008-02-05T13:23:00.000-06:00

10 points to anyone who can tell me what movie the title line is from :)

So we're at the very beginning of the CR cycle. It's awesome to think that God has brought us this far. We have a great group of people who are truly working on their recovery journey and it's incredible to watch them grow through it all. But you know what?!
Each one of our recovery champions had to do one thing at the very beginning...they had to ADMIT THEIR DENIAL!

So as you all know, CR is based upon Scripture...mainly upon the principles of the Beatitudes. Our first principle is based off of Matthew 5:3, "Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor." Specifically, we must realize that we are not God. We must admit that we are powerless to control our tendency to do the wrong thing and that our life is unmanageable. So Step 1 is...big drum roll please....

Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable.

Boom! There it is folks. If you take this first step folks then you're on your way to recovery!

So what is denial exactly? CR defines denials as "a false system of beliefs that are not based on reality" and "a self-protecting behavior that keeps us from honestly facing the truth."

So what does this look like? I'll give you an example from my own struggles. I am a believer who struggles with issues of trust and abandonment. You may be asking yourself "What? How can you struggle with that?" Well, I didn't just come out and say this is what I struggle with. I found myself struggling with several things: alcohol, tobacco/drug use, lying to others and browsing non-appropriate internet sites. It took me a long time to face my denial...I was looking to engage in activities that I could control and that brought temporary pleasure. I could not control the fact that my family was dysfunctional but I never truly wanted to admit how my family dynamics had caused me to fear trusting others. I found myself saying things like: "It really doesn't hurt me when my parents leave; I'm fine!" Or, "My family isn't so bad compared to other families I know of."
I suppressed these feelings because I was truly afraid to confront my fear, sadness and anger in this situation. Instead, I found myself drinking a lot (college is still a bit of a blur...). I began smoking and really enjoyed using marijuana with my "friends." Internet pornography was also a daily staple in my life. And last, I learned how to lie with the best of them in order to put on an indestructible mask. I was totally in charge...until a few years ago when everything just about blew up. I was working on my graduate degree and one of our requirements was that we had to go through a year of individual counseling. By then, I had totally quit smoking and using drugs. I still drank - but it was on a social level - maybe once per three months or so. The Internet was still something that I struggled with, but I had roomates that knew of my situation and they held me accountable. It would seem that my issues had worked out...but I still had a huge, gaping hole that just wouldn't not go away. This counselor helped me realize that my true issue wasn't the drugs, etc., it was that I had never dealt with the pain in being emotionally (and sometimes physically) abandoned. Needless to say - I fought her on this. Familiar thoughts of comparing m family to others came back. But this counselor was gentle and persistent and I gradually came to face my denial. I had been denying the fact that my biggest fears in life were that if I trusted others then they'd use something against me; or they would leave and I'd be alone again. Other fears included fear of failure and that my life was just a huge, utter waste.

It was a very painful and raw period for me. I had never felt so vulnerable before and tons of memories and emotions overwhelmed me. However, that was the first taste of freedom for me as well. It hurt - but it felt great to be able to label what I was hung up on. From there on...I started my recovery journey.

God has been merciful in His dealings with me and He has brought me a long way. But first, I had to grit my teeth and prepare myself for the pain that came with admitting my denial. It's going to be unpleasant, but I guarantee, the freedom that you will gain from admitting your denial will aid you tremendously on your recovery journey.

Come and start your recovery journey with us!

2008-01-29T22:14:00.000-06:00

FOXNEWS.COM HOME > POLITICS
Bush Found 'Inspiration From a Higher Power' to Overcome Alcohol
Tuesday, January 29, 2008

BALTIMORE — President Bush on Tuesday referred to his former struggles with alcohol as an "addiction," a blunt characterization of his less disciplined adult days before a reliance on faith help him turn his life around.

"Addiction is hard to overcome," Bush said in speaking at a faith-based center that helps former prisoners get job training and other help.

"As you might remember, I drank too much at one time in my life," Bush said. "I understand faith-based programs. I understand that sometimes you can find the inspiration from a higher power to solve an addiction problem."

Increasingly, Bush has reflected in candid terms about his days of drinking. Last month, he told some young recovering addicts to stick with their fight against drugs and cited his own experiences with alcohol years ago. He said then that "addiction competes for your affection ... you fall in love with alcohol."

Bush, 61, decided to quit drinking alcohol after a boozy night in 1986 celebrating his 40th birthday. He went on to win election and re-election as Texas governor before bidding for the White House.

The president spoke Tuesday at the Jericho Program, which helps former prisoners get their lives in order and contribute to society. The stop came as Bush sought to keep some attention on his faith-based programs, one of the themes from his final State of the Union address on Monday night.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,326477,00.html

2008-01-29T12:20:00.000-06:00

As many of you know this is the time of the year in which viruses abound. I was fortunate enough to catch one this past week and it just about did me in. This wasn't your run-of-the-mill 24 hour bug...this was a four day journey from hell that I hope I don't have to embark on again for a really long time. Have you ever taken time to think about the whole "sickness" process though?

Have you ever gone through denial with your physical illness? I know this sounds a bit extreme, but stay with me here. Sunday evening I came home and after having a wonderful dinner with my family started to feel a bit unsettled. I quickly dismissed it though and went on about my business...denial! Going to bed that night, I knew that something wasn't right, but still denied the fact that I was coming down with something. I mean, I couldn't be getting sick because I haven't been sick in years...more denial! Instead of taking something to help alleviate the symptoms though, I still acted as if everything was okay and went to bed. In fact, I even had a bowl of thick, creamy, lactose-abundant ice cream because I just knew I was alright..denial, denial, denial plus a bit of stupidity. However, by 2 am that morning as I catapulted out of bed, there was no denying the fact that I was sick!!! I was sick from every end and hurting and sore and nauseous and just plain pathetic. How could I have gotten to that point?!? The next four days were miserable.

Now we can all laugh at my misfortune now but this does raise a serious question: What are you in denial about? Have you stopped to ask yourself if you are truly suffering from anything. What is your gut telling you? What are your friends and family telling you? I promise you, denial is not going to help you...you will eventually have to deal with your issues, and the pain that comes from them in one way or another.

We at Celebrate Recovery truly want to see you recover. We understand that once you deal with your denial that you are going to be vulnerable and that you're going to hurt form every end. You'll be sore and nauseous and you'll feel pathetic at times. But we are going to be right beside you the entire time and we are going to love you. I promise you: we've all felt the same way too. Take the plunge and deal with your denial. Come begin your recovery journey with us and truly celebrate recovery!

Welcome to the New Year!

2008-01-08T15:14:00.000-06:00

Well I'm only 8 days late in ushering the new year with the FBD CR blog! I don't know about you but I can't believe that it's already 2008 (I'm still the goon that keeps signing everything 2007). I love the new year because it means that I get to go back and clean out everything which includes this blog. As you'll be able to tell, I've deleted all of last years posts with the exception of an awesome video so that we all have a clean slate to work with.

This blog is for you! You have the ability to comment on posts as well as gather information on the upcoming weeks. Just so you know, I will be moderating but as long as you don't start swearing up a storm then you have nothing to worry about :).

Here is what is coming up with CR:

- This Wednesday, the 9th, we are having a testimony by our executive pastor here at FBD. Please be sure you make it to hear this man speak. We are incredibly excited and thankful to have our pastoral staff's support with CR. It has been an answer to our prayers.

- Next Wednesday, we will hear our final lesson for the year entitled "The Seven Reasons We Get Stuck." This is one of the more practical lessons and is extremely valuable to all in their recovery process.

- January 23rd, we will begin our new CR year! Gary, our CR leader, will be sharing his testimony. The following week Karen will be bringing us back to the beginning of our program as we focus on "denial."

We would love to have you join us here at Celebrate Recovery. If you have any questions or comments you can either comment here on this box and I'll get back with you personally, or you can email celebraterecovery@firstdallas.org, or if you are a talker, call the CR offices at FBD. They can be reached by dialing 214.969.2456.

Blessings to you as you start, or continue, your recovery journey!

Celebrate Recovery-Marvelous Light

2007-09-09T16:41:00.001-06:00

Check this out....great summary of CR's purpose!