Meet the Team & Principle 4

Hi, our names are Micah and Tara Hobbs, and we are grateful believers in Jesus Christ.

Since we were asked to write an article together, Micah’s comments will be in blue and Tara’s in red.

I am one of the “M’s” on our leadership TEAM (acrostic).  One of my co-M’s, Travis, wrote the article on principle two.  Together with the help of Angi – our great female “M” – we oversee the entire CR program.  It is a tremendous privilege for me to serve in this way and I give all the glory to my Savior Jesus Christ, who rescued me out of the dominion of darkness and into his marvelous light…to him be praises and glory forever!

Principle four is where the “cleaning out” process begins.  This principle (letter O) states: “Openly examine and confess my faults to God, to myself and to someone I trust.” Early on in my recovery journey, the personal challenge for me in this step was confession.  Actually, to narrow it down, I was completely freaked out about the idea of confessing all my past and present faults to someone I trusted.  I asked things like, “What if they judge me and nail me to the wall? What if after they hear my inventory, they look at me differently?” Satan was using all of these fears to cripple me in my recovery journey. 

After procrastinating as long as I could, I finally told my sponsor the truth.  When he asked me, “How’s your fourth step coming?” I told him, “I have not started yet.” The previous times he had asked me that question, I had lied to him and told him I was doing okay with it.  Well, after I made amends for that, we set a firm deadline for my written version to be complete.  Then, we set an appointment for me to share it.

Listen to these powerful words from James: “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed…” (James 5:16).  When I submitted myself to God and obeyed this commandment found in his Word by confessing my faults to my sponsor, this is when Jesus’ healing began in my life.  For me, the experience of being completely and vigorously honest with another human being was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done; however, it was easily the most POWERFUL and HEALING thing I’ve ever done as well.  CR recovery principle four was a great turning point in my recovery and it can be for you too.  

My name is Tara and I serve along side Karyn as part of the “A TEAM” at Celebrate Recovery.  J  Karyn and I are the assimilation coaches and we work together in this role to promote Celebrate Recovery to the church and community around us. 

Step 4 was probably the hardest step for me.  The thought of openly examining myself was scary.  It made me think of doing an autopsy…something that was tedious and could take a very long time.  Just like doing an autopsy, I was afraid of what I was going to find when I started digging through the hurts, habits, and hang-ups of my life.  Luckily I have an amazing sponsor who has become a dear friend to me!  I was extremely anxious to sit down with her and literally spill my guts to her.  I gave her every excuse in the book to put off writing out my 4th step and each time she lovingly smiled and encouraged me to continue working hard on my recovery.  I remember leaving our meeting feeling like a whole new person.  I remember feeling free from so many things that I had kept inside for so many years. 

Step 4 is just the beginning of the healing process.  At the time, it seems very overwhelming and maybe even depressing at times.  It is never fun to bring up all the hurts and pain from your past.  However, I want to encourage everyone to keep working your recovery.  Do not stop in the middle of Step 4 because you think it is too hard; keep it up!!  Through this process you will feel God breaking down walls of guilt and resentment in your heart.  And that only gets better as you continue to work the rest of the principles in your recovery.

Well, as daunting of a task as principle four may seem to you, it is doable and it is rewarding.  We want to leave you with a great quote from a 10^th Avenue North Song that we love: “This is where the healing begins. This is where the healing starts.  You come to where you’re broken within and the light meets the dark.”  That is exactly what happens in principle four.  We invite Jesus – who is the Light – to come into our dark places and clean out our filth and make us whole again.  Believe us, it is worth it!

Grateful Believers,

Micah and Tara