God used this place to change me

It was probably close to 7 months AFTER my first night at CR that I actually wanted to be here.  It finally clicked – God was working in me and I could feel it & see it.  I was enjoying meeting new people, I loved the worship service, I loved the encouragement I received, I liked going to open share and actually talking, I just loved all of it!  I met some amazing women who became my accountability partners, and I had a sponsor that was attentive and eager to help me heal! 

I remember driving to CR that night and being so excited to get there, it was the first night I really, truly wanted to be there!!  I had just sat down to eat dinner and my husband called, he was working in Midwest City and had locked his keys in his truck and he needed me to come unlock his truck for him.  I’ll be honest, I was ticked.  This is the first night I really wanted to be at CR and I just wanted to worship and hear the testimony and I didn’t want to leave.  (Insert pity party here.)  Ugh…I jumped on I-35 and headed to Midwest City, while driving I was mumbling to myself in frustration and cranked K-love to try to get in a better mood. 

While driving I had an Ah-Ha moment, Satan didn’t want me at CR.  God was using this CR place to change me and Satan wasn’t thrilled with the changes he was seeing!  He loved the old me.  He knew getting me out of there would get my mind off the healing and take my focus off my desire to be there, once I figured out his (Satan’s) plan I just laughed out loud.  When I showed up to help my husband I was cracking up, and I was so excited that I figured all this out, I was rambling and talking really fast telling him how Satan had done all this to get me out of CR and that’s the reason why he locked his keys in the car and I was just so excited that it had happened.  My husband just looked at me wide eyed, shaking his head (giving me that you’re crazy nod) and said, “Well good, I’m glad I could help.”  I unlocked his truck and jumped back on I-35 and walked in right when the testimony was starting.  Satan didn’t win and I was pumped!

Now, almost 2 years later, I still have to remind myself of this story sometimes.  I don’t always walk in the door on Friday night with a smile on my face, but then I stop and remind myself GOD used this place to change me.  To be honest, I don’t always want to be here on a Friday night - but then I stop and remind myself GOD used this place to change me.  I can’t forget that, I can’t forget why I keep coming back.    I come back because it’s a place that I see friends, a place where I’m comforted, a safe place to share, a place that keeps me accountable, and a place that I can encourage others.  God used this place to change me – and THAT’s why I keep coming back.

Grateful Believer,

Karyn

We must not become tired of doing good.  We will receive our harvest of eternal life at the right time if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9 

Committed to Giving Back

It has been an amazing five and a half years at Celebrate Recovery. God has truly done some amazing things among us. We have been privileged to witness his work in restoring marriages, healing people’s wounds from addictions, abusive situations, broken relationships, various painful hurts and bringing balance to people’s lives from various hang-ups. We have received so much blessing from the Lord. In 2011 we have decided as a program to be committed to giving back.

We get the opportunity to start CR at our inner city church, Capitol Hill. There are CR leaders on Tuesdays leading Step Studies in preparation for our fall kick-off. And we are excited to see what the Lord has in store for that new CR program.

In addition, several of us get the opportunity to go to Honduras – July 9-17 – to share the good news of Jesus through Celebrate Recovery. We are traveling to Catacamas, Honduras, which is the home of Mission Predisan and Cerepa Addiction Treatment Center. This mission of Predisan and Cerepa is to serve individuals and populations in the Predisan service area so that they can experience wholeness – physical, spiritual, social, economic and environmental – according to God‘s redemptive plan. On our trip in July we have the opportunity to train the Predisan and Cerapa staff and residents how to start and maintain a Celebrate Recovery program. We will also spend our mornings constructing a low ropes course for Cerepa. For more information about Predisan go to http://www.predisan.org/ and for Cerepa go to http://www.cerepa.org/
We are excited about this opportunity and have begun our fundraising. We could use your help to get over the top.


Here’s how you can help:
This Sunday, April 24, we will announce our trip and financial need to the Memorial Road church family. You can give any size of gift that you like. Checks can be made out to “MRCC” and please put “CR Honduras” in the memo line.

Then, on May 27th and 28th we will have a garage sale on the southeast corner of Memorial Road and Bryant (old Piggly Wiggly grocery store). We are accepting donated items for the sale now. You can donate by contacting Andrew Claxton at 410-4230. And we would love to have you come check out the sale too beginning at 8am on both days.

You can also support us by keeping the trip in your prayers. Please pray that God will work through us and we will be able to show the people of Honduras the blessing of a Christ centered recovery program. Thank you for partnering with us in this exciting opportunity!

Grateful Believers,

 Micah and Andrew

Meet the Team & Principle 8

Hi, my name is Andrew and I am a grateful believer who struggles with same sex attraction and anger.

I serve Celebrate Recovery at Memorial Road Church of Christ as the E on the TEAM.  E stands for encourager.  I help plan special activities and events as well as handle set up for Common Grounds.  I also am responsible for encouraging our leaders and participants.  It is a great fit for me and something I love doing.

I’m here to talk about the last principle #8  -  Yield myself to God to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and by my words.  “Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires.” Matthew 5:10

This is a tough one for me right now.  (I think it’s almost always the case when I am asked to do a lesson or write something, that more often than not it is something I’m having a hard time with at the moment).  I love the first part of this principle, “Yield myself to God to be used to bring this good news to others.”  Sounds great, doesn’t it?  Sounds nice and simple.  Then it gets difficult, “both by my example and by my words.”  This is a daily battle for me. 

I have a desire to do God’s will and I want to help others to have a relationship with God, but I am constantly surrounded by the world and find myself giving into temptations.  On my way to work I still get angry in traffic and sometimes don’t handle it well.  At work I am surrounded by gossip and it’s difficult not to join.  I constantly find myself not setting the example that I want to set. 

Like others have said, it’s important that you have worked the other seven principles as well.  Especially spending time with God daily and when doing so asking Him to help you yield yourself to His will.  Angi set up a great challenge last week- 90 meetings with God in 90 days!  Not a bad idea for all of us.  It is difficult to really yield ourselves to God for His use.  I would love to have more free time, I would love to have a girlfriend, but right now I am busy with opportunities that God has given me.  And you know what?  I love that too. 

Grateful Believer,

Andrew

Meet the Team & Principle 7

Hi, I’m Angi. I’m a grateful believer in Jesus Christ who struggles with depression and binge-eating disorder.

I serve Celebrate Recovery at Memorial Road as the ministry leader for women. I love this role - and have the honor of helping women get their testimonies ready for our Friday night “large group” meetings. I also handle any special issues that arise for our women C.R. leaders, and other female CR participants. I love our CR leaders, and pray that I can be an encouragement and source of help for them. There are a few more things I get to do for C.R., but the above are my main duties.

I want to talk about Celebrate Recovery Principle 7 (R) which reads, “Reserve a daily time with God for self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God and His work for my life and gain the power to follow His will.”

Frankly, this principle makes me cringe. I immediately feel guilty when I read it. I have trouble with consistency, having always found it difficult to commit to doing anything daily. I am thankful that God encourages me to start over, and that a big, booming voice doesn’t come from heaven, saying, “Seriously Angi? You sound like a broken record!”

But, today I am going to get a fresh perspective on this principle. First of all, this is not only about Bible Study, and a healthy, consistent “quiet time” with God, but also my “daily inventory.” This is the self-examination piece of a daily reserved time. It is a time to reflect and consider my actions and thoughts of the day. I can take an honest look and give it all to God. It’s like sweeping the floor daily, rather than putting it off for a long time, letting it get into a big, dirty mess that will take a lot of energy to clean.

When I do my prayer, study, and journaling time with God, I have felt free and light. Worry is washed away as I give my concerns to Him. It is easier for me to resist temptation, and to make the right choices in my day. When I have ignored this principle, or talked myself into starting “tomorrow” or after some big event, I am more likely to resume sneaky, unhealthy behaviors; stay in denial about aspects of my recovery; and give in to selfishness.

I like this phrase from Principle 7: “...gain the power to follow His will.”. My reserved time with God gives me POWER! It doesn’t just keep my mind and will aligned with His, but it also energizes me spiritually, putting me in the place I need to be to follow Him. That’s motivating!

So, I am giving myself a challenge and invite you to hold me accountable. Have you heard that some people in recovery get sober by attending 90 recovery meetings in 90 days? Well, along those lines, I will have 90 meetings with God in 90 days. I am excited about the blessing and power I will experience in this plan!

You can follow my challenge by clicking RIGHT HERE!!!   (  Here's the official blog address: www.principleseven.blogspot.com.)  Let me know in the comments on either blog that you are coming along with me on this challenge. My track record proves that I can’t do this, but I know through God, I can. In fact, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” Phil 4:13.

Grateful Believer,
Angi