Lent Day 2

Today's positive action: Make sure you get a good night's sleep - every night.  H.A.L.T. is widely known by addicts as Hunger, Anger, Lonely (or Alone) & Tired.  All four things can accelerate stress and increase the risk of falling back on addiction.  Control your rest before being tired controls you.

Today's Focus: Tobacco has has waged huge destruction on society.  Cancer and other diseases caused by tobacco alone has had devastating impact taking life of many loved ones.  The Center for Disease Control (CDC) does a lot of studies on the impact smoking has on our lives - these studies are called Smoking Attributable Mortality, Morbidity an Economic Cost (SAMMEC).  These studies show that smoking was attributable to nearly 400,000 deaths per year for the five year period from 2000 to 2004.  That's roughly 2 Million people (somewhere near 1,963,405) in that 5 year period.  Only these aren't just numbers, these are people who loved and were loved, they are fathers, mothers, sisters, brother, and friends.

Dear Lord, with smoking many people have been taken away from us because of the evil of addiction and the evil of tobacco.  They succumbed to the addiction of nicotine and tobacco.  They got themselves into a hole they didn't know how to get out of.  Be with those people who they left behind.  Give them support and comfort - and most of all don't let them fall into the same trap of addiction.  We know all too often alcoholics raise alcoholics and smokers raise smokers.  Be there for those who find smoking is an answer, an answer to stress, an answer to fitting in, or an answer to dealing with pain.  Give them hope and show them that there are alternatives.  For those who want to quit smoking but struggle, give them other people who have quit and can show them the way.  Give them the light of Your love to beat their addiction.  Lastly, keep giving us signs of Your love, Your light, and Your presence in our lives.  Amen.

Thanks for letting me share.

Ash Wednesday

This is it...very journey starts with the first step, and so today is the first day of my cleanse.  I'm pretty excited.  I know that's weird to say but I've thinking about this for a few days and I've been praying for God to prepare me - so I'm ready.

In many of my blog posts I've talked about a key part of overcoming addictions is to focus on positive things.  Things that will take attention away from the addiction, and fill the vacuum that the addiction leaves behind. In my journey through psalms that positive thing was the psalms.  In the same way, everyday of lent I will discuss my positive actions that you can use to help in your journey of recovery.

Today's Postive action: set aside time to pray, meditate or be with God.  For me I am getting up a little bit earlier so that I can have this time to pray and think on God's word today.  This is important to me because lent is about being closer to God.

Today's focus: Alcoholism:  This is a huge epidemic.  The National Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependence estimates 1 in 12 people suffer Alcoholism - in the US that's 27.5 million.  To think about the impact of that is staggering.  All the while, this report shows how the American Alcohol companies lobby hard to maintain "their successes" in this area.  Out of this lobbying they are able stop efforts which would prevent marketing to youth, teens and underage drinkers and to keep taxes on alcohol below levels that would allow our society and governments to address the problems that addiction creates.  The fact that they actively fight to keep our society addicted should be in our prayers today.

Lord, thank you for this season of lent to give me the opportunity to grow closer to you.  I ask that You be close to those families, and especially the children, of alcoholics.  Today, show them that you are near and you have your hand on them.  Give these people hope.  Give them people who can guide them and show them Your plan for their lives.  Today, be with the alcoholics who still suffer.  Help them to be willing to find a better way.  Show them that they don't have to keep putting their lives, and the lives of the people they love, in danger.  Show them hope, show them some of the recovering alcoholics that made positive change in their lives, as proof that they can live without alcohol.  Show them that they can face their problems with You and Your word instead of alcohol.  Finally, give me the strength and tenacity to keep this journey of lent as I make sacrifices and offerings to mirror the light of Jesus' example.  Amen.

Thanks for letting me share.

Lent is coming

In a little more than two days the Lenten season will be upon us.  During which time I will be embarking on what I call the Addict's Cleanse.  To help you understand what I mean by the Addict's Cleanse let me tell you a little bit about my recovery.  I found as I was recovering from one addiction, instead of finding true recovery, I would, instead, replace the old addiction with a new addiction.  Alcohol with caffeine, drugs with tobacco, sex with work.  This should not be a surprise, because the experts at Harvard University tells us, all addictions operate in the same place in the brain.  They further tell us, rather than simply saying no - we need to yes to positive things in our lives, like God.  The Addict's Cleanse is about removing all these substances and behaviors and focusing on God.

The Addict's Cleanse is about removing not just one primary addiction, but all addictive forces from our lives, for the period of lent.  The eight forces that I will be removing from my life during this time, in no particular order:

• Alcohol
• Tobacco
• Drugs (prescription & non-prescription)
• Gambling
• Food Addiction: (Caffeine and Sugar)
• Sex & Porn
• Shopping
• Work

Of course, this not an exhaustive list. I deliberately chose eight so I could create a consistent focus during this time.  A focus that would allow me to, not only re-shape my life, but discuss one force every day.  Discuss the victims, the realities, and pray for the recovery of the victims and our society from these horrible forces that tear us apart.

Generous God, in Jesus you have given us our first and best love.  We confess that we often forget that first love and pursue others.  We seek pleasures that don't last,  we chase dreams that disappoint, and we place out hopes in things that cannot satisfy.  Forgive us.  This lent we return to you, our first love.  Please welcome us back, despite our mistakes and sins, and help us live faithfully and joyfully to you.  In the name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 150: Praise Ye The Lord - Hallelu Yah

Psalm 150

¹Praise ye the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary:
      praise him in the firmament of his power.
²Praise him for his mighty acts:
      praise him according to his excellent greatness.
³Praise him with the sound of the trumpet:
      praise him with the psaltery and harp.
⁴Praise him with the timbrel and dance:
      praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
⁵Praise him upon the loud cymbals:
      praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

⁶Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD.

Praise ye the LORD.

Hallelu Yah, which is hebrew for Praise the Lord.  This past week marked the third anniversary since I started my journey through psalms.  For that I am grateful to God and praise the Lord.  My anniversary was not marked by fanfare or celebration - I simply went for a quiet walk with my son.  It's amazing the change that is in my life in three years.  I don't even know where to begin.  Secrets, lying and cheating have been replaced with honesty, serving, and contentment.  Porn, Drugs, and Alcohol have been replaced family, leadership, and community.

And there is much more work to do - God's transformative power continues to work in my life.  Just as life is one journey made up of smaller journey's.  In the same way, so is recovery.  Just because my journey through psalms is complete that doesn't mean I've completed my journey of recovery.  In fact, I still have several steps in the 12 steps which remain.

I want to thank all of you who joined me in this journey.  Thank you for all of your support.  Thank you for all of your prayers.  Of course, I would like thank God for bringing all of you into my life that could make this journey possible.  I want to wish you all the best in your personal journeys.  May you experience all the joy and relief that recovery has to offer - and may God always have His hand on you.  If you ever need support you can always reach me here...and, of course, you can always let God know what's going on.  If you need help finding God you can always make a prayer request.  Thanks again and God Bless.  Hallelu Yah.  Praise the Lord.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 149 (KJV): Sing to the LORD a new song

Psalm 149

¹Praise ye the LORD.

Sing unto the LORD a new song,
      and his praise in the congregation of saints.

²Let Israel rejoice in him that made him:
      let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
³Let them praise his name in the dance:
      let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.
⁴For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people:
      he will beautify the meek with salvation.
⁵Let the saints be joyful in glory:
      let them sing aloud upon their beds.

⁶Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,
      and a two-edged sword in their hand;
⁷To execute vengeance upon the heathen,
      and punishments upon the people;
⁸To bind their kings with chains,
      and their nobles with fetters of iron;
⁹To execute upon them the judgment written:
      this honour have all his saints.

Praise ye the LORD.

I remember in the first few months of my recovery my radio dial found its way to new stations.  I would find myself listening to Contemporary Christian music or even pastor sermons.  It was quite literally a, or many, new songs in my life.  And similar to other things in life music becomes an important context in which things happen.  Having those songs in the background, in my head when I woke up, humming them in the shower, all of these were part of my new outlook in recovery.  It was new and it was liberating and it was inspiring.  With God's support anything was possible - and still is.  Months and Years into recovery the trick is to continue to raise the bar.  Ways to be more sober, ways to to be closer to God, ways to serve him better.  If I stop looking for new ways to stay close to God I tread on the slippery slope that leads, inevitably, back to my addiction.  So, here's to a new chapter where I look for ways to stay close to God.

Dear Lord, Praise be your name for you have given me sobriety and recovery.  You have given me a whole new outlook on life.  God, you know me well, and you know how I get distracted and how I procrastinate.  You know I allow these distractions from building a stronger relationship with you.  For life gets busy and and its easy to get distracted from what's important.  You know I procrastinate in my recovery and in my 12 steps.  Forgive me and be with me.  Help me overcome these distractions and procrastination that I may become stronger in my recovery.  That I may build a stronger relationship with you.  That I may serve you more effectively.  That I may, like Psalm 149 says, sing to You a new song.  That I may sing You a song, that others hear and will want to sing-along to.  For your work is glorious and long to pay tribute to You.  Praise Ye the Lord.  Amen.

Thanks for letting me share.