All posts tagged Celebrate Recovery

On Mission for God, Part 1 ~ The Leap of Faith

I’ve got a big announcement to make! And since today marks the 10-year anniversary of my first Celebrate Recovery meeting, the timing seems very anointed to me. Drum roll please…

…I’m returning to Spain! However, this trip is not for personal or business purposes like last summer. This trip is at the invitation of a Spanish missionary whose Protestant church I attended last year.

On Mission for God

My return trip to Spain is a charitable mission sponsored in part by Celebrate Recovery (CR) at Pine Lake Covenant Church in Sammamish, WA, where I serve. A small team of CR leaders and I will hold a recovery conference in Rivas, a suburb of Madrid, in October.

There is a long story behind how all of this came to be—one I’ll be sure to share in time. Today’s post is Part 1 of a series of updates I plan to do about this mission of healing. I have briefly blogged about it here and on the Celebrate Recovery ministry site. With today’s announcement, I’m directing my readers’ attention to the pages on my site with more background, how to support the mission, and with detailed mission information.

A Leap of Faith

Today’s announcement marks another BIG leap of faith for me. Although I’ve seen the Lord’s hand all over this mission, and I’ve had some time to accept this new Call on my life, I am still hesitant and a bit nervous.

This all comes at a time when my life is incredibly full. My son is graduating from college and moving out of state this month. Next month Pedro is launching his American movie composing career. My mind, my time, and my heart are all divided.

A few days ago I heard the CR testimony of a French missionary who will meet me in Spain this fall for the mission. Part of his testimony described the early stages of his call to France many years ago. It so resonated with where I am at today, and my greatest fears. (I am learning a lot from him.)

It is asking for donations to support this cause—risking the rejection, being at the mercy of others’ generosity, and trusting God to provide the funds. ($3,000 is a lot of money by my standards, but not God’s.) I’m incredibly grateful that the CR ministry is matching up to $1,000, making donations go twice as far.

I know people serve abroad and go on short term mission trips all the time. I’ve always admired them—their passion and their faith. I never thought I would be called on mission. However, I cannot deny what I experienced last summer in Spain. And even more, I cannot deny that the Voice of the Lord has been speaking to me and preparing me for this Call. I’m learning more and more how to listen and how to respond in faith.

Facing my Fears

That means I have to face my fears, commit to this mission, and walk in blind faith. It reminds me of a famous scene in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” Indiana, played by Harrison Ford, takes a step off a cavern ledge into the air. Death surely awaits him. But instead a narrow bridge mysteriously appears preventing his fall and allowing him to cross to the other side (video below).

I am stepping off that ledge today by publically seeking financial and prayer support for this charitable mission.

To subscribe to prayer and mission updates, fill out my contact form on this site.
If you decide to donate, please know that every gift to this mission, large or small, is helping to bring healing and revival in a country that is one of the least evangelized in the world.

Click above image to donate online.

So I invite you to partner with me to plant seeds of change across the world. Will you help bring that bridge across the cavern into view so my steps are on solid ground? Here I go…

Click the links below for information about the mission, to pray for the team, or to donate:

Celebrate Recovery Mission to Spain

How to Donate & Pray for the Mission

Detailed Mission Information

This post is listed on Christian Mommy Blogger/Fellowship Fridays and Missional Women/Faith Filled Friday.

5 Comments

by ardisanelson on June 11, 2014 • Permalink

Posted in Faith & Hope, Healing & Recovery, My Mission to Spain, Spiritual Growth

Tagged adapting to change, Celebrate Recovery, Christianity, fear, France, God, God's timing, letting go, prayer, Spain, trusting God

Posted by ardisanelson on June 11, 2014

https://ardisanelson.com/2014/06/11/on-mission-for-god-part-1-the-leap-of-faith/

Qualified or Called, Part 2 ~ Learning to Lead

It was two years ago that the Celebrate Recovery (CR) ministry launched at my church. I had dreamed and prayed for this ministry to launch there for years, but was never given the go-ahead. Now a team was in place, thanks to the arrival of Marvin and Lisa, missionaries from France who were planning a launch of this same ministry there.

On a spiritual high, at the CR 1-day conference in Portland, OR, February 2012.

The Highs & Lows of Ministry Leadership

Marvin was the ministry head, and I served as the trainer on the team. I’ll never forget the sheer joy I felt when the team all went to a CR conference together a few weeks before the launch. I had been to several CR conferences in the past, but never one representing my own church. It was such a spiritual high.

However, launching a recovery ministry like CR isn’t (wasn’t) all fun and games. There were a lot of spiritual attacks to me personally and to much of the team. We were on the battlefront in the war to take back people’s lives from the throes of addiction, abuse, rejection, depression, and hopelessness. As distressing as those experiences were, they helped to build my faith and trust God in bigger ways.

It was a difficult decision to leave that ministry later that year. However, with the release of my first book, God made it pretty clear He was stretching me in new ways and wanted to use my voice in the publishing arena.

Giving my CR testimony, March 2014.

A New Testimony to Share

As I mentioned in Part 1 of this 2-part series, I recently re-wrote my testimony. I never publically shared my testimony at my church, where I served on the CR launch team. It was something I had dreamed and hoped would happen when that ministry was forming. When the circumstances and timing didn’t align for that to happen, I trusted God’s purposes.

Then a few weeks ago, I gave my testimony for the first time since the launch of that ministry—not at my church, but at another where I serve on a CR leader team made up of individuals from multiple churches. As I re-wrote my testimony to share that night, I more fully understood the reasons behind this timing and venue to publically share my testimony.

I am now being called into a new territory to share the Good News of the Gospel. It is through Celebrate Recovery. It is not in Washington State. It is not even in the United States. It is in Spain.

Josh Fajardo, pastor from Spain visits a local CR meeting, March 2014.

Alignment of God’s Timing

The chain of events that led to this opportunity had seeds in several connections and God orchestrated meetings over the past few years. It started with Pedro, an exchange student from Spain who lived with my family in the summer of 2010. Then I met Marvin, the French missionary, who asked me to be on the CR team at my church. Marvin in turn introduced me to Josh Fajardo, a Spanish pastor and missionary, whose church I attended while I was in Madrid last summer.

Josh was in Seattle recently visiting local CR meetings and talking to pastors about this program. I was honored by his attendance the night I gave my testimony at the ministry where I now serve. We are jointly pursuing opportunities to partner with bringing this ministry to Madrid. I have high hopes of a mission trip to Spain—maybe in the fall, but most assuredly when the timing is right and God’s provision is in place.

All of these things seem so unlikely to me—the ups and downs I’ve persevered to get to this point. They don’t make any sense unless I keep the lens of His eternal purpose in my mind. I believe I am called for a time such as this. God has been putting these pieces in place since before time began.

Attending to last minute details for the CR ministry kick-off meeting, with Marvin, March 2012.

Qualified or Called?

After ten years of recovery and going all in for the Lord, my ministry resume is full of training and conferences I’ve attended. It’s full of groups I led, and times I shared my testimony. The one thing missing is an official degree or letters behind my name that qualifies me in the work world to do this.

Ultimately what qualifies me for this Call is my testimony of faith and the ever increasing challenges that the Lord has walked me through. I have a B.A. in Business Administration; I have a master’s degree in Brokenness. It is based on His biblical principles to be a Light unto others.

So Marvin and I are joining forces again, along with Josh, to build a team, and embark on a new area of ministry, into more uncharted territory. With God as our guide, who can stand against us? (Romans 8:31)

Prayer is definitely appreciated as we seek God’s will and ways to train and launch this ministry of Hope in Spain.

This post is listed on Christian Mommy Blogger/Fellowship Fridays and Missional Women/Faith Filled Friday.

7 Comments

by ardisanelson on April 9, 2014 • Permalink

Posted in Healing & Recovery, My Mission to Spain, My Spanish Connection, Spiritual Growth

Tagged addictions, Celebrate Recovery, Christianity, faithful, following your dreams, France, God, healing, letting go, Mission to Spain, obedience, spiritual journey

Posted by ardisanelson on April 9, 2014

https://ardisanelson.com/2014/04/09/qualified-or-called-part-2-learning-to-lead/

Qualified or Called, Part 1 ~ Learning to Serve

³Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4, NIV)

This verse first caught my attention early on in my recovery journey. It was the catalyst that I embraced when I started leading women’s support groups. God revealed to me in the short time that I was in recovery that he wanted to use my pain and my healing to come alongside others to encourage and support them on their journeys to wholeness.

Stepping up to Serve

The first group I facilitated was a Boundaries group. (It wasn’t the popular book by Drs. Cloud and Townsend. That came later in my teaching ministry.) My church was starting a recovery program with multiple groups being led with different curriculum. I was hungry for recovery and eager to share how God had redeemed my pain. However, I felt sorely unqualified to lead in this kind of setting. The ministry leader shared something with the leaders that has stuck with me ever since. He said, “You just have to be well enough.”

That was a relief to me. I didn’t have to have it all figured out. I didn’t need to perform. I needed to lead from my brokenness and my vulnerability.* That didn’t make it easy, but it helped me to let go of my pride and let God work in me in this new role with my church. You see I was, and am, a fairly capable person when it comes to project management, running large meetings, and such in the business world. However, putting myself on the front line of emotional and spiritual endeavors was totally foreign to me. And that was what God wanted.

Believing you are Well Enough

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9, NIV) That is not what Satan wants—for you to serve in ministry. He is an expert at trying to get us to believe we are not good enough, smart enough, or worthy enough to serve the Lord. Don’t believe him! God wants to use you!

In time I stepped into bigger ministry roles at my church, not because I felt qualified, but because I felt called by God, or in some cases was asked. I often jumped in quickly, not realizing what I was getting myself into. Each time God was stretching me outside of my comfort zone—to coordinate a women’s retreat, speak at a women’s event, and to train the leaders that launched my church’s Celebrate Recovery ministry. Through it all, I was often reminded of a phrase I’d heard in ministry circles: “God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.”

Answering my Next Call

Over the last few months, I’ve been preparing for God’s next call on my life. In preparation for that, I worked on a re-write of my recovery testimony. If you don’t know what that is, check out this post, What is a CR Testimony?, on the Celebrate Recovery website where I serve. Suffice it to say, it is not a small matter; and it is not a salvation testimony.

As I wrote it, God revealed to me the weavings and points of intersection where He was putting the people, circumstances and events in place to lead to this very time in my life. It’s been pretty profound, and has grown my faith in even bigger ways. There is so much I could write about this, but one chain of events stands out with such clarity to illustrate the way God works, and how perfect His timing is. I’ll save that for Part 2 of this series.

I’d love to hear from others who have stepped up into ministry leadership. Did you feel called? Do you presently feel qualified? How was God preparing you to serve Him?

*A great book I recommend about this leadership posture is Leading with a Limp, by Dan Allender.

This post is listed on Christian Mommy Blogger/Fellowship Fridays and Missional Women/Faith Filled Friday.

4 Comments

by ardisanelson on April 3, 2014 • Permalink

Posted in Healing & Recovery, Identity, Spiritual Growth

Tagged boundaries, Celebrate Recovery, Christianity, fear, God's timing, grace, healing, Henry Cloud, hope, John Townsend, obedience, recovery, serving others, spiritual journey, trusting God

Posted by ardisanelson on April 3, 2014

https://ardisanelson.com/2014/04/03/qualified-or-called-part-1-learning-to-serve/

Leading With Love

Weddings are a time of great celebration, excitement, and hope for a beautiful future—a fairy tale ending. Brides often enter into marriage dreaming of living happily ever after. However, the national divorce statistics tell us a different story. If you are part of that statistic, or currently not romantically involved, I imagine you dread Valentine’s Day.

The Reality of Marriage

Serving as a leader in a local Celebrate Recovery (CR) ministry, I get a chance to hear a lot of testimonies and people’s life stories—male and female. Many of the women who come to CR are either divorced or have had a history of marital struggles. But hey, don’t go thinking that I am getting a distorted view of society. Marital heartache and misery are much more common than you think.

The people who show up at CR are choosing to take off their masks and come out of denial about it. They are generally the fortunate ones. Not because of their painful past, but because they are seeking help and healing. In time, they generally become grateful for those struggles because it made them stronger. Romans 8:28 becomes real to them, often for the first time: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (NIV)

These women (and men) are taking steps to get emotionally healthy, deal with their past baggage, learn to set healthy boundaries, take care of their needs, and live life more fully—regardless of their past. They are on a journey of self-discovery, with or without a spouse or partner.

If they’ve been in recovery for a while, they can even laugh about the process—making light that their people picker is broken. I’ve seen it over and over again as people attract the exact kind of romantic partner that will lead to the same negative relationship patterns. They may decide they want a relationship, thinking they are ready again, or they may be willing to settle.

WARNING—more heartache ahead!

A Legacy of Divorce

Let’s face it relationships are hard work, and marriage is the hardest because we spend most of our time with our spouse. If we come from a family background where divorce was part of our heritage, we may quickly look to that as an escape clause—thinking it is normal. In my case, my parents had a combined ten marriages between them. They were on marriages #2 and #4 when my siblings and I were born. I swore I wouldn’t do that to my kids. Thankfully I didn’t. It doesn’t have to be part of our legacy.

I understand the heartache of divorce. I understand the devastation and painful wake that it leaves behind for the families. I’ve felt the blame and shame of it. I brought a lot of that same baggage into my marriage. It has only been since I entered recovery a decade ago that I’ve seen how much it affected me—my behaviors and my underlying fear of rejection and abandonment.

Leading with Love

I’ve had lots of restoration and healing in my marriage over the years. I don’t lead from a place of having it all together. I lead from a place of brokenness, knowing how hard it is, and continuing to struggle in the process. I know God has given me kisses of love from Above, and in my marriage, so that I can impart hope to others who are seeking a Godly marriage.* I lead with Love, because He first loved me. (1 John 4:19)

As we celebrate Valentine’s Day, I encourage you to look for ways that you can appreciate your spouse, even in the midst of your struggles. If you are not married, don’t let the Valentine blues get to you. Have some fun with a friend or show someone else you care in a non-romantic way.

Who says Valentine’s Day is for lovers? Make it for love! You can lead the way!

*This post is dedicated to and inspired by my friends who are in the throes of a strained marital relationship.

This post is listed on Christian Mommy Blogger/Fellowship Fridays and Missional Women/Faith Filled Friday.

9 Comments

by ardisanelson on February 13, 2014 • Permalink

Posted in Faith & Hope, Healing & Recovery, Relationships & Family

Tagged Celebrate Recovery, dealing with disappointment, encouragement, God, healing, hope, leaving a legacy, life's challenges, love, relationships, transformation, Valentine's Day

Posted by ardisanelson on February 13, 2014

https://ardisanelson.com/2014/02/13/leading-with-love/

The Denial of ADD/ADHD

Today’s blog post is especially hard for me to publish. I wrote it over a week ago, but was too nervous about publishing it. Then yesterday I sat down to write again and ended up with another post related to the same thing, but with a different twist. God is telling me I need to get this out. If you have ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), you will perfectly understand my hesitancy. If not, maybe you can gain better insight about someone you know who has it. So here goes…

In the 2+ years that I’ve been blogging I have only referenced my ADD in two posts, Living in a State of Overwhelm and Using Our Weaknesses. Since writing those posts in the fall of 2012, I’ve pretty much continued to white-knuckle my ADD. After all, I’ve had it all my life, but I haven’t always known it.

Trying Something Different

When I re-entered the therapeutic process last fall, my ADD kept coming up as a major reason behind many of my behaviors and thought patterns. It was pretty eye-opening to me. Then, as I watched my son, who also has ADD and does not take medication, grapple with another challenging year in high school, we jointly decided to give medication a try.

So what’s the big deal? People take medication for ADD all the time. When you live in the shadows of a mentally ill parent like I did with my mother, it influences what you think about the mental health profession and specifically about mind altering medication. The thought of taking medication for ADD hit too close to home for me.

I watched from an early age how my mother was dependent on medication. I watched her deterioration, her delusions, and her impulsive behavior. It scared me and scarred me. I did everything I could all my life to prove that I was not like my mother, going so far as to stuff my emotions and hide who I really was.

Times have changed; and the stigma over mental illness has slowly diminished in America. Besides that, ADD is a neurological disorder, not a psychiatric one. My ADD and my black and white thinking clouded my judgment on that too.

Coming Full Circle

When I entered recovery ten years ago I used Biblical principles and the 12 Steps of Celebrate Recovery (CR) to help me address many of my compulsive (ADD) behaviors and related character defects. However, I didn’t know I had ADD at the time. While attending CR, I was also attending deep healing classes. I still couldn’t really look at my mother wound.

It wasn’t until the passing of my mother in February 2011 that all of that changed. That was the basis and impetus behind writing “Walking My Mother Home” published in Journeys to Mother Love. If you’ve read my story, you know that God gave me miraculous emotional healing and huge revelations in my identity. He gave me the boldness to share my story and to start writing. But that wasn’t the end of the story.

Now in 2014, three years after those revelations and ten years after starting my recovery, I am coming full circle. It took a long time, but God had to put all the pieces into place for me to even consider trying something different—like medication. In the process, I get to model it for my son and support him in his struggle.

We both started taking ADD medication over the holidays. So far, I am very hopeful. Even without changing anything else in my life, I’ve noticed differences in my mental acuity and don’t feel so anxious and overwhelmed. With these simple changes, I have already changed my perspective on the value of medication for ADD.

Hope in the New Year

Living in denial and white-knuckling it just didn’t work for me. It doesn’t work for anyone—whatever their hurt, habit or life-long struggle. Step 1 in Celebrate Recovery reads: “We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable.”

Yes, my life has been unmanageable largely due to my ADD for a long time. So in 2014, I am choosing to apply recovery principles and the 12 Steps to this area of my life. In so doing, I am moving toward a deeper understanding of myself, and growing in Christ. I have much Hope in 2014.

What about you? What are you doing in 2014 that gives you hope?

3 Comments

by ardisanelson on January 23, 2014 • Permalink

Posted in Faith & Hope, Healing & Recovery

Tagged 12 step, adapting to change, ADD/ADHD, addictions, Celebrate Recovery, Christianity, encouragement, healing, hope, self-care

Posted by ardisanelson on January 23, 2014

https://ardisanelson.com/2014/01/23/the-denial-of-add/

A New Year, A New You

I’ve been busy, busy, and more busy with a new internet project that involves two of my favorite passions—writing and spiritual matters. Unfortunately, it hasn’t left me with much time to publish a post here. In the meantime, I’m proud to show it off to my blog subscribers.

I recently developed a website for a recovery ministry where I serve with a tremendous team of Christ followers. Our blog was launched last week.

I will be regularly contributing to that blog. So if you like my writing, especially my posts related to recovery, I invite you to subscribe to that blog as well.

Below is my latest contribution to the blog for CelebrateRecoveryOnThePlateau.org. I hope you enjoy it reblogged here.

A New Year, A New You.

2 Comments

by ardisanelson on January 8, 2014 • Permalink

Posted in Healing & Recovery

Tagged 12 step, Celebrate Recovery, Christianity, encouragement, God, healing, hope, transformation

Posted by ardisanelson on January 8, 2014

https://ardisanelson.com/2014/01/08/a-new-year-a-new-you/

Practicing an Attitude of Gratitude

Is the glass half empty or half full? That rhetorical question is commonly asked to determine if you are an optimist or a pessimist. If you responded that the glass is half empty, some would say you are a pessimist. If you answered that the glass is half full, common opinion would indicate that you are an optimist.

Half empty or half full?

In either case, I bring this question up in light of the Thanksgiving holiday when Americans proclaim what they are thankful for—generally around a family feast.

You don’t need to reserve your gratitude for an annual date on the calendar. For those of us who live our lives around the 12-Steps and Recovery Principles, gratitude is a way of life. However, it is not something we generally felt when we entered recovery.

Developing an Attitude of Gratitude

Most people start recovery far from being grateful for the situation they find themselves in. They may walk through the door of their first meeting because they are desperate for answers to the circumstances they are experiencing in their lives. Or maybe they are at a bottom, like I was. Whatever the reason, gratefulness probably isn’t on the list of character traits that friends would say they have–or at least not near the top.

I was a pessimist for most of my adult life—until I entered into the recovery process. Now at times it is hard to keep me quiet about my gratitude for recovery (specifically Celebrate Recovery), and what the Lord has done in me and through me.

You don’t have to be in a recovery program to develop an attitude of gratitude. The change doesn’t happen overnight. It is a process that builds inside of us, as we consciously choose to change our thinking. (The lesson on gratitude is taught as part of Step 11—We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and power to carry that out.)

Start small. Take baby steps. God will slowly give you glimpses into people, events, and things He has placed in your life that you can be grateful for.

The Benefits of Gratitude

Here are just some of the benefits of developing an attitude of gratitude (based on an acrostic for the word gratitude):

G-ets us out of our heads

R-eminds us of His gifts to us

A-djusts our attitude in a positive direction

T-ransforming power

I-ntegrates God’s love in our hearts

T-hankful despite our circumstances

U-tilizes our gifts for His Kingdom

D-raws others to us

E-ternal perspective

So it doesn’t matter if you identify yourself as a pessimist or an optimist, you can become a genuinely grateful person when you start to practice an attitude of gratitude.

Practicing What I Preach

In light of that, I’d like to say that I am thankful for the followers and readers of my blog, and for each purchase of my book. I am grateful to be able to share my writing and trust that God is using it to inspire others.

I am grateful for this season of my life—the highs and the lows. I am grateful for my family and my circle of friends who encourage and support me. They lift me up at times when I can’t. I am very grateful for my Spanish family and their generous hospitality to me. I am forever grateful to my heavenly Father, who got my attention eleven years ago, brought me to my knees, redeemed my pain, and blessed me in ways I never dreamed possible.

I hope and pray this Thanksgiving will be the first day of an ongoing commitment to develop an attitude of gratitude in your life. You can start now by posting what you are grateful for in the comments below. Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

2 Comments

by ardisanelson on November 27, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Healing & Recovery, Spiritual Growth

Tagged 12 step, Celebrate Recovery, Christianity, feeling defeated, God, gratitude, healing, recovery, Thanksgiving

Posted by ardisanelson on November 27, 2013

https://ardisanelson.com/2013/11/27/practicing-an-attitude-of-gratitude/

Hitting a Home Run for Recovery

After my second viewing of the movie “Home Run” a few days ago, I’m left thinking about the face of recovery and why so many people sit in denial about their issues. By issues I mean unhealthy habits like hiding their hurts, medicating their pain, isolating, and trying harder to make life fit their demands.

Cory Brand, the main character of the movie, played by Scott Elrod, is one such person. He is a major league baseball all-star who is forced to face his alcoholism after a DUI and team suspension. In recovery circles, we call it hitting bottom. It is not a pleasant moment in one’s life, but for those who choose recovery as a result, and work through a 12-step program, their lives are transformed. I know because I lived through it myself.

Breaking Through the Wall of Denial

Through the use of vivid flashbacks, the movie shows the pain of Cory’s upbringing, as he lived with an alcoholic father who expected perfection from his son at an early age. The scenes are hard to watch at times as you feel for what Cory went through (rated PG-13). These painful reminders drive Cory to drink and lash out in anger, unwittingly repeating the generational curse of his father.

Cory is like many of us who have found recovery. We don’t come easily or quietly. Our denial runs deep. What struck me in this story, was that despite his being mandated by his team to attend a 12-step program as a condition of his suspension, he doesn’t embrace it until later on in the movie. He just goes through the motions. His life continues to spiral out of control until he finally realizes he can’t do it on his own. That is the point in which one really starts recovery—coming out of denial.

Why Recovery?

Step 1 of Celebrate Recovery reads: “We admitted that we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable.” That brings me to a misconception that is dealt with in a powerful way in the movie. Recovery gets a bad rap because most people think that recovery is for “those” people. You know who I mean—alcoholics, drug addicts, and people who REALLY have problems. That is so far from the truth. I won’t give away the story, but suffice it to say, that just because someone is a Christian or lives their life in a Godly manner doesn’t mean they’ve had it easy. We all carry hurts inside of us, and we all have to deal with life’s problems.

Celebrate Recovery – A Christian 12-Step Program

Celebrate Recovery (CR) is a Christian 12-step program that helps people with their hurts, habits and hang-ups. It’s for anyone who struggles in life. Typical struggles that people address at CR are anger, fear, grief, guilt and shame, holding on to the past, inability to forgive, isolation, need to control, finances, eating disorders, alcohol or substance dependency, pace of life, rejection, relationship problems, sexual addiction, stress, and emotional, physical, sexual or spiritual abuse.

CR is often described as guided sanctification. That’s just a fancy theological term for becoming the person God intends for us to be. CR gives one tools to take responsibility for our actions, offer forgiveness to those we have hurt, forgive ourselves, learn to lean on others for help, and to give back from a grateful heart. All this transformation comes through the power of the Holy Spirit and a relationship with Jesus that is core to this biblical program.

See the Movie for Yourself

In my opinion, “Home Run” hits a big home run for recovery. It is a realistic view at how turning our lives over to Jesus brings about healing, wholeness and transformation. It brings about freedom from our past and hope for the future. In Cory’s situation, it gave him a chance to restore a broken relationship, giving him a new lease on life.

Even if recovery isn’t for you, I’m sure there is someone you know who needs a program like Celebrate Recovery. With the end of baseball season looming, it’s the perfect time to view this movie. “Home Run” is available on Blu-Ray/DVD, on demand, or watch it online on youtube. To find a Celebrate Recovery program near you, click this link. You or someone you know will be glad you did.

1 Comment

by ardisanelson on September 11, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Faith & Hope, Healing & Recovery, Identity

Tagged 12 step, addictions, Celebrate Recovery, Christianity, feeling defeated, forgiveness, God, gratitude, healing, hope, movie review, struggle, transformation

Posted by ardisanelson on September 11, 2013

https://ardisanelson.com/2013/09/11/hitting-a-home-run-for-recovery/

Going Down Memory Lane

As we sat at a Seattle waterfront restaurant watching the rain, clouds and sun fight for control of the views out the window, I marveled at the thought of the 19 years that had passed between my friend and me. We didn’t look 19 years older, but the age of our children was reality enough to ensure we were not dreaming.

A blustery day on the Seattle waterfront

Two Peas in a Pod

Mildred and I met when I re-entered the workforce one year after the birth of my first child. We have a very strange history together.

Our work history intersects at three different employers. I was her supervisor at two of those employers. At one point in time, I held a former position of hers and then later she held a former position of mine. That speaks volumes in itself. It is a testament to her character and her work ethic.

Nineteen years later, she has a nice retirement nest egg from her employer waiting for her; and I am just now finding my career niche—my writing. Unlike most writers I know, I don’t have a day job to fall back on. Some might say it is a luxurious lifestyle. For me, it is part of my self-care program.

Mildred was eager to hear all about my upcoming trip to Spain. As if to confirm why she was such a good employee—and how very like-minded we are—she immediately suggested having my story translated into Spanish. I agreed and told her that I negotiated the foreign rights to my story with my publisher and that Pedro had already translated the manuscript.

Does time really heal all wounds?

Wounds of the Past

We caught up on talk about our kids and our parents—being in the sandwich generation. We naturally ended up talking about work. Many of my former colleagues and employees had retired or moved on to other organizations. A few remained.

As we talked about work, the memories and people’s names started to drift back to my short-term memory—people she had even long since forgotten about. Some of my memories were of painful events, like my demotion. Except for one brief moment, I experienced no emotional pain in discussing it though.

They say that time heals all wounds. I’m not sure who that ‘they’ is, but that is not something you’d ever hear in recovery circles. If you don’t look at the painful wounds of the past, you bury them alive. They will leak out in unhealthy ways when you least expect them—like in outbursts of anger, or can lead to physical symptoms like ulcers, etc.

In my case, I worked through my character defects that brought me to my knees at the hands of my boss. I’m grateful for it, as it pointed me down the road to recovery, and eventually to Celebrate Recovery, a Christian 12-step program.

Moving Forward

Going down memory lane is a healthy practice—not for self-condemnation or holding on to resentments—but for healing. The one painful memory that surfaced helped me to realize that I still have one last thing to clear up—an amends of sorts.

Even as Mildred and I reconnected we touched on the same thread between us—making sure we understood each other and to not take advantage of our friendship. Her words served to encourage me, and likewise mine for her.

Another luncheon is over. Another friendship is rekindled. Another day is done. All because of the connection my story is making in people’s hearts.

Maybe I do lead a life of luxury. It’s not the kind of physical luxury or success that pays the bills. It is the luxury of friendship. That’s the best kind of riches to have.

Do you embrace opportunities to go down memory lane or avoid it like the plague? I hope you’ll embrace it and free yourself from the pain of the past.

How Does Your Story Live?

When I first met Henriet Schapelhouman, author of “The Story Lives: Leading a Missional Revolution” over a dozen years ago, she was the pastor of Adult Ministries at a local church and a fledgling writer. She invited me to join a small group Bible study she led. I’d never been in a Bible study, but was at a time in my life when I was unsettled with my faith and seeking Him.

Henriet anoints Ardis’ book and future speaking, September 2012.

Over a decade later, I can still remember when Henriet shared with the group about the publication of her first article in a Christian magazine. I was so proud of her accomplishment and remember thinking how wonderful that would be. I never imagined I’d end up writing myself or ever being published.

Henriet has played a pivotal part in my spiritual growth and ministry since then. She commissioned me to lead my first recovery and spiritual growth groups at that same church. She took me to my first Christian writers meeting. Then at my book launch last fall she anointed my book and commissioned my speaking.

Most recently Henriet and I partnered at our first ministry conference booth to promote our books and speaking engagements. When things were slow at the booth, I was blessed by opportunities to connect on a relational level. In those times, we were living missionally.

Living Missionally

Living missionally? What does that mean? Disregard those thoughts about selling your belongings, moving overseas and preaching the gospel. That is not what “The Story Lives” is about.

Henriet and Ardis living missionally at the NW Ministry Conference, March 2013.

We are living missionally when we are living out the Story of Jesus in our lives. We are living missionally when we serve Him in the ways we are wired—not just our spiritual gifts, but our personality types and our strengths. (Henriet is a certified coach and trainer for Myers-Briggs and StrengthsFinders. Check out Semper Vita Institute for more information.) By knowing our own unique wiring, we can determine how best to live a life that abundantly gives back and to serve in our sweet spot (or productively work in secular employment as well).

One of the key principles in “The Story Lives” that has helped me is to not be limited in my thinking of how I can serve God. It’s not about serving him in the box of a church setting. It’s about where God wants me to share my story and how can I influence His Kingdom.

Influencing Others for His Kingdom

I know I never would’ve considered sharing my story publically had I not shared my testimony years ago at a Celebrate Recovery meeting as a prerequisite for leadership. I’ve shared it several times in those settings since then, but I don’t need to have that structure limit my publicly sharing my story. My writing and blogging are now the primary ways in how I serve Him. Another way is being open to opportunities like the short interview about “The Story Lives” done at Henriet’s book launch party.

This summer, my influence and speaking are focused on Spain. There are no Celebrate Recovery meetings in Spain. I’m pursuing other avenues to share my story. I don’t know what that looks like yet. It may not even be in a structured setting. I’m trusting God to open the doors He wants opened. I know that by just being there and living my life with the Light of Jesus that I am living missionally.

I’m grateful Henriet persevered all the obstacles and doubts that come with writing a book with such a powerful message. We can all use a message like this as we grow in our faith and allow God to use us in the ways that He uniquely designed us. I highly recommend “The Story Lives: Leading a Missional Revolution” as a gift to yourself. It will ignite your desire to live out His Story in your life in a more tangible way.

Updated 01/20/2014: Check out the book trailer below with the music of my Spanish host son and protégé, Pedro González Arbona.

Making Me Bold

All posts tagged Celebrate Recovery

On Mission for God, Part 1 ~ The Leap of Faith

Qualified or Called, Part 2 ~ Learning to Lead

Qualified or Called, Part 1 ~ Learning to Serve

Leading With Love

The Denial of ADD/ADHD

A New Year, A New You

Practicing an Attitude of Gratitude

Hitting a Home Run for Recovery

Going Down Memory Lane

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