Friday, August 04, 2006

morning has broken...

Wow, what a spectacular morning.... We had a "cold" front roll through last evening, bringing some not-so-much-needed rain but, it also brought a bit of relief from the heat we've been having! There's mist lying in the little dips and valleys between the gently rolling hills, the sun is coming up, burning through it all, and I am already in the office ready to get some stuff done.

This week, our county fair has been going on. Well, I have been in really early each day, and working late a few nites this week, so executive decision (I get to do that!): I am outta here by 1 today! The fam and I are gonna walk round the fair this afternoon. Then mommy is outta there and Ian and I are going to the truck and tractor pull! That'll be fun! Mommy can get some much needed P & Q while we get all dust covered.

Today is the 2nd anniversary of the 1st meeting of my home group. I left my old HG of about 6.5 yrs to start this little men's meeting. I grew up in men's meetings in T-Town where I got sober. When I moved down here, I found a different set of meetings than we had up in the city. AA was of course alive and well, it's just that in a more pastoral, rural, small town setting, people are different about how they bond to one another, and what they are willing to share in a "public" meeting. Well, I finally couldn't live without my men's closed discussion format, so I hit up a church in the town where I live and the pastor was really excited to have an AA mtg in thier midst. And so, Wed Nite Men's was born. We only have 3 "official" home group members, and I set up and chair probably 90-95% of the meetings but, it works. We average about 8-10 guys over the summer and closer to 6 in the winter but, it's always a good discussion. There's just something about the dynamic of a men's mtg. I am sure it's much the same for the gals/women's closed meetings. The funny thing was that when we opened the meeting, the District officers and even the Area Delegate seemed to think we had some sort of discriminatory thing going on out here in the boonies. Of course, I took the time to register with GSO, got a group number, etc so, I wasn't too concerned. I had even thought about mailing those folks a few copies of the city meeting directories from larger cities in Ohio, showing the dozens of mens/women's closed meetings. But to what end? So, we just keep doing our thing, giving money here and there where we need to give it and carrying a good AA message. Our group decided of course that if a gal showed up needing a meeting, she would be warmly welcomed with open arms. In a couple weeks, we're going to have an informal "anniversary meeting" where we show "My Name is Bill W." and eat pizza for a couple hrs. I am sure a gal or two might straggle in. My wife even made noises about coming over that nite. So, all in all, I pray alot about it to keep my ego-mad mind from wanting to "take over the local AA world" he he and we just keep one foot in front of the other. In two yrs, we have been open every Wed nite at around 6:45 for our 7:30 meeting. So, HP must be ok with it!

Prayer for the day:

God/HP, thank you for another sober awakening. Thank you for blessing us with such a beautiful morning, Your Will abounds! I am grateful to You for helping me keep things in perspective with regard to our home group. Thank you too for continuing to send alcoholics to the meeting, it's been wonderful. God, I pray that I may maintain an attitude of service, love and gratitude today in all I say and do. I have a difficult time with this, so any Grace You might sprinkle my way would be greatly appreciated!! HP, help me to remember that keeping sober and living in Your Will are the 2 most important things for me today. I pray for Your Will and Your Blessings in the lives of all my friends and family, and especially those who are faced with overwhelming difficulties today.

peace to you all...

6 comments:

dAAve said...

That sounds like a GREAT meeting - one that I would truly enjoy.
Have a great weekend and knock over some milk bottles just for me, please. I want a big, stuffed doll (for Scott W., of course).
hehe

Trudging said...

Peace buddy!

Mary Christine said...

Sounds like a great weekend ahead. Enjoy :)

lash505 said...

My home group is a mens sunday night meeting. Its held in a old farm house built in 1700"s. There is no air/heat in the building. About 40-60 guys show up in the summer and 35 guys in the winter. We get at least 4 to 5 newcomers a week.

Unknown said...

Hope the fair and tracker pull were lots of fun.

See~ya,
G~

Rex said...

Enjoy your weekend! Have missed reading your inspiration everyday!