At home group last nite, we had a fellow there for his first ever AA meeting. It's not too terribly often that we get newcomers, being in a small town and all, so that made for an awesome meeting for all in attendance. The really nifty thing to see was the guy who had just celebrated 6 mos gave some great experience, strength and hope on early sobriety. I love watching people come in, grow, change and begin to share with the next round of newcomers. I am happy to report that our group did its job, shared some great ESH and he left there with a fist full of old grapevines, a few pamphlets, a shiny new big book (free of charge), a meeting schedule and that little Serenity Prayer card with the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions on it. He seemed pretty convinced that he was in the right place.
Tomorrow I am off to my AA Men's Fall retreat. We go out in the boonies of southern MI, to a great little YMCA camp in the woods. There's lots of great little cabins tucked out among the pines, a really nice main lodge, trails, a beautiful lake and usually about 65 sober alcoholics ranging from 1-2 weeks sober to 30+ yrs sober. This will be my 10th trip up there, I missed a coule yrs due to Ian's birth and a birthday. It's always great to spend a weekend with the core of men who were there to help me when I came in almost 12 yrs ago.
My wife isn't terribly thrilled that I go on retreats for whatever reason, I think she just doesn't understand or see the need. But, she knows how much it means to me and my recovery so she's usualy pretty kool and supportive about it, and that's just great! I go to a winter retreat in Jan/Feb each year as well. That one is 10 mins from my home and I usually chair that committee and help organize it. Sometime in the future, I think I would like to make a Catholic retreat.
placing myself in God's presence...
HP, please help me stay sober today, just for today. I pray that I might maintain an attitude of gratitude and service in all I do today. Please help me help the new customers I am meeting with both this afternoon and this evening. Please guide my thinking, and inspire me to give the best service I can. I ask Your Blessing and Grace for a family who recently lost their 30-something dad to cancer, and for my first customer from my last mortgage job who lost her husband this week to cancer. I pray that You are with them to bring peace to their hearts, and eventually joy to their lives. Please be with our new AA friend from last nite as he begins the journey to sort out his life.
peace be with you all!
1 comment:
I am doing a Catholic retreat in October - I am so excited.
I remember being a young mother, I didn't much like my husband going away to have fun and a restful time and leaving me with all the responsibility of caring for the kids. Of course, I was a drunk!
Post a Comment