Clouds

[toad]

Here is something I put together a couple of years ago, please share this with me................toad

“Your most profound and intimate experiences of worship will likely be in your darkest days, when your heart is broken, when you feel abandoned, when your out of options, when the pain is great, and you turn to God alone. It is during suffering that we learn to pray our most authentic, heartfelt, honest-to-God prayers. When we’re in pain, we don’t have the energy for superficial prayers.”
Rick Warren

“With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you.” (2 Peter 3:8-9 NIV)

I haven’t seen the sun shine for a couple of days. We really need the moisture so I am not complaining about the clouds and wet weather. It’s just that when I get stuck in the house sometimes my thoughts will turn inward and I can have a tendency to try and enjoy a little self-pity. As I mature as a Christian and continue to work a program of recovery through the 12 steps of AA, I realize that self-pity must be recognized, dealt with, and put in it’s proper place, the trash can of my mind. I must then on a regular basis through self-inventory, take the trash out and dispose of it properly. Gloomy inward reflections can be deadly to the alcoholic or addict. They must be dealt with quickly. Some of the ways I have learned to deal with self-pity are by reaching out to someone else. Not as a source of support for myself, but reaching out as a support for someone else. I also have learned to reflect on my blessings. God has blessed all of us abundantly, over and over again in our lives. I am amazed how a small cloud can block out the entire sun and make everything shady. But you know something? The sun is still shinning even when we can’t see it. God is the same way in our lives, at a low point or when our gloomy thoughts are directed inward, God’s love and grace are still shinning. At times the outside world might seem a bit dark and cloudy, but the real light can be found on the inside of us, as we think of God and all the many things that God has done for us that we could not do for ourselves. Let it rain, I’ll just turn on more lights on the inside……………..toad

Here is a joke from the AA Grapevine, May 2000. Share this with me…….

When a woman called the local police station to report that she found a drunk in her cellar, the police sergeant advised, “Make a trail of drinks from the basement to the yard and wait for the drunk to follow them outside.” A little while later the woman called back: “I did what you told me. Now I’ve got two drunks in my cellar.”

[jstme]

Great quote from Pastor Rick Warren along with John Baker Founders of Celebrate Recovery in which I work with my program.