Getting what you need
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: TN
Posts: 21
Getting what you need
I wanted to share with everyone something that happened to me this weekend.
I went out on Sunday afternoon looking for books several of you have suggested. I went to store after store searching in vain for hours. Finally I go into a bookstore I had never gone to before in an area of town I don't frequent. I stand there with my head all crooked to the side looking for 10 or 15 minutes slowly getting annoyed with another customer who, quite frankly, was in my way. Finally on the bottom shelf half-hidden, I see a copy of "Getting them Sober". I pull the book off the shelf and the customer (that's in my way) says something to the effect of how they keep looking in these books but never quite seem to find an answer.
The next thing I now it is over an hour later and this wonderful, amazing person has taken time out of their afternoon to share with me their story of living with an alchoholic, listened to, sympathized with, and understood my story without judgement, and has given me a schedule of f2f meetings in the area with recommendations of which ones they found most helpful.
For the first time I think I really understood the old saying about how you can tell God what you want and He will give you what you need.
Words cannot express how grateful I am and will always be to that person. I hope one day I can return the gift in kind to someone else. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you here on this site and to all of you who reach out to us newbies in the real world!
I went out on Sunday afternoon looking for books several of you have suggested. I went to store after store searching in vain for hours. Finally I go into a bookstore I had never gone to before in an area of town I don't frequent. I stand there with my head all crooked to the side looking for 10 or 15 minutes slowly getting annoyed with another customer who, quite frankly, was in my way. Finally on the bottom shelf half-hidden, I see a copy of "Getting them Sober". I pull the book off the shelf and the customer (that's in my way) says something to the effect of how they keep looking in these books but never quite seem to find an answer.
The next thing I now it is over an hour later and this wonderful, amazing person has taken time out of their afternoon to share with me their story of living with an alchoholic, listened to, sympathized with, and understood my story without judgement, and has given me a schedule of f2f meetings in the area with recommendations of which ones they found most helpful.
For the first time I think I really understood the old saying about how you can tell God what you want and He will give you what you need.
Words cannot express how grateful I am and will always be to that person. I hope one day I can return the gift in kind to someone else. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you here on this site and to all of you who reach out to us newbies in the real world!
Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Bronx, NY
Posts: 412
wow
Awesome, aliveagain! I had a similar experience, I really believe that God does provide when you genuinely ask for help and you're trying your best. Who knows, maybe He sends little helpers to guide us on our way... Here's what happened to me-
The night of my first (real) Al Anon meeting (the actual first one was useless and negligible), when I was a total wreck and I really didn't want to go, a meeting was supposed to start at 7:30 and no one showed up. At about 10 to 8 when I was already completely annoyed, this old lady came walking down the block, she was in her seventies and had a bunch of bags, and she asked me if I was here for the meeting. I said yeah and she said 'OK, we'll wait together, sometimes they're late...' So I assumed she was a regular. We introduced ourselves and started chatting. Her name was Mary.
No one showed up until after 8:30, in time for the second meeting, that's when I saw all the regulars I know now for the first time. But in that hour or so that we waited together, I told Mary my whole story, cried of course, and she was SO nice and supportive of me. Told me I was in the right place.Then she gave me HER copy of A Day at a Time in Al Anon, and she gave me HER old battered Just for Today bookmark. She wouldn't take any money from me, said she wanted me to have them and that she had duplicates of everything at home. I have her back her bookmark when I got my own Welcome Packet for Beginner's which included the JFT bookmark, but she insisted that I keep the book.
The meeting started. It was all old-schoolers that night and me, I was the only newcomer so they pretty much just shared their stories and then gave me the floor and with all the hysterics it took me a while to say my piece. Anyway, Mary shared very little, kept her story short, and the meeting ended.
Afterward, I offered to drive Mary home a few times but she declined, said she always took the bus. I asked her if I'd see her next week and she said probably yes. Then we hugged and said goodbye-- and do you know I have never seen her again?! I've been to a meeting every Friday or Monday and sometimes both, Mary had all this literature and stuff, and I have never seen her again.
It was weird. I can't say I never thought that maybe God sent her to help me through that first meeting and to get that book in my hands- which has really helped me- because I know I wouldn't have spent the money that night. I hoinestly thought Al Anon was a little weird and culti-sh for the first few weeks, lol... But it was definitely an experience to be grateful for and I think it's kinda funny that both of us were feeling irritated when we encountered these generous and helpful people who took out time for us. Always a lesson.
The night of my first (real) Al Anon meeting (the actual first one was useless and negligible), when I was a total wreck and I really didn't want to go, a meeting was supposed to start at 7:30 and no one showed up. At about 10 to 8 when I was already completely annoyed, this old lady came walking down the block, she was in her seventies and had a bunch of bags, and she asked me if I was here for the meeting. I said yeah and she said 'OK, we'll wait together, sometimes they're late...' So I assumed she was a regular. We introduced ourselves and started chatting. Her name was Mary.
No one showed up until after 8:30, in time for the second meeting, that's when I saw all the regulars I know now for the first time. But in that hour or so that we waited together, I told Mary my whole story, cried of course, and she was SO nice and supportive of me. Told me I was in the right place.Then she gave me HER copy of A Day at a Time in Al Anon, and she gave me HER old battered Just for Today bookmark. She wouldn't take any money from me, said she wanted me to have them and that she had duplicates of everything at home. I have her back her bookmark when I got my own Welcome Packet for Beginner's which included the JFT bookmark, but she insisted that I keep the book.
The meeting started. It was all old-schoolers that night and me, I was the only newcomer so they pretty much just shared their stories and then gave me the floor and with all the hysterics it took me a while to say my piece. Anyway, Mary shared very little, kept her story short, and the meeting ended.
Afterward, I offered to drive Mary home a few times but she declined, said she always took the bus. I asked her if I'd see her next week and she said probably yes. Then we hugged and said goodbye-- and do you know I have never seen her again?! I've been to a meeting every Friday or Monday and sometimes both, Mary had all this literature and stuff, and I have never seen her again.
It was weird. I can't say I never thought that maybe God sent her to help me through that first meeting and to get that book in my hands- which has really helped me- because I know I wouldn't have spent the money that night. I hoinestly thought Al Anon was a little weird and culti-sh for the first few weeks, lol... But it was definitely an experience to be grateful for and I think it's kinda funny that both of us were feeling irritated when we encountered these generous and helpful people who took out time for us. Always a lesson.
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