Where would I be without CR?
By Amanda Allen, Celebrate Recovery Devotional team member, 10/31/18
I’ve been attending Celebrate Recovery for nearly 7 months and am so grateful for the impact it has already had on my life. When I first made the decision to come, I was absolutely terrified. I had no idea what to expect and was very reluctant to let my guard down. As I started attending large group, I began seeing how open and transparent the leaders and pastors at Celebrate Recovery were. I had never heard people in a leadership position be so open about their struggles. They taught lessons on things I had never heard talked about in church before. We discussed things I had always tried to mask in public, such as battles with addiction and pornography. Or even past abuse and feelings of insanity. On alternate weeks of learning lessons, I heard some truly touching testimonies of how Celebrate Recovery had impacted the people who committed to working the 12 steps and I began believing that if I kept working the program, it would impact me too. After several months sharing in small group, I began seeing some major growth in my personal life. Making eye contact with others was becoming easier. I began sharing with less anxiety and fear, and I began meeting fellow strugglers who became people I felt safe sharing my hurts, hang-ups, and habits with. These people didn’t judge me, they didn’t reject me and they didn’t compromise my anonymity. This became one of the only places I felt safe being my true self. On month 4, God started leading me to a step study so that I could really start digging into the hurts and working through the principals. I am not even through the first book and have already experienced some major victories in my life. I’m able to react to hard situations in a more positive way. I’m able to see areas in which I’ve been in denial. I’m able to see that I’m not the only one who was hurt, but that I actually hurt people in my life too. In Celebrate Recovery, the motto is “Keep coming back, because it works if you work it and it won’t if you don’t AND YOU’RE WORTH IT. Until this program, I have never felt “worth it” before. I’m so excited to see what God continues to do in my life as I persistently work through the hard stuff. I am so grateful to have a place to come where I feel safe enough to open up. I love Celebrate Recovery at Fellowship Bible Church!
I’ve been attending Celebrate Recovery for nearly 7 months and am so grateful for the impact it has already had on my life. When I first made the decision to come, I was absolutely terrified. I had no idea what to expect and was very reluctant to let my guard down. As I started attending large group, I began seeing how open and transparent the leaders and pastors at Celebrate Recovery were. I had never heard people in a leadership position be so open about their struggles. They taught lessons on things I had never heard talked about in church before. We discussed things I had always tried to mask in public, such as battles with addiction and pornography. Or even past abuse and feelings of insanity. On alternate weeks of learning lessons, I heard some truly touching testimonies of how Celebrate Recovery had impacted the people who committed to working the 12 steps and I began believing that if I kept working the program, it would impact me too. After several months sharing in small group, I began seeing some major growth in my personal life. Making eye contact with others was becoming easier. I began sharing with less anxiety and fear, and I began meeting fellow strugglers who became people I felt safe sharing my hurts, hang-ups, and habits with. These people didn’t judge me, they didn’t reject me and they didn’t compromise my anonymity. This became one of the only places I felt safe being my true self. On month 4, God started leading me to a step study so that I could really start digging into the hurts and working through the principals. I am not even through the first book and have already experienced some major victories in my life. I’m able to react to hard situations in a more positive way. I’m able to see areas in which I’ve been in denial. I’m able to see that I’m not the only one who was hurt, but that I actually hurt people in my life too. In Celebrate Recovery, the motto is “Keep coming back, because it works if you work it and it won’t if you don’t AND YOU’RE WORTH IT. Until this program, I have never felt “worth it” before. I’m so excited to see what God continues to do in my life as I persistently work through the hard stuff. I am so grateful to have a place to come where I feel safe enough to open up. I love Celebrate Recovery at Fellowship Bible Church!
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