I stayed up pretty late, last night—well, this morning. Only then did I remember that this morning was a Tuesday mornin—my morning to serve as facilitator for the Heart t’ Heart online meeting at 6:30 a.m. (Mountain Time).
I am so grateful that I had the chance (and the excuse) to be at that meeting. It was truly a blessing to me to share my testimony—my experience, strength and hope—and to feel the fellowship of several other Heart t’ Heart attendees.
Like I shared there, I don’t do New Year’s resolutions. In fact, I don’t do any kind of resolutions. Here’s part of my sharing from this morning that will explain what I mean:
This is THE morning of all mornings that I (and maybe someone else who comes to this meeting this morning) need to remember that recovery comes one day at a time, one choice at a time.
There is a scripture that says, “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” (Matthew 6:34) Once, as I was likening the scriptures to my life, I felt the Lord invite me to translate that statement into, “sufficient unto the day is the CHALLENGE thereof.” He invited me to stop counting days of abstinence and to just take the miracle one day at a time—and rejoice in it, and in Him and His deliverance of me.
I gave up making “New Year’s Resolutions” a long time ago—or ANY resolutions, for that matter. They just seemed to be grand stand plays that ran red flags up and attracted temptations to dog-pile on me until I was a demoralized and devastated heap, convinced yet once more that I was a total loss.
I guess, in a way, that was actually good—as in that it was actually true, in the sense that I was “a loss.” Not me, myself, but my situation. It was so totally bankrupt! Like the prodigal in the pig-sty.
I am so grateful for the AA Big Book and the testimony of the original members of Alcoholic Anonymous that they “hadn’t even sworn off” their addiction. They affirmed that their powerlessness toward their addiction had been taken from them by a “Power greater than themselves,” as long as they “stayed in fit spiritual condition.”
For me that “fit spiritual condition” is stated very plainly in the Sacrament Prayers: That I might always remember Him, that I might have His Spirit (His counsel, His comfort, His words, His testimony, His grace/power, His guidance) to be with me. (Moroni 4:3). Without those gifts that come from the Father, through His Son, I am the equivalent of the prodigal. Only when I come to Christ, do I “come to myself,” or in other words, I wake up and realize my need for Christ’s Atoning presence in my life—one day at a time.
Thanks for letting me share . . .
Now I think it may be time for a nap.
~Colleen H.
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