A Letter to Celebrate Recovery

Hello, my name is Nick; I’m a grateful believer in Jesus who’s celebrating recovery from codependency and pride.

LAST WEEK:
One word: AWESOME! Andy, thank you for sharing your story, your testimony of HOPE! Thank you for being real; for allowing us to step into your life and share your experiences and struggles. As Steve said, it’s easy to share the stuff we experienced way back, but to share our recent mess, that’s tough. I pray God continues to give you strength, wisdom, and encouragement as you take each step on this journey of recovery.

And that’s just it, it’s a journey. Andy’s story on Friday was such a good example of working the program, setting up accountability, and NOT GETTING STUCK! He didn’t give up. He didn’t stay put. He reached out. He connected with friends. He applied the 8 Recovery Principles and worked the 12 Steps. Together, we have hope. Together, we have family. Together, we have recovery.

THIS WEEK:
I’m so EXCITED for this week at Celebrate Recovery! It’s been a few months since I last shared a lesson, a few months since I last stood on the stage and hung out with friends and family. This week I’ll bring a close to the 2012 year by sharing the 7 Reasons We Get Stuck (could probably make that 8 and include New Year’s Resolutions to the list…just sayin’).

That’s right. We could probably flip that title around to say 7 Ways to Ensure a Healthy Hope-filled Year, because if you apply these 7 principles, 7 struggles, 7 things, 7 reasons to your life, you WILL get better. It doesn’t matter what your issue is…

Drugs
Alcohol
Sex
Pornography
Overeating
Undereating
Overspending
Anger
Depression
Fear
Gambling
Smoking
People Pleasing
Divorce
Anxiety
Physical/ Sexual/ Emotional Abuse
Doubt
Self-Image
Self-Injury

You CAN be set free! You DON’T have to remain stuck! You’re not the mistakes you’ve made! You’re not past regrets! You’re not the things you do! You are a child of God and when He made you, He looked at you and said, “It is good.” God uses words like MASTERPIECE and SON and DAUGHTER to describe you. God uses words like HOPE and PROSPER and LOVE to describe His plans FOR you.

Don’t settle for less.

NEWS & UPDATES:
CR, here are 4 things I want to share with you…

#1 God is GREATER—seriously, that should say it all. Put that phrase after whatever your current struggle or circumstance.

I can’t stop eating. God is GREATER!
My husband cheated on me. God is GREATER!
My son is killing himself with drugs. God is GREATER!

Now that may sound cliché and it may sound oversimplified…but that’s because IT IS! It’s not rocket science, it’s faith. It’s believing in the unseen. It’s believing in the unknown. It’s believing there’s a Creator God out there who reigns above all, is in total control, and isn’t taken by surprise. God doesn’t have an oops moment. Whatever it is you’re facing, whatever it is you’re going through, God is GREATER than it and He’s ABLE to bring you through it! You can’t do it on your own, but HE CAN!

He can help you OVERCOME your overeating.
He can fill your heart with FORGIVENESS and help RESTORE your marriage.
He can RESCUE your child from addiction.

Believe.

#2 Celebration Station and The Landing are HERE—isn’t that AWESOME? I can’t remember the last time I was this PUMPED for anything! I can’t wait until the day when my kids come home from school and share with me that kids in school are talking about what they’re LEARNING and DISCOVERING about themselves AND God through these two programs. As a child I didn’t have that somebody to discuss my anger, my unhealthy view of sex (let alone talk about the sexual abuse), or the desire to hurt myself or even end my life. I didn’t turn 18 or 21 and all of the sudden struggle with drugs and alcohol and pornography and sex…no…I was 7 (pornography)…I was 15 (sex)…I was 18 (smoking, drugs, & alcohol).

Celebration Station will provide a safe, encouraging environment for children grades PreK5-5th.
The Landing will open the doors to students grades 6th thru 12th.

Remember, just because you don’t know about it, doesn’t mean it’s not happening. Don’t let your naivety kill your kids.

Each program OFFICIALLY launches Friday, January 4 from 7-9p.

#3 New Year is Upon Us—with the 2013 year coming up in a few days (wait…did you hear that? I thought I just heard someone said something about the Mayan calendar…anyways) our CR Leadership T.E.A.M. working alongside the leadership teams from both Celebration Station and The Landing, will be planning and preparing the schedule for the ENTIRE upcoming year (Lessons, Testimonies, and Special Nights).

Have you written your testimony? Would you like to share it? Let me know.
Are you interested in sharing your testimony? Don’t know how to write it? Let me know.
Never thought about sharing your testimony? The thought of it scares the crap out of you? Let me know.

I want you to be a part of the healing process, not just for yourself, but for OTHERS. I want to see our building flooded with people seeking HOPE and HEALING. If you’d like to be involved, whether it’s sharing a testimony, greeting people, setting up chairs, teaching in Celebration Station, or cooking in our CR BBQ…let me know.

Let me know and I’ll do whatever it takes to get you plugged in!

#4 Some Things to Pray For—as many of you know, especially those who have ever walked the streets of downtown Martinsburg, we live in an area full of HURTING people and many of those people are WITHOUT transportation. Join me this year and pray doors open up for us to get our hands on some vans OR (and even BETTER), doors would open up for other churches in the downtown area to start HOSTING Celebrate Recovery. I don’t care where it is. I don’t care who’s doing it. I just want to see our community get BETTER!

Workers. Leaders. Volunteers! Our Celebration Station team is sitting at 6 committed leaders who are passionate about our kids, our children being introduced to healthy coping skills for all of life’s hurts, habits, and hang-ups and I CELEBRATE these 6 individuals! Future generations are going to know what it means to live a healthy life because of the time, effort, and, most of all, love they’ve invested. I want this number to jump to 10-15. I believe this year we’re going to run out of room. Our workers will be unable to sustain the growth. Do you have a heart for kids? Then I got a heart for YOU! Be praying for and about this program: leaders and kids.

Speaking about room and space…we’ve already reached the point of…where the heck do we put everyone? As attendance continues to grow, as new Open-Share Groups emerge, as Celebration Station and The Landing launch, space is LIMITED at best. Be praying God gives us WISDOM in how to best manage…wait…no…not manage, but ORGANIZE our space to what is most EFFICIENT and EFFECTIVE. We can meet in the bathroom for all I care, if people are meeting Jesus and discovering hope is REAL and overcoming hurts, habits, and hang-ups…does it really matter? Pray. Pray. Pray.

THE END:
CR, y’all are seriously some of my favorite people in the world. NOTHING excites me as much as Friday nights. NO OTHER PLACE makes me feel like I’m at home than Friday nights. NO OTHER PEOPLE inspire and motivate me more than those on Friday nights. Jesus IS the hope of the world and CR is where you can find him!!! I love you and look forward to spending some time with you this Friday at 7p.