From our Scot P.

We have been given a great gift. A gift that enables us to look at ourselves with humility and acceptance. And in doing so, we are able to see that we are prone to failure, pain, sin, and self pity. It also gives us the ability to see that we are capable of successes, joy, love and dignity. With this ability we can choose to look upon our positive attributes;  enjoying each moment as it presents itself, knowing that with the turn of the next corner it may flee as fast as it arrived. Our lives are an ever ending process influenced by circumstances out of our control.  Let us rejoice in the good times. Let's never take ourselves too seriously for we all have good and bad within. Let us abate our feelings of a false sense of security for tomorrow, perhaps the next hour, may bring with it a calamity. Remain humble. Don't let your pride puff you up with your successes, for any number of events can reverse them.  However , revel in the good. Be amused with the smallest of miracles and they will bring a smile to our face, followed by a chuckle. With the momentum gaining from each chuckle, we can laugh.  Laugh at our lives for at that moment they are great gifts from God. We know that we will have challenges ahead, but it is our choice, once again, to see them as temporary and rejoice in the blessings we have now. Trust that you are where God wants you right now.  With that we are going to have fun, and we're going to laugh out loud while doing so!

God bless, Scot P.

Crisis

Out of every crisis comes the chance to be reborn... It is not our smooth passages that reveal new understandings, but the strenuous, uphill battles that benefit us with the knowledge we need to grow. Looking on our challenges as gifts whose resolution promises greater comfort makes them agreeable, perhaps even prized. Without them we stagnate, and life's joys are few. Life is a series of lessons. And our crises are our homework. The patience and the trust we developed while living through last week's crisis has prepared us for greater benefits from those that lie ahead. Knowing that a crisis guarantees us the growth we deserve makes its sting endurable. Every crisis is followed by a time of easy stepping. These restful periods let us adjust to our new stage of development, and they invite us to store up our strength, our energy for the tests that lie ahead. Every stage of an experience has its roots in the past and leans toward the future. I'll trust that whatever I encounter today I'm prepared for and will benefit from.
HugsBob

She Testifies!

I would love to leave my past where it is, behind me; but there are others out there struggling with the same horrors I struggled with, and I feel a call to reach out to them. So I must be transparent every chance I get.

At the bottom of a rope, I admitted to an addiction to crystal meth fifteen years ago. Cross addicted, I later came to admit I was also an alcoholic. And today I can claim sobriety only one day at a time.

I am not a theologian, a psychologist, or scientist, but I know that in the past I have had a strong tendency to search for relief and escape in substance. In times of trouble I have ran to alcohol, drugs, and nicotine, but these are just the darkest of substances to which I have run. Many others are out there. What haunts you?

Many people had traumatic childhoods, but not all of these turned out to be drug addicts or drunks. Many human tragedies happen daily; just the unfair day to day events are enough to cripple us, why did I turn to drugs and alcohol? I have no idea. Was it because I was born with a predisposition? I don’t know. I do know that I thank the Lord for his deliverance before those substances drove me to an early grave or worse. I think hurting someone else in a drunken stupor would have been worse than death.

12 step programs were a catalyst for me. The 12 steps led me back to Jesus Christ. Those steps were a bridge back to the loving arms of the lover of my soul who had waited and longed for me to see Him through my broken world. Those steps were also an enlightening process that God used to show me a way back home – to Him.

And now I have a passion to share this story, to hold up road signs to others, road signs pointing to a bridge that leads to Jesus. Many suffer from addiction. Addiction in many forms, relationships, working too much, gambling, food, etc.

There is hope. Jesus is the answer, but sometimes it takes someone who’s been there to deliver the message. Sometimes it takes someone who shares your same character defects to realize you are not alone in yours.


Come visit us at FCC CR time/address is over here --->

Come hear Him say: Welcome Home.

With love ~ Kathleen

Our first post. So exciting. My hopes for CRFCC are that this can be a place to share events, news, conversation (by comments on the posts), and our hearts. Bob shares his heart with us every morning. So lets start with thoughts from Bob.  ~ with love, Kathleen

Am I willing?

To live is not merely to breathe, it is to act; it is to make use of our organs, senses, faculties, of all those parts of ourselves which give us the feeling of existence. We are gifted with talents that need encouragement in order to blossom. Few of us fully appreciate our talents. Many of us fail to utilize them. And yet they are waiting for the invitation to present themselves. We have been blessed with particular talents because the world we live in needs our individual involvement. Each of us is charged with a responsibility to contribute to the lives around us. Our shared talents make the road smooth, when each of us has acted as the need arose. We are called to participate by our talents. They help define who we are. They affirm that we count, that we are needed. No one is without a capability, a characteristic that lends just the right flavor to a situation involving others. Whether it's a sense of humor, the ability to write or paint, or a talent for settling disputes, we each have a calling card, and we are asked, daily, to make our contribution. Am I willing today to participate fully in the life around me? ~ HugsBob