Christmas dinner at the Pioneer!
Alcathon runs from 7:30am Sunday till
9:00pm Monday.
J Merry Christmas! J
Safe at Home
The first time I heard the term "home group," I
was barely a month sober. I thought it just meant the place where you went to
meetings, but I didn't really know. My only experience with meetings was in the
small
When I was ten months sober I moved to
I still didn't grasp the concept of a home group, though. I
thought if you went to the meeting on a regular basis it was your home group.
In a short period of time, I signed up for three home groups. I didn't know any
better. It wasn't until I asked someone to be my sponsor and told her about my
home groups that I became willing to learn. She suggested that I would be
better off sticking with one home group and doing my service work there. That
way, I wouldn't be spreading myself too thin and doing a disservice to the
other groups by trying to give more than I had to offer. It took me a little
while to listen to her advice, but I eventually picked one home group and have
been a part of it since that day.
A few years later my commitment to my home group was
tested. My husband and I, who had been members of the same home group, got
divorced in 1993. It was a hard time for me and I needed all the meetings I
could get, especially at my home group where everyone knew me. At first, I
tried to avoid the meetings my ex went to. When I found myself avoiding my home
group, however, I realized I couldn't let anything or anyone stand between me
and sobriety. I had to be willing to go to any lengths. I talked to my sponsor,
and the next week I went back. At first, he wasn't there and I was relieved.
Then, just as the meeting began, he came in with a woman. They sat down next to
each other, and she kept putting her hand on his arm. I wanted to jump up and
run out the door. I didn't move. I was sitting between my sponsor and a good
friend.
As I sat there, I remembered that I had said I was willing
to go to any length. So I stayed and listened to my AA family. As the meeting
progressed, I felt my tension easing. I felt safe in the arms of my home group.
I knew I was exactly where I belonged, no matter who else was there. Since that
time, a lot of people have come and gone in the group (including my ex). The
faces have changed, but the love and support have only increased.
So if you are ever traveling through
|
Lisa B. Central City, |
Step Eleven
“Sought through prayer
and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him,
praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out”.
This to me is a very important step, it’s the step by which I stay right with God and talk to him a lot. Taking time out from a busy day to think about God and to ask him for help is a good thing. All the wonderful things that happen to me when I do this and the understanding I get about God is just an awesome thing. It makes a peaceful day.
The tenth step shows me were I’m heading, and step 11 shows and tells me how to get there. Without God in my life not a thing would get done.
So how many times do I do this step? The answer to this is as many times as I have to.
Do I have a conscious
contact with God today? What am I doing to make AA. better in the
Working with others is a good way to help out in AA. The new person needs our help so badly for a couple of years. I talk everything over with the person who took the time out to carry the message to me, and his sponsor. This is a good way of doing things, it helps in doing the next right thing. I lost my sponsor a few month ago and I’m looking for one today. Is your sponsor telling you from the big book?
Prayer and meditation are also a part of step 11. I have found out for myself, being sober and happy for 20 years, that step 11 works if you work it in your daily life.
When something comes up, good or bad, I am able now to deal with it. At the end of my day I can see what I need to know about myself to stay in the spiritual life that I’m living.
Now I am ready for step 12. My God or higher powers has given me brains and I am using them. Are you?
-Written by Someone that cares
Step Twelve
Hello; Its me again, yes I am a recovering alcoholic who cares.
My name does not matter, We are all in this together.
I have done 1-11, Now step 12, “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.”
What does it mean to have a spiritual awakening, then to carrier the message. What message?
First things first, I can only share my life in AA.
The changes in me are not my changes, they are my higher powers that I choose to call God. I thank my God each day for what he has done for me.
My higher power, God, has put me in AA. It was the best choice of all.
What a good life I am living today. Sober for over 20 years. I am married to a wonderful woman and we love each other. That is one of the gifts. I am sharing the message with you all because I want to today.
Step 12 is the icing on the cake for me today. I can look back at my beginning and remember how hard it was for me to get started, the fellowship helped me a lot. Love is the power to me.
The best I can do for step 12 in all honesty is to believe it will happen. No matter what comes my way I can wait. Guess what, it works. I am sober today and happy.
I am a new person. Thank God for AA.
-Someone that cares.
Tradition Eleven
“Our relations with
the general public should be characterized by personal anonymity. We think AA ought to avoid sensational
advertising. Our names and pictures as
AA members ought not be broadcast, filmed, or publicly printed. Our public relations should be guided by the
principle of attraction rather than promotion.
There is never need to praise ourselves.
We feel it better to let our friends recommend us.”
The basic concept of humility is expressed in the Eleventh Tradition: it allows me to participate completely in the program in such a simple, yet profound, manner; it fulfills my need to be an integral part of a significant whole. Humility brings me closer to the actual spirit of togetherness and oneness, without which I could not stay sober. In remembering that every member is an example of sobriety, each one living the Eleventh Tradition, I am able to experience freedom because each one of us is anonymous.
(Daily Reflections p.342)
Tradition Twelve
“And finally, we of AA
believe that the principle of anonymity has an immense spiritual significance. It reminds us that we are to place principles
before personalities; that we are
actually to practice a genuine humility.
These to the end that our great blessings may never spoil us; that we
shall forever live in thankful contemplation of Him who presides over us all.”
Tradition Twelve became important early in my sobriety and, along with the Twelve Steps; it continues to be a must in my recovery. I became aware after I joined the Fellowship that I had personality problems, so that when I first heard it, the Tradition’s message was very clear: there exists an immediate way for me to face, with others, my alcoholism and attendant anger, defensiveness, offensiveness. I saw Tradition Twelve as being a great ego-deflator; it relieved my anger and gave me a chance to utilize the principles of the program. All of the Steps, and this particular Tradition, have guided me over decades of continuous sobriety. I am grateful to those who were here when I needed them.
(Daily Reflections p.373)