On the day my husband turns the kitchen calendar page from August to September something awakes inside of me. The air feels different to me on September 1st than on August 31st. The feel of the air, the colors on the mountain – even the sunshine isn’t the same, and it seems to me that EVERYONE is ... Read More
“I Do It Myself!” or “I Cant, God Can, I Think I’ll Let Him!”
Two-year-old Gracie is declaring her independence lately. Among other things, she has decided that she’s old enough to extricate herself from the high chair without help. Recently after finishing her breakfast her mother approached her as usual to help her out of the chair by taking off the tray and ... Read More
Memorial Day, Celebrating The Power to Live On!
This morning I attended a recovery meeting using the technology of the phone bridge. Present at the meeting were more than thirty participants from all spiritual walks of life. The reading for this meeting came from an AA piece of literature called “Came to Believe.” I listened as one participant ... Read More
A Lesson From The Garage Door – Acceptance Is The Answer – Step 3
Just home from his mission for two weeks, my son had spent the day looking for meaningful work and receiving guidance for the fall university semester. He had spent the evening trying to find his returned missionary social footing. Feeling a bit like a fish out of Uruguay waters he announced, with a ... Read More
When First Gear Fails – Step 3 Trusting in God in All Things
Early this morning I received a call from a friend for support in recovery. When I hung up I knew that this was not going to be an easy day in her recovery. It would be a day of physical withdrawal. I was fill with the feelings of, “If only there were something I could do so that her day might not ... Read More
Fire His Impostor – Steps 2 and Step 3
It would not be uncommon for someone with years of sobriety in Alcoholics Anonymous to share the following at an AA Meeting. “In order to ‘[Come] to believe that the power of God could restore [me] to complete sanity’ (AA Step 2) and ‘[Make] a decision to turn [my] will and my [life] over to the ... Read More
“I Wish She Was The Mother!” – Step 3
Little children seem to have a strong sense and sensitivity to the serenity or the lack of it in others. I was reminded of this reality as a young mother of three preschool age children. One night I was in the middle of the Saturday night bath routine - one child in and scrubbed, out and dried, ... Read More
“What Time House Close?” – Step 3 Trust in God
Several years ago we had an exchange student from Japan, Koichi, stay with us for week. While he was here he asked lots and lots of questions which I attempted to answer. There was a definite language barrier. There is one question he asked that I will never forget. It had been a crazy busy day of ... Read More