THE PROBLEM

We are codependent because we allow the behavior of another person to effect our behavior so that we become consumed with that person and their problems. This obsession with the issues and problems of others becomes debilitating to us as we exhaust inordinate and inappropriate amounts of mental and emotional energy over them, leaving little, if any, energy for ourselves.

Often our childhood was so chaotic and our environments were so out of control, we learned ways to escape to try to find serenity. As we grew into adulthood, we worked hard at trying to control our external environment, believing it was the key to our happiness and inner peace. Our family of origin was frequently dysfunctional. Sometimes we even blamed ourselves for our parent’s problems. If we were terrorized by a volatile alcoholic parent, anger became an unacceptable and unwelcome guest in our lives. Anger was to be avoided at all costs. As a result, we learned to appease; we learned to rescue.

We learned to be aware of others’ feelings in order to protect ourselves and began to lose touch with our own feelings. We made ourselves responsible for the happiness of others, and when they weren’t happy, neither were we.

We are extremely loyal but also extremely insecure. Self-doubt is our constant companion and often self-hatred. Being unacceptable to ourselves, we hide our true selves, convinced that if anyone truly knew us, they would abandon us. This fear of abandonment often fuels our codependent behavior as we seek to do everything in our power to become so valuable that others would not want to leave us. By choice, our lives are not our own and our emotions are the property of whatever crisis the person(s) closest to us is having.

THE SOLUTION

We don’t have to live this way! We do have a choice. We can live free of these obligatory compulsions. Through God’s help we can learn to take responsibility for our own lives and allow others to take responsibility for theirs. With Jesus Christ as our Higher Power we learn how to apply the 8 Recovery Principles and 12 Steps, designed to guide us through the journey we call “Recovery.”

If we are diligent to provide willingness, integrity, consistency and rigorous honesty, God will supply us with courage, strength and the ability to take the necessary steps to gain freedom from our compulsive behaviors. In the context of caring and loving relationships, we learn to recognize our dependence upon God. We are then able to take a penetrating look at ourselves, and inventory both our own and other’s contributions to our lives which have brought us to where we are today. As our defects of character are unearthed, we are able to come clean to ourselves, to God and to safe people. When our secrets cease our freedom will increase.

God provides us with tools and a will to do what we once thought impossible. We begin to see relationships restored, old animosities put to rest and lives pieced back together. We learn to take daily inventory that we might continue to walk in truth, light and freedom. Most importantly, we can draw closer to God than ever before. We are being used by Him to share our lives and God’s miracles with others that they might experience the hope and healing that we have experienced.

A DEFINITION OF CODEPENDENT SOBRIETY

Codependent sobriety is somewhat different in nature in that we do not have a substance from which to abstain. Our addiction is more relational in nature. The key is learning how to have healthy relationships and how to establish and enforce appropriate boundaries that we may accurately establish where we end and another person begins.

Therefore, we define codependent sobriety as a faithful commitment to consistently work the program; which includes working or having worked through the CR Step Study Group; steady attendance at the Thursday night meetings; and responsibility to a Sponsor and Accountability Partners. We advocate journaling, daily inventory, transparency and rigorous honesty.

THE PROBLEM

If you find you cannot quit drinking or using drugs entirely, or if you have little control over the amount you consume, you are probably an alcoholic and/or a drug addict. If that is the case, you may be suffering from a problem which only a spiritual solution will conquer.

THE SOLUTION

Celebrate Recovery does not promise to solve your life’s problems. But it can show you how to:

      • Work through the Christ centered 12 Steps, and the 8 Recovery Principles found in the Beatitudes. With Jesus Christ as your Higher Power, you can and will change!

      • Live without drinking or using one day at a time with the help of the Higher Power, Jesus Christ.

      • Stay away from that first drink. If there isn’t a first one, there cannot be a tenth one. And when free of alcohol, life becomes much more manageable, with Christ’s power.

      • Experience the true peace and serenity you have been seeking.

      • Restore and develop stronger relationships with God and with others.

      • Stop relying on dysfunctional, compulsive, and addictive behaviors as a temporary “fix” for pain.

      • Apply the biblical principles of conviction, conversion, surrender, confession, restitution, prayer, quiet time, witnessing, and helping one another, which are found within the 8 Recovery Principles and the Christ centered 12 Steps.

When life becomes impossible and passes into the region from which there is no return through human resources, there are but two alternatives:

      • The first is to go on to the bitter end, blotting out the consciousness of our intolerable situation as best as we could.

      • The second is to accept Jesus Christ as our Higher Power.

WE CHOOSE TO ACCEPT JESUS CHRIST.

THE PROBLEM

All parents want their children to grow up to be happy, responsible adults. But, in spite of mom and dad’s best efforts, their most heartfelt prayers and loving environment, some kids never successfully make the transition to independent Adulthood.

THE SOLUTION

The acronym S.A.N.I.T.Y. explains success for Parents of Addicted children.

S  - Stop enabling, stop blaming yourself, and stop the flow of money.

A  - Assemble a support group.

N - Nip excuses in the bud.

I - Implement rules and boundaries.

T - Trust your instincts.

Y - Yield everything to God.

Celebrate Recovery’s definition for insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.

THE PROBLEM

     Our lust began as an overpowering desire for pleasurable relief from an inner pain, emptiness or insecurity that we were not able to cope with in any other way. At first, it did provide the relief we sought. For a time, sex with ourselves or with others dissolved the tension, relieved the depression, resolved the conflict, and provided the means to deal with, or escape from life’s seemingly unbearable situations.

Eventually, our quest for relief became an addiction, and the addiction took on a life of its own. Pleasure and relief were gradually replaced with tension, depression, rage, guilt, and even physical distress. To relieve this new pain, we resorted to more sex and lust, losing more control in the process. We were driven to spend more time thinking about and carrying out our addiction. We lived in denial to avoid recognizing just how much of our life was controlled by our addiction.

Finally, our addiction took priority over everything: our ability to work, live in the real world, relate with others and be close to God. What began as the cure had become the sickness. The Answer had become the Problem. We were hopelessly addicted to lust.

OVERCOMING LUST AND TEMPTATION

A new loneliness overwhelmed us as we realized that, because of our addiction, we had become increasingly separated from God and our loved ones. We began to seek sobriety, and as we stayed sexually sober for some length of time, we discovered that even though we may not be acting out our compulsion, our obsession was still with us.

We began to recognize the many disguises the enemy uses to trick us into lusting. We learned not to rely on our failed and weakened selves, but rather, to turn to God’s pure love and absolute power. With an increased reliance on God, we worked on our recovery with altered attitudes, a changed heart and growing humility, and we gained a progressive victory over lust.

As we yielded to God, temptation began to lose its control over us. When we admitted we were powerless and gave our lives and our will over to God, He worked in us, and we began enjoying a healthy new balance in our lives. Leaning on and learning from others in the program, we continue to walk in His strength, gaining true freedom from lust and sin through obedience to Christ our Lord.

OUR HOPE FOR YOU

You probably don’t like the circumstances you are in, you may be deeply hurt by what has happened, and it’s likely you are feeling angry about your situation. You might even feel embarrassed about coming to the class. All of these emotions are normal. After a few sessions, you’ll begin to notice that you look forward to class. You will hear concepts that will help you heal from your separation or divorce. Our prayer is that you will heal and, in the process, develop a deepening relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

THE PROBLEM

We have experienced some form of abuse, which has damaged our emotions and identity in ways that continue to affect us. We have developed incorrect ideas about life and destructive ways of dealing with the pain. This is harmful to us emotionally and physically, and damages our relationships with others. We need healing from the traumas done to us. We also need healing from the influence these experiences continue to have in our present lives.

THE SOLUTION

We are here to learn a new way of living. We recognize that the persons who abused us are responsible for their abusive acts and we reject the guilt and shame resulting from those acts. We look to God and His Word to find our identity and standards for living. We honestly share our feelings with God and others to help us identify those areas that need cleansing and healing. We accept responsibility for our responses to the abuse.

We rely on God as we go through the process of forgiving ourselves and our perpetrators. This enables us to establish and fully participate in healthy relationships and share this life-changing message with others. Those of us who have experienced life change through this program encourage you to keep coming back. It works, by God’s power, if you work at it.

By actually working through the Christ-centered 12 Steps and 8 Recovery Principles with Jesus Christ as our Higher Power, we can and will change. We experience the true peace and serenity we have been seeking when we admit we are powerless to heal ourselves from the effects of abuse and give our lives and our wills over to the care of God. It is only when we become dependent on God for our happiness, believing that His plan for us includes victory over the abuse, that we stop living and reliving the past and experience complete and lasting emotional healing.

A mental illness is a disease causing mild to significant disturbances in thinking, behavior, and/or emotion, resulting in an inability to cope with ordinary life challenges and routines. According to Mental Health America, there are more than 200 classified forms of mental illness. Some of the more common disorders are depression, bipolar disorder, dementia, schizophrenia, and anxiety disorders. A few signs of possible mental illness include prolonged depression, feelings of extreme highs and lows, social withdrawal, hallucinations, and suicidal thoughts, among others.

With Grief Share you will learn how to walk the journey of Grief and be supported on the way. It is a place where hurting people find healing and hope.

The Landing is a safe, healing place where teenagers can find the path to a more healthy, free, God-centered life. All students currently in the 6th-12th grades are welcome to attend. The Landing meets in the Community Center at 7:00pm.

THE CLASSES

Led by James Potter in the community center

Life after the Military does not always make sense. The loss of a sense of brotherhood and the loss of being part of something important and bigger than myself can lead to feelings of frustration, isolation, emptiness, boredom, anger, or loneliness. In an attempt to cope with the pain of these overwhelming emotions, sometimes veterans turn to unhealthy relationships, at-risk behaviors, or substance abuse.

Welcome Home is Celebrate Recovery's tool to help veterans stuck in hurts, hang-ups, and habits. Welcome Home is an Open Share Group for veterans led by veterans. Participants can recapture some of that sense of brotherhood and sense of mission, because every week they gather to discuss what is happening in their lives and to reach out to other veterans struggling with different hurts, hang-ups and habits.

Whether you served during peace time or war, if you experienced combat or never heard a shot fired in anger, all veterans are welcome at Welcome Home!