“…yet you brought up my life from the
the Pit,
O LORD my God.”
Jonah 2:6b (NRSV)

As I approach the anniversary of my recovery from addiction, I am once again overwhelmed by what God has done for me. While I had to be willing to ask for help and follow direction, all of the heavy lifting has been done by God. I had to show up and stay clean, but He was the One who removed the obsession. He removed the obsession! I don’t believe there is anyone other than a true addict who can understand the enormity of that statement. The thing that ran my life for 29 years is no longer there. The voice that never stopped is now silent. The anxiety, the worry, the burden – they are gone. My masters of food and alcohol no longer hold me in chains.

He brought me up from the Pit!

There was a time in my early recovery that I thought there was no way I could ever express to God the gratitude and appreciation I have for what He has done for me. I know today that there is a way. There is something I can do on a daily basis that will show Him exactly how grateful I am. As I keep living my life in recovery and carrying the message that was so unselfishly carried to me, I am serving my true Master. In getting down in the darkness of another addict’s journey through addiction and guiding them into the light of recovery, I am serving my true Master. In sharing my story with others, honestly and humbly, I am serving my true Master.

O LORD my God, through my service, I thank YOU!