Topic: Step 11: 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.
We are starting Chapter 3 today in "Having Had a Spiritual Awakening"
Chapter 3 - The Unexpected Spiritual Awakenings
Life is what happens while we are busy making other plans. Even in Al-Anon, we nurse a strong tendency to bolt from the present to rearrange the past or to plot out the seemingly important events of the next day or month or year. Any moment of our lives, past or future, is often easier to focus on than what we are experiencing here and now.
It has also been said that God works tin the present. Guidance, healing, care, and love are all available in abundance, if we can only join our Higher Power in the ever-changing but always-present place known as this moment.
Often it’s the unexpected stumbling block or the spontaneous outburst of humor that brings us up short, stops us in our tracks, and spins us around to remind us that no matter where we go, there we are. Always at hand, our Higher Power waits patiently for us to arrive in the present.
Today's Lesson: "I was Half Asleep"
When I came to al-anon I knew that a God existed, but my feelings about God were mixed and confused. I was reared in a home with two religions. In al-anon they mentioned a God of my understanding or a Higher Power. It took me a while to comprehend what the group was trying to tell me: that I have the freedom to make the choice of believing in a personal God.
One morning in the shower, I realized for the first time that a Higher Power was answering my prayers. The solutions came to mind and I felt comfortable with the message I was receiving. When this happened more than once, I realized that this was the only time my mind was not full of negative thinking about things happening in my daily life.
The period between five and seven years in the program was very difficult for me. I wanted to continue doing my will. My Higher Power gave me this freedom to continue suffering. I was not grateful. There was sobriety in our home but I wasn't happy.
During this time I became ill and was admitted into the hospital. That’s when I surrendered. While half-asleep and dreaming, I could feel a nurse trying to give me the early-morning medication. In my dream my spouse and my four adult children were in a car parked outside. I saw fire all around them and there was nowhere to move. The fire engulfed them. Afterwards, I saw everything really green and clean and my adult children were babies again, running around and playing. The message that I interpreted at the time was that my Higher Power was giving me a chance at a new beginning with my family and that I needed to be grateful for my health, One Day at a Time.
I’m fifty-two years old and I feel better than when I was thirty-eight. Al-Anon has given me my life back and for that I’m truly grateful.
My personal God has no figure; it’s just something greater than I am that can do for me what I can’t do for myself and for the people close to me whom I love.
I try to do Step Three daily and not always the first thing in the morning. There are times I need to do it several times during the day, to make a decision to turn my will and my life over to my Higher Power to guide my thoughts and let them guide my actions.
Step Eleven is for me like, One Day at a Time. Working on me today to feel good with what I do and say is going to make me feel good about my past, because today will be my past tomorrow.
~ United States
“Have dreams provided me with spiritual guidance?”
The website link to the group meeting room is http://www.12stepforums.net/chatroom2.html. There are other ways to join the room also. Using mIRC or other chat client, the server we are on is irc.chat4all.org, port 6667. which users will need to add to their IRC server list, and our room name (#alanonchat) to their IRC channels.
-- Edited by Overcome on Sunday 27th of October 2013 01:43:32 PM
-- Edited by Overcome on Sunday 27th of October 2013 01:44:06 PM
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I can Overcome all things through my HP who strengthens me.
