Growing up in an abusive situation primed me for alcohol abuse at an early age. By the time I was 15, I had become a regular drinker and user of cannabis. For the next 30 years I managed to maintain a level of normalcy, I went to work every day and told everyone that I didn’t have a drinking problem. Even when my 20-year marriage ended, and I started to have severe health issues, I persisted in my addiction.

It wasn’t until a moment of clarity came as I was sitting on the steps of a church. I looked up into the sky and asked God if He was real, because I was confused, and lost. The result of that simple
and humble question was an epiphany that changed my life forever. I knew at that moment that not only was God real, but that He loved me despite all the horrible things I had done in my life. In that moment of clarity, I came to know that I needed to give up drugs and alcohol and leave them forever behind me. What was missing was the “how”.

I looked up the local AA meeting and went, even though I knew that there had to be a better way, because I really didn’t know there were any other options. My epiphany happened in October of 2009, but my sobriety date is June 26, 2012, and it is a date I fought for. My birthday in 2010 was the first birthday I remember the whole day, because I was totally sober that day, and had been for nearly three weeks. I fell several times in the ensuing years, but every time I got up, dusted myself off, and started my sobriety date over again.

Most of the people that knew me at the time knew little of my struggles, but those who were closest to me were there to support me. Even though AA was an imperfect solution, it provided the necessary feedback I needed as someone attempting to recover from alcoholism.

Unfortunately, the atmosphere was not conducive to me feeling the Spirit of the Lord work in me, so after I had achieved an entire year of sobriety, I quit going, and depended on those around
me to provide the necessary feedback should I start to get off track.  I have now been sober for over eight years and have no more desire to drink. I know that it has nothing for me, not just bringing nothing to the table, but actually delivering “nothing” to my life where there is something now. In Vernonia, Oregon I was called to be the Addiction Recovery Missionary for our church and served two years as the organizer and moderator of a 12-step recovery program modeled after AA, but with additions to make it a more spiritual experience.

We welcomed people of all faiths in our little group and had people that drove up to 30 miles to attend, granted we were isolated and the only 12-step group that had Thursday night meetings in
a 25-mile radius or so. After my two-year mission was over, the group continued under another organizer and I became a support person that was there to assist them. Those were among the greatest years of my life.

Now, at 55, with just over eight years of sobriety I feel it’s time to really start giving back in a bolder way. I have owned my own consulting business for some time, and, at this point, have a
fairly stable set of clients to work with. I am constantly grateful for the many wonderful things
that sobriety has brought into my life, and am fully prepared to help others on the same journey.