Many of you have heard me speak of or seen me write about Celebrate Recovery on my Facebook Page and I heard someone ask tonight, "what do you have to do to be a part of Celebrate Recovery" and I realized that many people may not know what Celebrate Recovery (CR for short) is all about.  Sooooooooooo that being said I thought I would try to shed a little light!

Celebrate Recovery, is a Christ Centered 12 Step Recovery Program for everyone who is dealing with a hurt, habit, or hang up. Celebrate Recovery is for anyone with the courage to be honest about life's hurts, habits and hang-ups and is  willing to open their life to healing and change.

We believe in walking through the pain of this life together as we follow Christ, not telling people how or where they should walk. We are all still recovering from hurt and pain, our current or past addictions are no longer hidden but are now front and center, and you will probably easily identify the hang-ups in each of us. However, you will also identify the most authentic, transparent, genuine, and compassionate people anywhere. Thankfully, our identity is not found in our weaknesses or struggles, but is found in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Celebrate Recovery is a recovery ministry based on biblical principles with a goal to let God work through us in providing His healing power. This allows people to be "changed" spiritually by working through sound biblical principles. Participants open the door by sharing their experiences, strengths, and hopes with one another. In addition, they become willing to accept God's grace and forgiveness in solving life's problems. Celebrate Recovery provides a safe place for individuals to begin their journey of breaking out of bondage and into God's grace by helping them to start dealing with their life's hurts, hang-ups, and habits.

HURTS:   

The feeling of being hurt is an emotional reaction to another person's behavior or to a disturbing situation (abuse, abandonment, codependency, divorce, relationship issues, grief, distress, etc.).

HABITS:

A habit is an addiction to someone or something (alcohol, drugs, food, gambling, sex, shopping, smoking, etc.)

HANG UPS:  

Hang-ups are negative mental attitudes that are used to cope with people or an adversity (anger, depression, fear, or unforgiveness).

Stepping out of Denial and being open/honest about your hurts/habits/hangups is the first principal covered in Celebrate Recovery.  For me saying out loud for the first time who I was and what I was struggling with was one of the hardest things for me to do.  Mainly because I had kept my addictions and my hurts/hangups a secret for so long that I was afraid of what other may think of me.  But over the past 10 months or so I have come to a place where my past and my addictions no longer define me, now I can say as a way of introduction in a CR meeting (with gratitude to God for bringing me from where I was to where I am today), Hi, my name is Judy, I'm a grateful believer in Christ, who is recovering from prescription drug/alcohol addiction (19 months sobriety on 8/3/2013)and currently dealing with anger/resentment stemming from childhood/sexual abuse.  I'm not proud of my addictions or my hurts/hangups but I'm learning that through them and seeing my need for Christ to bring me out of them I am a better person today because of it.  May I never get to a point that I place myself on a pedestal and forget from where it is that God has brought me.  No longer are there "those people" in my life, because I AM ONE OF "THOSE PEOPLE", and if the truth be told we all at one time or another have been "those people".

I'm at a point in my recovery that I'm learning to let go of some of the hurts/hang ups  that led to a lifelong battle with the "bad habits"; and I'm finding other "good habits" to replace the "bad habits".  Recovery is a lifelong process, a daily surrender of self to God because without Him I couldn't do it, nor would I want to!

If you or someone you know is interested in learning more about Celebrate Recovery, you are more than welcome to join us on Friday evenings at SonRise Church, 8136 Wooster Pike, Cincinnati, OH 45227 (just outside of Mariemont).  Dinner is served at 6 pm, Large Group/Worship is at 7 pm, Small Groups at 7:45 pm and please feel free to stay and join us for fellowship and dessert at Solid Rock Cafe beginning at 8:30 pm.  We meet every Friday night, 52 weeks a year!

And to answer the question at the beginning of this blog - all you have to do is show up and want to be part of Celebrate Recovery!

YES I'M A SLACKER

Blogging seems so simple to do - you go online, you write about the events of that day, week, month, etc. Yet, why is it I set out to do this with every good intention and I end up letting it go by the wayside?

I'm going to make a serious attempt to at least blog once a week - even it if means setting a timer on my iPhone to remind me to do so!!

Not that I care that anyone reads, but I'm finding it's a way for me to access how my life is going, am I keeping in check with what I have purposed for my life, a way to get my thoughts out and a way to maybe see them in a different light.

And yes, a way of sharing the successes, the failures, the highs and lows, and just keeping in touch!

OK, I've Let This Go For Toooooooo Long

I realized I haven't blogged in almost a year - SHAME ON ME!

Blogging is such a great way to get my thoughts out and helps to clear my head. Not to mention helps to share life with faraway (and no so faraway friends and family).

Since I am still recuperating from some extensive orthopaedic surgery on my left ankle and facing heart surgery in the next several weeks (the pacemaker is on it's last lap) I will take the time to update this blog, post some pix and fill in the blanks of the last year!

Consider this my re-entry into the blogging world!

Downtown Cincinnati Exploration (Part One)

This week we decided to explore a little of downtown Cincinnati. You might have noticed I labeled this Part One. The reason for doing so is that we only explored a few blocks and we are going to try and go down a few more times this summer and explore other areas of downtown as well.

This week we stayed in close proximity to Fountain Square.

First we started off by visiting Josh's work:










And Jesse got to go up to Josh's office and see his cell, I mean cubicle:


After visiting with daddy, seeing his office, meeting some of his coworkers and throwing a few pennies in the fountain in the lobby of daddy's building we set out to explore a few city blocks of downtown.


We stopped in Lytle Park and I took a picture of Jesse with a statue of Abraham Lincoln, we learned a few weeks earlier (on a class field trip) that the citizens of the community don't like this rendering of Mr. Lincoln because he doesn't have his "customary beard and top hot"!! You decide:




After we left Lytle Park Jesse spotted a building with a "clock tower" and wanted to go see it (he has a huge fascination with clocks/watches/time). So we discovered it was actually a church, Cathedral Church:


After tearing Jesse away from staring at the clock tower, we walked over and checked out the Proctor and Gamble Twin Towers complex. We had fun walking through their "Gardens" and I got some cute pix of Jesse:


After we left the Proctor and Gamble Complex and Garden areas we walked over and I showed Jesse where the bus terminal was located. This is where daddy gets dropped off in the morning and where he catches the bus in the evening. We walked through the Government Square terminal and I let Jesse search the signs to find the stop where his daddy would get off/on the bus. Took him a while but he eventually found it.

From here we went to Fountain Square and Jesse seen the sign for a Cincinnati Snack Staple:

So I let him get a scoop of ice cream (he is so predictable - he got vanilla) and we went in search of a spot to sit on the square and let him enjoy his treat:





On this particular day on the square they had a miniature golf course sat up (NINE HOLES) so Jesse decided he wanted to give it a try, he done good (seeing as how this is only the second time he has played):





Jesse had an enjoyable time on the square, it was funny cause he was much more interested in playing putt putt on the square than checking out the fountain. Guess it's all in priorities. After we finished playing putt putt we walked around some more and Jesse enjoyed checking out the windows of alot of the shops and restaurants along the streets. It was also a little of a culture shock as we passed several groups of people milling about talking in foreign languages. Several times Jesse would stop and ask me why they were speaking in "babble" talk. I had to explain to him that not everyone speaks "american" and that they are speaking their natural language. He then commented "well if they are going to stay in America they need to learn to speak American" - OUT OF THE MOUTH OF BABES!!

Jesse also got the opportunity to see policeman on horseback and he thought that was really weird to see "animals" walking around downtown:


We walked around some more and Jesse discovered a few more "animals" downtown:




Jesse thought both of these were pretty neat, and do did I, lol.

After we had spent about 2 1/2 hours downtown we decided it was time to head home, let the puppy out for a while, and grab some lunch before heading to Speech therapy.

Jesse said all in all he had a good time exploring downtown and wanted to do it again but wanted to look at different streets. Gotta love a kid that loves to just walk around and check things out!! I hope he never looses his love of exploring and learning about new places.

Until our next adventure....................

SUMMER ADVENTURES WEEK THREE (Part Two)

Ok, with this blog posting I am finally caught up, YEEHAW! I hate looking like I'm a slacker!!

So yesterday was Father's Day and we traveled up to Marysville to spend the day with Josh's family. I grilled out BBQ Chicken and Corn on the Cob and made baked Mac 'n' Cheez and Josh's sisters brought salads and desserts - our gift to dad he didn't have to cook for once during a family gathering:):)

After lunch we spent the rest of the day outside (we haven't been out alot here in Cincinnati because of the STOOPID CICADAS and they don't have them up north!!). Jesse played on the beach area of the pond, while Josh, his mom, sisters, and dad just sat and enjoyed the day.

Here is Jesse in the sand:




And if he wasn't playing in the sand and water he was playing on the slide or in the yard:


And of course it wouldn't be a good trip to Marysville if I didn't get a chance to go fishing!!

Here is my biggest (bass) catch of the day!







And with that I am now officially caught up with my blogging! For the moment anyways.

Stay tuned to see where our next adventure takes us!!

SUMMER ADVENTURES WEEK THREE (Part One)

This week's adventure took us to Breezy Point Water Play Area at Woodland Mound Park (off of Old Kellogg Avenue).

This has become one of our favorite places to go in the summer when the weather is too hot to do anything else. And after you pay the $5 Anuual Fee (it's part of Hamilton County Park District) it's only $1 per child to play as long as they want!! Can't beat that!! They have a covered picnic area, as well as an open area and a regular playground just outside the wet play area. There is also a snack bar that you can buy burgers, hot dogs, drinks, and ice cream.

Here is an overview of what the Wet Play Area looks like:



And here is Jesse getting ready for action:

Patiently waiting our turn to
go down the slide.




Down He Comes!








And he is off to do it all over again!
And here comes down again!
Can you find Jesse in the
fountains?




Trying not to get sprayed!!



After all the water fun, one has to wait in line to go potty!







And after 2 1/2 hours of play it's time for some rest and the all time favorite summer snack -- ICE CREAM:



Talk about a water clogged ear!



Good to the last lick!!






And of course we have to have some pictures of mommy from this adventure:





And that was our adventure to Breezy Point!

STAY TUNED FOR MORE ADVENTURES AND SOMETIMES MISADVENTURES OF OUR FUN FILLED SUMMER VACATION!

SUMMER ADVENTURES WEEK TWO (ALMOST CAUGHT UP, LOL)

This week we decided to go on a low cost adventure:):) More like FREE:) But it was a dual purpose adventure - we got some exercise, got to enjoy nature, and did a little learning along the way!

This week we went along the Little Miami Bike Trail (this is a bike trail that used to be the Little Miami Railroad Corridor):











In order to get to the "Trail" we had to cross the "FootBridge" across a very swollen and ugly looking river (this was the day after the storms/tornados of that week):














While on the Foot Bridge, we decided to conduct some "experiments" we wanted to see how long it would take different sizes of branches to go under the bridge! Jesse decided that bigger branches moved faster, but I think they all moved the same, the bigger ones just emerged out from under the bridge quicker because they were longer. But in any case we spent about 20 minutes watching and it was fun to see Jesse's mind at work! And we seen a huge piece of a branch get caught on the bridge support:










So after we finished with that experiment we decided to go walk on the trail and enjoy some time together. We talked, walked, looked, and learned a few things along the way. Jesse finally asked what the weird noise he kept hearing and I explained to him about CICADAS and he wanted to see one up close and personal, so he started looking for one, didn't take long:
Then we saw some wild flowers that were somewhat beaten down from the previous days rains but Jesse wanted a picture anyways:






Then he spotted a yellow butterfly among the greenery and yellow wild flowers! Can you find it?







After we walked out about 1 1/2 miles we decided it was time to turn around and head back to the car, but Jesse decided he needed to stop and take a break first, really he just wanted to pose for some pix:

AND THAT WAS OUR NO COST ADVENTURE FOR THE SECOND WEEK OF SUMMER VACATION!!