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Keep CR in place even if you don't meet sometimes, In Orlando FL we are meeting again starting April 16th, my journey involves 12 step programs I serve in, being an active Sub-c and homegroup member our CR ministry will be discussing issues like Denial, powerlessness and control. Haven't posted here in awhile, but my roots were planted in the NY CR ministry.
Hey all, hope all is well all over the world . Right now is the middle of the Corona Pandemic, we are having virtual CHURCH CR and NA meetings. If you need a meeting check on one the the CR websites or even an NA website. Here in Orlando I help manage the Orlandona.org and Orlandocr.com websites
not much action on the site lately, wanted to share a story. I graduated CR back in 1989 in NYC , been in FL last 26 years. Recently one of my rental houses was turned into a grow House, during my dealing with the cleanup I encountered much cannabis smell, plus found large bags full of it. (immediately turned into the local police or destroyed) , if not for God's power and being taught to obey (as in matt 28:20) from Cr I may have used during this situation. Thanks to the NYC CR ministry I am still standing. I have many photos of the house, hopefully my experience can helps others somehow.
I have been a disciple for over 13 years. My baptism date was November 15, 1991, when I was 21 Years old. I was in college as a student-athlete, attending a university here in Chicago, when someone reached out to me and it was just at the right time.
My chemical addiction started when I was in my early teens. My family had moved to the United States a few years earlier (when I was 10) from Portugal, as my father sought for political asylum for his family who had left Angola, Africa because of Civil War. I began to drink alcohol because of all the insecurities that I had faced as a young teenager trying to fit in a new culture with a new language.
Once I began to see that there was a social acceptance and even admiration in some circles for drinking a lot alcohol, I began to pursue this avenue further. I not only started hanging out with the drinking crowd in high school, but began to enjoy the atmosphere.
Smoking killed my mother at the early age of forty. I never got to know my grandfathers due to their smoking unfiltered Camels and Chesterfields. This didn't stop me from using marijuana. I first tried it at age twenty one and I loved the high. I had started smoking at age ten by finishing cigarette butts and by fifteen I had chain-smoked a pack of Marlboros while baby-sitting. I didn't believe that I was hooked until I was introduced to marijuana.
God brought me into his Kingdom in the summer of 2000, just as the Chemical Recovery ministry was being started in the Church in Los Angeles. I had first heard about this ministry from Mike Leatherwood and Willie Flores as they shared in meetings throughout the various regions in the church. My drug use started at an early age. At seven or eight years old, I was smoking cigarettes while stealing sips of wine and beer from unattended glasses. At age ten, I was getting drunk and by thirteen, was using inhalants. Cigarettes were a constant abuse for me, as was alcohol. I grew up in the sixties and LSD also became a drug of choice.
My life before the kingdom was a long endless road of misery with my addiction. Before I became a disciple I indulged in drinking almost constantly. I began drinking at the age of seven and continued through to my teenage years where I started smoking marijuana and tobacco. Each year I got worse, with my addiction separating me from my family and friends. I was failing at school and taking dangerous risks with the law just for the thrill of it.