I need to spend another blog moment talking about the saga of last week and the weekend.  If I’ve ever needed to awaken to a character defect in me, it is that “I can do this,” “I must do this.”  This desperation thinking has been instilled in me from the time my abuse started and I couldn’t tell anyone.  I would be strong and endure it for when it finally ends I will be free and can live the rest of my life without it.  I use to think this all the time when I was growing up both about my brother’s sexual abuse and about my dad’s emotional/physical abuse.  Now I am under 2 months away from turning 66 and I am still waiting for the freedom to happen.  This is because the actual abuse from my childhood turned into Satan’s lies and deceptions as I stepped away from those childhood/teenage years.  I really appreciate the spiritual warfare prayers I mentioned yesterday.  They awaken in me the need to pray through the conscious, subconscious and unconscious beliefs that are the character defects Satan uses.

Yesterday was a very busy Sunday which didn’t even include going to church.  A couple from our Celebrate Recovery group married yesterday morning at an event center in our area.  Kathy and I have been mentoring them and wanted to attend.  They had asked us to witness the wedding and sign with them their marriage certificate.  Following this event I had our monthly CR leadership meeting followed by a member of it needing to talk through something in their life.  Lastly our choir was singing a few songs with a gospel quartet who was singing at our church last night.  I just went from one thing to another and finally got home a little before 9:00 pm last night.  Through the day though, I was able to witness a couple stepping out of their bondage and into a beautiful marriage God had arranged for them.  In our leadership meeting I was able to express with our men the struggles of late where I could use their prayer support.  Lastly, and the greatest gift of all yesterday, following the concert, I was introduced to a couple visiting from Illinois.  She had read my book and wanted to talk.  Her story was different than mine, but the bondage of sin is much the same.  She and her husband talked with me for about 30-40 minutes.  She was now wanting to help others with their addictive behaviors but God wasn’t seemingly opening any doors for this to happen where they live.  When I asked her if she had completed her support team she seemed puzzled.  I told her that in the verse James 5:16 it says for us to confess to God, ourselves and to someone we trust and we will be healed.  The prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective.  I’ve been learning that I truly need a strong support team when I am telling my story.  When I live my past over and over, I also am vulnerable to the character defects becoming truths again in my mind.  So I asked her if there was anyone God had been placing on her heart to talk to and she immediately said yes, but….  I told her to just be obedient and talk to the person, for God, if He is preparing this person to be a teammate, will have done His part already.  Using God’s readiness steps for becoming a warrior in this spiritual war zone and being properly supported is critical.  I look forward to hearing how God does use her in her days ahead.

The conversation with this couple was God’s reminder for me that He is faithful to His Kingdom work.  This couple is in their early 50’s and have only been Christians a couple of years.  The husband told me I was the most courageous man he’s know in his current years.  My response was thanks, but for me it is all about being obedient to the nudges of The Holy Spirit within–Christ’s Gift to each of us who choose Him as Savior and Lord.

I’m glad last week is done, but I am most grateful for the growth it provided.  I pray the journaling through this blog is helpful for you the reader.  Feel free to respond if prompted.  God’s richest blessings to you.