Life is a chair of bowlies. Sometimes. Other times, if you are having a really good day, it might be a bowl of cherries! But life on lifes terms for me is usually the chair of bowlies. I am not saying that is a bad thing to be honest with you. I think if I was living on high, with a bowl of cherries everyday, then I might start thinking I was cured or something silly like that. My chair of bowlie days are not so bad. I can look back on just about everyday and find some good in it. I am sure I could find some not so good as well, but that really serves no purpose. When I lived in a bottle that is what I did all the time. It is amazing how easy it is to inventory how the world at large has wronged us. Those days were just the pitts.
I don't miss those days. Today I sit in my warm room listening to the wind whip around, content in the Super Bowl match ups and able to remember last nights games. I will go to work for a bit, but not before I have my mini meeting when I get my coffee. And I will go about my day. I do have a possible big stresser facing me today. I will ask God to help me, and He will. I might not care for the answer, but I will get one. And then I will continue on my day. Reminding myself not to dwell on the things that are not going "my" way.
And I am sure, today will in fact be a chair full of bowlies!!

When you keep going to meetings....

Last night I was at another anniversary meeting. The chairperson introduced her first speaker in such a way that it struck, and stuck in a very strong way.

"I actually do not know my first speaker at all, but I heard her speak the other day and asked her to speak tonight. We all know what happens if you stop going to meetings. Tonight I would like you to meet what happens when you DON'T stop"

Wow. What an introduction. And what a very cool thought. What does happen when you don't stop going to meetings? TONS OF STUFF!! Good, bad, happy, sad and all the in between fluff and stuffs. But you don't have to pick up a drink over it. Awesome.

The speaker herself is someone I give a lot of credit too as well. She is soft spoken, but very firm, very very firm about how she works HER program and how it works for HER. I love hearing from people like that. She was not up there telling me how to do it, she was showing me.
Wow.

I don't think the chair "planned" her speakers the way it worked out, but she had a perfect mix of some serious long term sobriety that showed what happens when you keep coming, and a few that have gone out and were lucky enough to make it back. All of them strong women in sobriety. All of them had something I needed to hear last night. I have been asking my Higher Power for some extra help lately .. and boy has He been coming through for me.

God doing that God thing again ...

So last night I was at a one year anniversary meeting. Always a wonderful type of meeting to be at. I am going to change the names & places, but I have a story of God doing His God thing again. Really amazing to me, as I actually know the people.

Megan started the meeting off with asking her sponsor Carrie to speak. Carrie has been around AA for a few 24hr. Megan introduced her, and said "I asked Carrie to be my sponsor after a few months of seeing her around because I liked what I saw. And she (Carrie) was going back to school, and that is something I would like to do someday." With that she turned the podium over to Carrie.

Carrie shared her experience, strength and hope. As she came to the end of her sharing, including years of service for AA and how she was back to school now. She then said with Megan's permission she would share how God put them together.

Carrie went to a BIG college, thousands of students. Starting her back to school with a just a couple of classes. One of the classes required field trips. Being the "old lady" in the class (4o something), with a cool car, some of the other girls would drive with her. Although Carrie does not wear AA on her sleeve, she does not hide her involvement either. One of her mantras is that she might be a person only exposer to the Big Book.

It turned out that one of the young women was very concerned about her mother. She spoke to Carrie about her mothers drinking, and after talking with Carrie, she encouraged her mother to go to AA for help. School ended and they went there separate ways.

In the mean time Megan was going to meetings. Frightened, confused, and not sure Megan "just kept coming". She saw Carrie at meetings. Finally getting the courage up to ask her to be her sponsor. During one of their phone calls she commented on how she too would like to go back to school one day. That her daughter was going to The Big School at the moment.

Something clicked for Carrie. She looked at her caller id, and really looked at the name. "Megan, is your daughters name Susan?".

And yes, God was doing His God thing, because Susan was the young woman who had talked with Carrie about her mom months ago.

A HUGE college with thousands of people, an AA community of thousands, both Carrie and Megan living in different towns ... of thousands...

Tell me that is not God doing His God thing .. I dare you.