This episode is another group meeting with guys in recovery from the US, Australia and South Africa. Listen to their ideas on the differences between the world view of being identified because of our past behaviors vs the kingdom view of finding your identity in your faith. Hear how each guy looks at his past, finds strength and safety in the present, and has hope for the future.

In this episode we take a look at what we do in From A2D. How we are motivated by all three: passion, purpose and compassion to walk in living what we do and sitting love for people caught in the snare of addiction. Not simply focused on fixing them or having them come right, but helping them find healing and wholeness. We do this by meeting them where they are at and listening to their feelings, not judging their behavior. The quote by Rumi has become our focus "Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray."

Let's look at those situations and relationships we get ourselves into where we feel like we're stuck in quicksand and it's going to swallow us up. Why do we keep running back to the same people and situations that are quicksand to us? We need to not just deal with it, but to process it and feel it so that we can find our second wind which will carry us through to better days ahead.

We all need to develop a lifestyle of course correction to keep us focused on our destination. It's normal to get distracted, side-tracked or to veer off course every now and then. The key is to continue the journey, not stop and wallow in the shame of our mistake or the self-pity of the unfair thing that happened to us. Winds change and we need to learn how to keep sailing regardless. A good tool would be to develop your own "course correction inventory" AND begin to use it!

Today's episode is a group session as our guys in recovery from Australia, South Africa and the US share their feelings from episode # 173. Listen to their just of complicated grief in seeing the hurt their children carry, in stab wounds from the church, in physical and mental Spectra that make us feel like we're 70 even though we're 40, and in more aspects of grief. Listen, share with a few friends and help each other find healing and wholeness.

Today's episode is a walkabout on last week's Complicated Grief episode. We'll look at four listeners' comments as they reached out to me with their issues of grief. Maybe you feel like everyone is ready to throw stones of condemnation at you. Or you now realize that you have glossed over many things that you should have processed earlier in life. Perhaps you were an introvert in a family of extroverts and still feel the pain of being an embarrassment to your family. Or maybe you're dealing with the pain of not being trusted, even by the church that you have turned to for strength and support in your recovery. If any of this sounds like you, then this episode is for you!

Today's episode is about an often overlooked aspect of recovery, Complicated Grief. Specifically we'll be discussing the grief about the things we lost as consequences of our addiction. This includes things like: the loss of your marriage, the ability to see or maintain a relationship with your kids, loss of your career, your house, etc. This grief can settle in as our new core value AFTER we have started recovery. If so the result is relapse!

This is a group session podcast as the guys share what they would plant in their garden that would be a good reminder in their journey of recovery. What trees, bushes, tall grasses, short grasses, teas, herbs and flowers would you plant AND why? Listen as the guys share their thoughts and share this episode with friends.

Let's look at what core values are and why it's so important to know your own personal core values. Many people think they're the same as your beliefs, but I propose that our core values are stronger than our beliefs. And we need to understand what our core values are that were caused by and shaped by childhood trauma and emotional wounds. For a list of 216 for values go to www.scienceofpeople.com/core-values/ and check out the article entitled The Only 216 Values You'll Ever Need by Logan Hailey.

This episode is a group meeting with the guys in recovery from the US, Australia and South Africa. The discussion question is "How do you deal with being hurt by the church (people in your church and other believers) when they judge where you're at in your recovery from the world's perspective? Listen to advice from "stay in your lane" to "draw close to the ones you trust." You'll also hear the journey to becoming unoffendable and the painful walk of hurt from church leadership. We end by saying "I'm not Humpty Dumpty!" Listen to find out why.