When I came on the Celebrate Recovery course, I already had an idea of the issues I was facing. I was upset and wondering what was going on in my life, as several things had gone wrong at about the same time. I had talked to God about this a bit but was no clearer. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, and was prepared for a long haul if necessary. I was determined to go and participate fully, as I had recognised that there was a problem that needed sorting out.
I appreciated the clear layout of the course, with the road map and stages marked clearly as we went along: somewhere to aim for. It was useful to see the course as a whole, rather than just the current book or set of exercises.
During each session, it was good to start by focusing on God in worship before anything else. This got us all together, adjusted away from the day and ready for the next bit of learning and discussion. It was also a chance to spend a bit of time with Him.
At first, the group was nervy, not least when breaking off into small same- sex groups for further discussion, and some members initially made it clear that they were hesitant to open up. But this largely changed as time went on, as the leaders tried to include everybody and individual members began to share what was going on with them, encouraging others to join in. Some deep hurts were revealed and prayed into, and the small group became much closer, with jokes and genuine support gradually replacing awkward pauses.
I personally found the sessions with the sponsor particularly helpful, and received genuine insight in a fresh way. Doing an inventory of significant past events was also valuable, as there were things I had forgotten about, and seeing things in date order, including which event came first, was very enlightening.
Writing personal things down and showing them to someone else was a bit nerve-wracking. Trust was built up gradually, but in the end the working together paid dividends. I have been told that some folk have seen a change in me, and while I cannot really grasp this at the moment, I know for a fact that my priorities have altered and become more God-centred.
For me, this is an ongoing process and I will have to keep going back to the books and looking again at what has been covered. I would like to keep contact with my sponsor until we are agreed that it is time to move on, and I plan to keep going with some of the daily disciplines.
While the end of the course did appear to come about suddenly, this was simply because the process was still going on. The idea of developing good habits for the rest of your life makes 11 months seem too short.