In the summer of 1957, 12-year-old Ed Catmull was on a cross-country trip with his family, driving on a crooked canyon road with no guardrails. A car driving in the opposite direction zigged into their lane, and Catmull’s dad zagged in the opposite direction. Their car came two inches from driving off the cliff. That’s…
Continue. That may be the most important word in recovery – continue. Have you been attending support groups? Continue. Have you been in therapy? Continue. Have you started working the Steps? Continue. What matters is not what you began, but what you continue. The great apostle never bragged on the start of his journey. It…
In December, 1874, a snowstorm hit the western United States. John Muire, a founder of the Sierra Club, left his friend’s cabin in the Sierra Nevadas to climb a 100-foot tree from which he would experience the full force of the storm. Muir made a habit of doing things that took him to the edge…
Legacy matters – a lot. Start with your kids. If you want to have a legacy to be proud of, pour your life into your children. Walk in recovery, do the next right thing, and keep your kids front and center on your list of priorities. Reggie Joiner is the founder of a wonderful organization…
The goal of recovery is to do the right thing, then let the results follow. Focus on recovery work, not recovery. If you do that – go to meetings, work the Steps, remain accountable – solid recovery will be the inevitable result. The Bible calls this “sowing seeds.” Solomon said, “Sow your seed in the…
You can turn your darkness into light. In fact, you’ve got to turn your darkness into light! Aristotle said, “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” In his brilliant book, Survival, pastor Ben Young identifies five typical tactics of what he calls the shadow voice: fear, self-pity, self-indulgence,…
All recovery is spiritual. J.I. Packer said, “Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded.” Every day, I do two readings: something in recovery and something from the Bible. If I have to pick one, I choose the Bible. Why? Because every time I draw near to…
If you walked into the SpaceX headquarters, you would see two posters of Mars hanging on the wall. One shows a cold, barren planet. The Mars on the other poster looks a lot like Earth. That second poster represents Elon Musk’s life purpose – colonizing Mars. Musk says, “I’d like to die on Mars, not…
The most holy place you will ever be is in the presence of God, wherever you find that. The old prophet said of the Lord, “He will be a holy place” (Isaiah 8:14). The Hebrew root word for “holy” is qadosh; the Greek word is hagios. Both words, form the Old and New Testaments, mean…
You can take God’s promises to the bank. Imagine that I gave you a check for a thousand dollars. Would you withhold your thanks until the check cleared the bank? No, you would express gratitude right away, assuming the check wouldn’t bounce, based on what you know about my character. God’s promises are better than…