In 1792, Thomas Jefferson convinced George Washington that the government needed a presidential home. It was decided to solicit drawings from the public. In March of 1792, ads were printed, offering $500 to the person who submitted the winning design. Only nine designers applied.
The winner was James Hoban, an Irish-born architect from South Carolina. Having studied architecture in Dublin, Hoban was familiar with the Leinester House. Rather than construct an original drawing, he simply replicated the design from that historic Irish home. Washington loved it, and the drawing was accepted. Thus, to this day, the White House bears a striking similarity to the “other” building in Dublin, Ireland.
Recovery works like that. Don’t waste your time chasing after some new strategy or mechanism to find sobriety. What has always worked, works still.
Go to meetings. Surrender to God. Live in community. Be accountable.
Start small. The Bible says, “Do not despise the day of small things” (Zechariah 4:10).
Recovery Step: Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Do the simple works of recovery that have always worked.
