June 26 - A Life That Deepens

The harder you chase it, the further it slips away. What you build slowly grows stronger over time. Pastor Mike and Jason close out their week together on patience, process, and what it actually takes to get this right. In this episode, Jason names the difference between his three attempts head-on: the first two times he was part of the fellowship of the program, not the program of the program — hearing it go in one ear and out the other, never getting a sponsor, never working the steps. This time he did something different. A month-long treatment instead of a quick detox, and the day he got back, he raised his hand and asked for a sponsor. Bill F. — who wasn't even supposed to be at that group — walked over, told him where to be and when, and that was it. Now he's through his fifth, sixth, and seventh steps, working his eighth, chairing meetings, and about to sponsor someone himself. Mike brings the "you can't BS a BSer" truth — how the rooms spot someone working the program for the wrong reasons a mile away — and contrasts it with the newcomer who said the five words that change everything: I want what you have. He tells his own two-Starbucks story: skipping meetings to smoke cigars, only for God to put a recovering alcoholic at the first patio and his future sponsor, Steve Davis, rumbling up on a motorcycle from an AA meeting at the second. A God grab, not just a God wink. The close is the question for everyone listening, in recovery or in the pew: are you living your life in such a way that people want what you have? What is built slowly and rightly grows stronger over time. Christian recovery | 12-step faith | sobriety devotional | patience | spiritual growth | working the steps | I want what you have | addiction recovery | AA and faith | sober living | daily reflection Daily entries at dailyripples.com — [email protected] Daily Ripples connects recovery principles with the life of faith. New episodes every day.