Let me show you how God works.
In my case, God does not work in mysterious ways. He knows, with me, he has to be a lot more CLEAR. He has to be, because I am, well, stubborn.
Y’all. Seriously. I’m “stubborn” like Richard Simmons is “Sassy.” We work it.
Anyhow… A few years ago I lost my mind. I drowned myself in a lot of wine, on a daily basis, and then, when the wine was over my head and I was choking for sanity, I grabbed onto more bottles and just sank even lower.
God worked: He got me out of there. He helped me out, dried me off, and we keep walking together. In fact, I am stuck to Him like really needy and sober GLUE until I get to meet him personally.
God worked. He got me writing gigs to keep me busy, and He asked me to start talking about the near-drowning stuff. He said, “Now. You need to tell.”
I now have a gig writing with Nazarene Publishing House. A column, for The Community, a blog that “provides content, insight, training, and conversations that inspire spiritual growth.”
I am totally freaked out that I am writing a column for anything that involved “training” and “spiritual growth.” I’m the one who used Richard Simmons earlier in this post, as a sort of analogous mentor, remember?
But yet, I’m a part of their crew. Ok, God does work in mysterious ways.
Now, I don’t usually do this, but I’m gonna ask you a favor. If you would, go peruse? Maybe subscribe? Follow on facebook, twitter, you know the drill. Perhaps I am biased, but there is some really good writing on there.
If you want to see my article, click here. Then, take a look around. It’s a good community.
Dana Bowman 
Congrats on this new writing gig! Enjoyed the article and am looking for the next one in the series! I think this was my favorite paragraph:
“Pastor Darrell’s prayer was not what I expected. He thanked God for me. He asked God to bless me. He lifted me up and said, “Give her courage.” I don’t remember exactly whether he ever prayed specifically about alcoholism. He might have, but his words at this point were more of a balm. Like, when someone asks to marry you, you don’t just immediately start in on what type of appetizers you’re going to have at your reception after you say yes. You sit and hold hands and just exist together. The prayer was that sort of thing. But much less romantic. And as one who had spent so much time in the past weeks analyzing and learning and trying, this prayer was a deep breath.”
Awwww thanks!
Congratulations to you!!! That is awesome when good can come out of a rough spot.
I have a heart for addicts because of where I’ve been. Seems you are there as well!
Wonderful post; wonderful article! I’m glad you had/have the support your deserve, and kudos to you for letting your experiences and wisdom help others. You are a great teacher.
(And my husband makes spreadsheets too. All the time.)
CURSE YOU, SPREADSHEETS! 🙂