GOD?...

She was 7 years old when she rejected the Bible and the concept of God.  Celeste became an atheist at a young age and was unable to believe that our Creator could allow such horrific events to happen.  There was no way!

There were times in her life between the ages of 7 and 21, when she tried to find God.  If she was in a bind, she would demand God show himself to her. These demands never seemed to work and she quickly spun out with her addiction and alcoholism at the age of 21.

When it was brought to Celeste’s attention that she “may” have a problem with drugs and alcohol, she was floored.  How dare her therapist put her in that category and suggest 12 step meetings?!  She resented that her father had been going to 12-step meetings for years and she despised him for it, however he was the only one she could turn to.  She had nowhere else to go. Really, how bad could it be? 

She did not pay attention to any of the language they used at her first 12-step meeting.  Celeste was so consumed with herself that she could not hear any of the readings and the term “higher power” went right over her head.

After a few meetings and admitting that she was an alcoholic and addict, she agreed to go to outpatient.  While she was there they started to work the 12 steps and as soon as they got to step two, there it was…in big black letters…“GOD”! God!?  What was this?!  Some kind of cult?!  There was no way that Celeste would crack for these crazy people.

But wait…!  There was more!  Steps 3, 5, 6, 7, 11, and 12…they all had to deal with spirituality!  This was crazy.  She convinced herself that this wouldn’t work for her but an old man with significant sobriety gave her a few ideas to get started.

Celeste started with making her recovery group her higher power, since collectivelythe group was definitely “a power greater than herself”.  At one point, someone that had gone before her asked if she would be willing to believe that they believed in a higher power.  Celeste said, "Yes, I can believe that you believe in God".  And that’s truly where her spiritual journey began.  She started praying, she could see that there was clearly divine intervention in her life, and Celeste began to understand that God not catering to her demands did not negate his existence.

#higherpower #everywoman #everywomanhasastory #nativebotanicals #3rdstep #alcoholism