Thank you for showing me how! Today with immense gratitude I celebrate 10 years of sobriety. "It is a design for living that works in rough going." "A new life has been given us or, if you prefer, “a design for living’’ that really works."
Thank you Nadia. I am always encouraged by your experience and perspectives. It seems like a blessing and a curse that life goes on when we lose loved ones. If addiction had its own body I would punch it in the face for each of the good people it took from us. However, there are so many still struggling that need help. I am grateful for my sobriety and that God gives me what I need to help those in the throes of addiction looking for a way out. I ask selfishly for prayers for my grandson Abraham, and Walt and I to continue trust God to watch over him.
Gratitude for my sobriety just went up another notch. It's always a sad and sobering moment for me see or know that a sober sister or brother has gone back out. Ug. Sometimes I wonder why me and the longer I'm sober the less I understand it all, but I am grateful. I loved reading your share this morning. Gift to us all. Thank you.
What an incredible read…and icing on the cake was the song by Nick Cave and the bad seed. I lost my own precious girl of 38 to suicide last August. She was my bohemian princess. Eclectic, creative, always marched to the beat of her own wild drum…and she would have loved that performance ❤️
Thank you for sharing a glimpse of a really beautiful Wednesday. When you wrote “something can happen to your life that is absolutely shattering that can also be redemptive and beautiful” you articulated exactly how I felt about Mother’s Day with metastatic breast cancer. I don’t know how many more I will have, and I was able to be very present and really enjoy time with my kids, with gratitude spoken to each of them. The open hearted giving and receiving of love is the gift of cancer, and also of addiction when we can ground ourselves in recovery enough to love the addict/alcoholic as God does. Many blessings to you and your ministry Nadia.
Pastor Nadia, I'm not sure how many people here know what a Sally port is. I had the good fortune to learn in my younger years. Now my life is a Sally port. When one door closes, another one opens. Working with addicts is challenging but so rewarding.
Thanks for all you do and for inspiring me to keep showing up for others.
My beautiful, funny, adorable, loving oldest son...William, whose name means conqueror, was taken from me just before Christmas. I hate that goddamn fucking disease! But on Easter Sunday my husband and traveled from AR to San Francisco where my son had lived with his wife. We went to Glide Memorial. Easter was so alive for me!! We sang and hugged and danced in the isles and my heart was so filled. My son had lived about 4 blocks from this church and those beautiful people...I wish he could have known them. If he thought any of his buddies needed prayer he would tell them I don't believe in God but my Momma does. I'll call her and she will pray for you.
Thank you, Nadia for your love and honesty and the story of grace you LIVE.
Oh Joy. I'm so saddened to hear of the loss of your son. There's just no way to make it right again, but the fact that you danced at Easter is magnificent. Sending love, N
I wish the whole "One day at a time" didn't sound so facile because it just so happens to be true. It's all we can do and all we have and also a comfort to know that we only need concern ourselves with today's sobriety.
Reading this on Monday morning after my meditation time and before I go to meet with one of my clients with a substance use disorder. After years of counseling people who are seeking recovery and sometimes finding it and sometimes not, my heart is also full of the highs and lows. Thank you for speaking to my grief, longing, and joy today. And thank you for the beauty of your recovery and its gifts for all of us.
This morning I was writing about my lifelong struggle with perfectionism: do I want to be perfect? Hell, no! Look where it’s got me! But… look where it’s got me. The slamming door of judgment then the open door of wonder. Pain and joy on the same plate. A prayer of unbelief believing, first staying between the lines then drifting beyond the space where I think, I think I know who I am. Now I can only find my feet and walk through, walk through the middle of what I do not know, of what always sings welcome, as I gather words and words gather me.
Not really realizing i am doing it, but i get so obsessed with tracking and analyzing (and complaining about) each and every footstep of my own path, i can't see any thing but my own two feet. Then wham.
Thanks for your living me to look up.
(corned beef hash, grits and two over easy eggs, stir vigorously.yum)
“pain and sorrow are always served on the same plate as joy and despite my best efforts, I cannot keep them from touching.”
What a great summation of life. As I grow older I’m finding that this inextricable connection helps me not only accept the sometimes pain and confusion of existence, but has deepened my joy. It’s a privilege to be alive, even (or maybe especially) with the challenges and struggles and deep losses that create the longing for a better version of ourselves, our species, our planet.
I wouldn't want sugar with my carnitas, but we don't always have a choice. Thanks for putting into words what I was feeling when my sons and their wives came for a fun family weekend, but I could not ignore the ache of missing my daughter who died over a year ago. Fun and saddness on the same plate and it was OK.
There is "holiness" in the oddest of forms it seems at times. God shows us his face when we least expect him. Always a reminder that there is perfection even within the deepest pain. Peace....and thanks for Nick Cave clip!
Andddddddddd There.It.Is ---> Or maybe just that pain and sorrow are always served on the same plate as joy and despite my best efforts, I cannot keep them from touching.
I saved this quote as a photo on my phone bcz how much TRUTH is in that sentence? THANK YOU Nadia for always making me feel like I am not alone in my thoughts and struggles. Life keeps intermingling the pain, sorrow and joy and we need people like you to remind us that it's okay. That God's got us. Always.
Thank you for showing me how! Today with immense gratitude I celebrate 10 years of sobriety. "It is a design for living that works in rough going." "A new life has been given us or, if you prefer, “a design for living’’ that really works."
Thank you Nadia. I am always encouraged by your experience and perspectives. It seems like a blessing and a curse that life goes on when we lose loved ones. If addiction had its own body I would punch it in the face for each of the good people it took from us. However, there are so many still struggling that need help. I am grateful for my sobriety and that God gives me what I need to help those in the throes of addiction looking for a way out. I ask selfishly for prayers for my grandson Abraham, and Walt and I to continue trust God to watch over him.
Lori, I join you in your punch it in the face sentiment. Prayers for Abraham.
Gratitude for my sobriety just went up another notch. It's always a sad and sobering moment for me see or know that a sober sister or brother has gone back out. Ug. Sometimes I wonder why me and the longer I'm sober the less I understand it all, but I am grateful. I loved reading your share this morning. Gift to us all. Thank you.
Beautiful and real, thank you so much
What an incredible read…and icing on the cake was the song by Nick Cave and the bad seed. I lost my own precious girl of 38 to suicide last August. She was my bohemian princess. Eclectic, creative, always marched to the beat of her own wild drum…and she would have loved that performance ❤️
I am so sorry, Tracy. My daughter died by suicide, too. It is still unimaginable to me that she is gone. Hugs.
xo
I'm so sorry Tracy. She sounds like someone I'd like.
I lost my father to suicide, too. Sending you both hugs Tracy and Suzzanne <3
Look at how it had marked so many of us.
Thank you for sharing a glimpse of a really beautiful Wednesday. When you wrote “something can happen to your life that is absolutely shattering that can also be redemptive and beautiful” you articulated exactly how I felt about Mother’s Day with metastatic breast cancer. I don’t know how many more I will have, and I was able to be very present and really enjoy time with my kids, with gratitude spoken to each of them. The open hearted giving and receiving of love is the gift of cancer, and also of addiction when we can ground ourselves in recovery enough to love the addict/alcoholic as God does. Many blessings to you and your ministry Nadia.
Bless you, Nicole.
Pastor Nadia, I'm not sure how many people here know what a Sally port is. I had the good fortune to learn in my younger years. Now my life is a Sally port. When one door closes, another one opens. Working with addicts is challenging but so rewarding.
Thanks for all you do and for inspiring me to keep showing up for others.
Love this. Indeed.
Thanks. Love flows in your direction.
J
My beautiful, funny, adorable, loving oldest son...William, whose name means conqueror, was taken from me just before Christmas. I hate that goddamn fucking disease! But on Easter Sunday my husband and traveled from AR to San Francisco where my son had lived with his wife. We went to Glide Memorial. Easter was so alive for me!! We sang and hugged and danced in the isles and my heart was so filled. My son had lived about 4 blocks from this church and those beautiful people...I wish he could have known them. If he thought any of his buddies needed prayer he would tell them I don't believe in God but my Momma does. I'll call her and she will pray for you.
Thank you, Nadia for your love and honesty and the story of grace you LIVE.
Joy
Oh Joy. I'm so saddened to hear of the loss of your son. There's just no way to make it right again, but the fact that you danced at Easter is magnificent. Sending love, N
Forty years clean, 14 years sober, and now going through a third recovery as I learn how to live without the love of my life. Thank you.
I wish the whole "One day at a time" didn't sound so facile because it just so happens to be true. It's all we can do and all we have and also a comfort to know that we only need concern ourselves with today's sobriety.
Reading this on Monday morning after my meditation time and before I go to meet with one of my clients with a substance use disorder. After years of counseling people who are seeking recovery and sometimes finding it and sometimes not, my heart is also full of the highs and lows. Thank you for speaking to my grief, longing, and joy today. And thank you for the beauty of your recovery and its gifts for all of us.
This morning I was writing about my lifelong struggle with perfectionism: do I want to be perfect? Hell, no! Look where it’s got me! But… look where it’s got me. The slamming door of judgment then the open door of wonder. Pain and joy on the same plate. A prayer of unbelief believing, first staying between the lines then drifting beyond the space where I think, I think I know who I am. Now I can only find my feet and walk through, walk through the middle of what I do not know, of what always sings welcome, as I gather words and words gather me.
beautiful.
Not really realizing i am doing it, but i get so obsessed with tracking and analyzing (and complaining about) each and every footstep of my own path, i can't see any thing but my own two feet. Then wham.
Thanks for your living me to look up.
(corned beef hash, grits and two over easy eggs, stir vigorously.yum)
The pain of losing people in the midst of addiction is overwhelming because we try to help and they want to, but cannot. Thank you for sharing!
“pain and sorrow are always served on the same plate as joy and despite my best efforts, I cannot keep them from touching.”
What a great summation of life. As I grow older I’m finding that this inextricable connection helps me not only accept the sometimes pain and confusion of existence, but has deepened my joy. It’s a privilege to be alive, even (or maybe especially) with the challenges and struggles and deep losses that create the longing for a better version of ourselves, our species, our planet.
I wouldn't want sugar with my carnitas, but we don't always have a choice. Thanks for putting into words what I was feeling when my sons and their wives came for a fun family weekend, but I could not ignore the ache of missing my daughter who died over a year ago. Fun and saddness on the same plate and it was OK.
It's hard to imagine losing a daughter. I'm so sorry.
There is "holiness" in the oddest of forms it seems at times. God shows us his face when we least expect him. Always a reminder that there is perfection even within the deepest pain. Peace....and thanks for Nick Cave clip!
Andddddddddd There.It.Is ---> Or maybe just that pain and sorrow are always served on the same plate as joy and despite my best efforts, I cannot keep them from touching.
I saved this quote as a photo on my phone bcz how much TRUTH is in that sentence? THANK YOU Nadia for always making me feel like I am not alone in my thoughts and struggles. Life keeps intermingling the pain, sorrow and joy and we need people like you to remind us that it's okay. That God's got us. Always.