Hello Healing

Step 2: Hope

In the Addiction Recovery Program step 2 is HOPE.

The Key Principle is to come to believe that the power of God can restore you to complete spiritual health. 

Now I don't know about you, but for me I 100% believe that the power of God can restore you to complete spiritual health.
But believing that He can restore me is a different story.

It is so easy to believe that He will heal others but not us. 

Sometimes I feel like I am just the worst person and no way God wants to help me.

He may love me but I am beyond helping. 

Anybody else ever feel that way?

But Step 2 asks us to turn to God and find hope in the Atonement of Jesus Christ. 

No matter what you've done or where you've been.
He isn't saying if A, B or C are your sins I will help you, but D and E, sorry you are beyond help.

That isn't how the Atonement works. 

One of the coolest moments for me was when I first went to ARP. 

I knew I needed to be there, but I still wasn't sure about going. 

However, I walked in and the Spirit was so strong.

This group of people who were all sinners like me because they were there, were surrounded by this overpowering spirit. 

And they were smiling and chatting. 

That wasn't the image I had in my head of what it would be like. 

But they had hope.
They trusted.
They knew the process worked and so they were there. 

In the ARP Manual it shares a quote from Boyd K. Packer from the October 1995 General Conference where he said that if we turned to the Lord, "no habit, no addiction, no rebellion, no transgression, no offense exempted from the promise of complete forgiveness."

Whoa.

Now for me I always had hope.
Since the beginning of this I knew Heavenly Father could heal me.
I knew the Atonement could help me. 

But while I had hope I struggled with truly trusting it would happen. 

However I learned many things from this chapter, the most important being that the foundation of recovery from addiction must be spiritual.  

A main point of this lesson on hope is tender mercies. 

I LOVE TENDER MERCIES.

They are those moments where something simple happens, that reminds you that Heavenly Father is aware of you and watching out for you. 

Thinking about tender mercies I am reminded of my senior year of High School.
I had to have a bunch of surgeries and I was feeling pretty bad about life at this time. 

I was missing school, I was missing my friends, I was missing everyone asking each other to grad, I was missing EVERYTHING. 

And the surgeries weren't even working.
It sucked. 

Following one of these surgeries someone brought me a vase of flowers, and in the middle of these flowers was a giant yellow Chrysanthemum. 

I put the flowers in my windowsill and never watered them. 

Plus I live in a basement so they weren't getting a lot of light.
These poor flowers had to chill with me as I laid in my bed, day after day, feeling miserable about my life. 

One day I walked into my room and noticed that all the flowers had died. 

(This is the flowers in question)

Well, all the flowers except for the Chrysanthemum. 

And because I was lazy and sad I didn't throw away the dead flowers, I just let them sit there.

For months.

And this Chrysanthemum WOULDN'T DIE.

I wanted it to die.
It had to be so dang cheerful every single day while I was miserable. 

But then after about two months of this I looked at it the chrysanthemum and realized something.
This cheery little flower was a blessing.

Even though I felt everything was going wrong, this flower just kept living.
It refused to quit on me.

Just like my Heavenly Father. 

#tendermercy

"Some individuals...erroneously may discount or dismiss in their personal lives the availability of the tender mercies of the Lord... We may falsely think that such blessings and gifts are reserved for other people who appear to be more righteous or who serve in visible Church callings. I testify that the tender mercies of the Lord are available to all of us and that the Redeemer of Israel is eager to bestow such gifts upon us."

You will see the tender mercies of the Lord in your life as you learn to watch for them and as you come to believe that the power of God can indeed help you recover.

I have a testimony of this. 

I struggle often.
I am a sinner.
But I just keep trying. 

I trust my Heavenly Father and I know He loves me.

I know He wants the best for me and the best for you too. 

So let us all strive for hope.

Love, Em