CR at University Carillon

Hello Forever Family! Hosanna is a perennial attendee and speaker at Celebrate Recovery events, including the most recent Celebrate Recovery Summit titled Built To Last. Hosanna has many wonderful spoken word pieces, but this one is my favorite. Enjoy, be blessed, and may your new name elevate you tremendously! I Have A New Name (click the Title)

"Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”    Deuteronomy 31:6 NASB1995 Are you struggling today? Struggle through to your come-back. Struggling is normal. It’s called life. It’s called being a human. It’s ok to struggle and you’re not alone. To think that we won’t struggle is where we can buy into the cruel lies from the enemy. Don’t let your struggles take you down! Don’t let them become your new identity. Don’t let the struggles take you back to where you came from. Struggle through to your come-back. The come-back will happen, IF… IF we surrender our will to Jesus..again. IF we don’t give in to temptation. IF we return to the basics of recovery. IF we use the tools given to us and walk in wisdom. IF we don’t let the struggles overcome us. Struggling is normal - very normal. And during seasons of struggle......

I'm thinking today about the familiar Bible story in the Old Testament where Noah showed incredible faith as he carried out his obedience to God in building the ark. Rain was coming and he was called to get ready. Imagine how the people around him were speaking toward him. I think they were perhaps whispering about him behind his back and some even some more overtly in front of his face, with a seemingly familiar message ... “Are you losing your mind Noah?! Rain?!” There had to be some giggling behind the scenes with thoughts that it was impossible to have such an abundance of rain to have a need for a boat that big. But, nevertheless, Noah kept building. He kept believing. He kept his faith and trusting that what God asked him to do would be for things greater than he could see with his eyes in that moment. Sometimes when we are working with God to grow and change our heart with the recovery process, we can hear similar messages. I've heard them myself....

“Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” Matthew 9:37 NIV   Something I like to takeaway from my quiet time is to pull a morning headline or a central thought that jumps out at me. What is the one nugget from my quiet time that I can walk away with and I can marinate my heart and mind with throughout the day?    Today I was reading in Matthew 9:37 on a familiar passage. I tend to equate this important principle to what we do here at CR every week. A reminder that the harvest is plentiful but it seems like the workers are few. We always need more hands and hearts to carry out what we do at CR. If you aren’t serving in any capacity, can I encourage you to jump in? Even if it’s wiping down tables and stacking chairs, you’ll be glad you did and we will be blessed by your service. But that’s not the main headline I got out of this passage today.   Today’s Journal Headline: If you don’t reap, the seas...

The Boat "My grace is sufficient for all your needs, for my power is made perfect in weakness". 2 Corinthians 12:9 Well into my journey as a CR ministry leader I was facing serious frustration. I turned to God for help and it seemed he wasn't listening. I struggle with my reading skills due to mild dyslexia. This hinders my reading, my comprehension, and retention. This in turn has brought on self-doubt and low self-esteem.  I prayed often for healing; "Lord, you have obviously called me to lead in Celebrate Recovery, but it seems you haven't given me the tools to do that effectively. I feel like I'm failing when I stumble through reading  lessons, etc." One morning in my quiet time I read 2 Corinthians 12:9 again. In years of leading CR, I quoted that verse many times without owning it. "My grace is enough, it's all you need." I realized for the first time that morning that God had in fact answered my prayer. He was enough. ...