Day 9 – Welcome Home

The Write 31 Days Challenge – 31 Days,Every Day,One Topic

Day 9

When Kelly’s three months in treatment was coming to an end I wasn’t ready.  I didn’t know how to behave. I told myself that I’d need to keep everything on an even keel for him so he wouldn’t get stressed out and start using drugs or alcohol again.  I was a co-dependent on steroids!

He did well though.  He followed every rule they gave him in treatment.  90 meetings in 90 days. Sometimes he’d even go to two meetings a day. He poured himself into the recovery process because he knew that he didn’t have another recovery in him.

He knew that were he to go out and use again it would be his death. Click To Tweet

Heavy stuff, yeah?  I know.  Where was the fun here?  There really wasn’t much of it for me right away but I began to believe that this might just work out and I was beginning to believe the miracle I’d been waiting for was within sight.

As a physician Kelly was monitored by WPHP for five years. This meant random urine checks and weekly meetings downtown.  Treatment had been very expensive and the monitoring was also costly and we saw our retirement savings disappear. At least we had some retirement money and we didn’t lose everything as some do. 

After being required to work no more than half time for the first six months at home Kelly was released to go back to a regular schedule and I began to breath a bit easier.  He was gone a lot, either work or meetings, but he was still off drugs.

Over time, with Kelly focusing on his recovery, and me taking on new responsibilities at work and taking caring of our home, we began to drift apart.  I felt like he was getting the help he needed so that was just fine, but I didn’t realize yet that Perfect Patti had things in her life that could use a little overhauling as well. Click To Tweet

AA renewed Kelly’s faith in Jesus and there came the day when we finally decided we needed to get back to church, especially since we were no longer with the theater crowd, which we’d jokingly called the church of the ever-widening hole.

But where?  We’d tried different churches over the past ten years and because of what had happened to me, I could never stay.  But there had been one church, one that we’d really liked and had attended regularly for several months early on in our marriage.  Then after running into a lady from my old church there, who would say to me week after week, “I’m still trying to forgive you,” well,

That was just too much!

But God.  He never stopped drawing me back to Him, and I knew from experience I couldn’t do the Christian walk on my own.  I needed church people, even really messed up church people.

I placed a call to the church to ask what time Saturday night service was. When the phone was picked up I recognized the voice of the Pastor’s wife but I didn’t identify myself.  I simply got the information I needed and said goodbye.

That night, a night I will remember always because it played a huge part in my healing, we walked into the lobby of this church we’d once attended and as soon as the Pastor and his wife saw us there were tears, and squeals of welcome, and loving arms thrown around our shaking shoulders.

They knew our past story and now they would hear the added layer of addiction. Click To Tweet

Did that keep them from loving us? No, it made them love on us all the more because that’s the kind of people they were.  Pastor John and Nancy Webb. They will forever be a part of our story because they accepted us just as we were. Broken.

Nancy Webb lost her battle with cancer several years ago and John has since remarried a wonderful woman named Marty who works side by side with him in ministry to Pastors and their spouses who are in need of rest and healing.  They are perfect for that!

Being back in church is not the end of our story.  Not even the beginning of the end y’all!!!

I hope to see ya’ tomorrow, Day 11, with a PB Knockoff – New Life & New Purpose

Blessings,

 

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I’ve been known to link up to the following great parties!!!

Sunday:

SundaysAtHome, LifeOnLakeshoreDrive, SilverPenniesSundays, RusticAndRefined, Spiritual Sundays

Monday:

IShouldBeMoppingTheFloor, TheDedicatedHouse, Dwellings, ProjectInspired,  InspireMeMonday, CelebrateYourStory, What Joy is Mine/Monday Musings, Darling Downs Diaries, The Art of Homemaking, MomentsOfHope, Glimpses, SittingAmongFriends, InspireMeMonday, GodSizedDreams

 

Tuesday:

TalkOfTheTown, HomeStoriesAtoZ, AStrollThruLife, CoastalCharm, CedarHillFarmhouse, TuesdaysAtOurHome, TheWinthropChronicles,  Rich Faith Rising Unite Linky, Testimony Tuesday,Cheerleaders of Faith,Tell His Story

Wednesday:

SavvySouthernStyle, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Woman to Woman Word Filled Wednesdays, Coffee for Your Heart, MessyMarriage, ThreeWordWednesday,  WriterWednesday

Thursday:

ShareYourStyle, ImpartingGrace, EmbracingChange, HaveADailyCupOfMrsOlson, MyRepurposedLife, ADelightsomeLife, KatherinesCorner,  Thought Provoking Thursday, SincerelyPaulas, ThoughtfulThursday, Tune-inThursday

Friday:

FrenchCountryCottage, TheCharmOfHome, TheDedicatedHouseAnythingBlueFriday, ShabbyliciousFriday, Faith’nFriends,  Dance With Jesus FreshMarketFriday

Saturday:

FunkyJunkInteriors, SaturdaySparks, TheInspirationGallery, Make My Saturday Sweet