To culminate National Recovery Month, New Directions for Women wanted to share a powerful message delivered by our CEO and Executive Director, Becky Flood, at a local church (Christ Our Redeemer AME Church), in Irvine.
Enjoy the video! We have offered the transcription below!
Speaker: Amen, amen, amen. I would like to introduce to some and present to others one who has played a valuable role in this ministry. She’s the CEO and executive director of New Directions for Women. More than that, she’s a woman of God, who has just blessed our church in a tremendous way. Would you please help me welcome Rebecca Flood Wilson.
R. Flood Wilson: Good morning, church family. I’m the widow of the Reverend Dr. Maurice Wilson. I’m also the mother of six, plus I raised three additional god-daughters so I raised nine altogether. I’m the grandmother of eight, and am the CEO of New Directions for Women.
This is just a little bit of who I am, but most importantly today, I’m Becky. I’m a recovering addict and alcoholic, and a blessed child of God.
I have over 36 years of continuous recovery, and I’m reminded every day, but for the grace of God, go I. This month is National Recovery Month, and first I have just a couple of statistics.
Twenty-three-million addicts are here in the United States. Forty thousand babies are born every day to fetal alcohol syndrome, the leading cause of mental retardation in our country, and it is 100 percent preventable. Orange County, California has the highest DUI rate in the nation. Seventy percent of all those that are incarcerated are there because of alcohol and drug-related charges. Eighty percent of all of our children that are in protected custody are there because of the alcohol or drug use of one or both of their parents. It’s all pretty staggering.
I’m going to ask all of you in the congregation to just walk with me for a second. How many of you sitting in the congregation have ever personally suffered from a drug addiction? If you have, raise your hand. Take a risk. Keep your hands up. Has anyone in the congregation, including those behind me, ever had any difficulty with drinking at some point in your life? Has anyone ever struggled with eating too little or too much, a food addiction? Has anyone had any difficulty spending too much? Gambling too much? Has anyone ever cared about somebody who suffered from an addiction, and you emotionally have been affected by it? Turn around and look at your church family. Almost every hand is raised.
Now let me ask a question: How many of you have ever attended the spiritual recovery ministry here at Christ Our Redeemer? I see a couple of hands. Okay?
Addiction, whether it’s yours or someone you love, is riddled with denial, shame, guilt, fear, remorse, false promises, and it takes spiritual healing. In John 6:60 it says, “This saying is hard to accept.” You may ask what saying is hard to accept? Well, as we celebrate communion today, it was Jesus’ words that we needed to eat his body and drink his blood.
Those were the words that were hard to accept. Taken too literal, they are, but he meant them sacramentally. He wants us to remember that he is present in the breaking of the bread and the drinking of his blood. Jesus wants us to feel him deeply. He wants us to know that he lives in each of us. Why is this so hard?
Probably because there’s no work in it. There’s nothing that you have to do. Jesus was letting people know how generous our God is. I’m reminding you how generous he is. The biggest challenge that we all face is to simply let go; letting go of control, and God has promised if we do he will be there to take over our lives.
Our fallen nature, our addiction, our codependency wants to control us; wants to dictate the terms of our life, but the Holy Spirit wants you to know how much more fulfilling life can be if you simply let go and surrender to his will.
It sounds simple, and it is. Please let go of the use of alcohol; let go of drugs; let go of food; let go of codependency. Simply receive God’s mercy.
Just remember that the one asking you to do this is Jesus Christ. The Holy One wants you to let go. He will not lead you astray. As simple as this is, it’s not always easy and, therefore, God works through people. Remember, God is already in each one of us.
So every Monday we get together and we have a spiritual recovery ministry, and we allow him to work through us we support each other and accept his will for us in our lives, and get the strength to leave and carry his message into the world.
Anyone desiring the same life, we encourage you to join us any Monday here at COR at 6:00 PM.
New Directions for Women is a drug and alcohol treatment center in Sunny Southern California that prides itself on transforming lives. Less than an hour away from Los Angeles, we encourage women of all ages, women with dependent children, and pregnant women in any trimester to seek help. Our caring representatives are on call to help any time of the day. If you know someone who suffers from addiction, contact us online at Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or at 800-93-WOMEN. We can help.
