I lead a Biblical 12 Step Celebrate Recovery group on Tuesday nights in Frederick County, Maryland where I live. We’ve been doing it for about 7 years now and I’ve met some wonderful people there.
Last night Nick shared his story. He had been at Helping Up Mission in 2005, struggling with drug addiction and all the baggage that goes with it. Nick didn’t finish our program here, but moved on after about 6 months.
While continuing to struggle with his addiction, he really wanted recovery and God was doing some genuine things in his heart. Clean for over a year and now living and working in the Frederick area, he’s been attending our group.
Although he didn’t graduate from our 12-month residential Spiritual Recovery Program here, we did get to have a part in Nick’s recovery. So I don’t “get credit” for another graduate(!) but he’s living in recovery and succeeding in life — and that makes Nick one of our HUM success stories!
Graduation is a very good thing and that year spent here can really be transformative for a guy. But any guy succeeding in recovery that we were able to help somewhere along the way is one of our successes, too!
I meet guys like Nick out there in the community all the time. They usually start off saying, “I was at HUM but didn’t graduate…” and then go on and tell me how their life is different today, and that we had a small part in it.
I assure them, we are just as proud of them as we are of our graduates and that they are HUM success stories, too. So, way to go, Nick – you’re in good company!
One Guy at a Time,
Pastor Gary Byers
Deputy Director