Jack, 50, arrived here 45 days ago. From a good family, he had a good education, excelled in his field and had a career he loved. He had a great life…but alcohol took it all away!
While a quiet guy, Jack came here kicking and screaming – on the inside. After hundreds of 12 Step meeting and some of the best-known inpatient recovery programs in some the country…there’s no way he was going to learn anything new here!
Jack had no intention of staying – but, at this point, he has absolutely no place else to go! To hear him, he hasn’t had a single good day since arriving here.
Most of our guys started using in there teen years and average about 20 years of addiction. Consequently, there’s lots of emotional immature around here.
After class last week Jack suggested to me that it felt like the 4th grade! Then he asked, “Do I really belong here?”
While I felt like saying, “Duhh!” I knew that wasn’t an appropriate response. So I reminded him of Green Bay Packers training camp under legendary coach Vince Lombardi.
He was famous for starting the first day of camp by grabbing a football and announcing to his team – sometimes after winning the league championship the year before – “Gentlemen, this is a football…!”
For Lombardi, every training camp was a time to get back to basics! I suggested to Jack that’s what we’re doing here, too. He seemed to accept my analogy.
Later that day, in the book he’d been reading, Jack came across the very same Lombardi story. Someone told me said he shared his doubled-message experience in another class.
Don’t know if he buys it yet…but Jack’s still here!
Still One Day at a Time,
Pastor Gary Byers
Deputy Director