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My Esther Story
I am a recovering alcoholic with 29 years of continuous sobriety. Before recovery alcohol ruled my life. I said and did things under the influence which caused hurt and pain to me and to others.
Due to my alcoholic thinking, I made poor choices which resulted in some serious consequences. By the time I turned 31 I had reached bottom. My life was a mess. I was physically, emotionally, mentality, and spiritually depleted. Finally, I surrendered and admitted my powerlessness over alcohol.
As a recovering alcoholic, I do service work. The service work I find very meaningful is taking Answerphone. People will call the 24 hour hot line which I answer. There are inquiries about meeting times and places. Recently, I had the honor and privilege of manning the phone.
One of the callers was a woman wanting to know about Open AA meetings. The Open meeting is the place where the alcoholic and family can attend a meeting together. I told the lady I needed her to hold so I could look up the necessary information. Most of the AA paperwork in the information binder is organized chaos. I kept going back to the phone asking, “ Are you still there?” She said, ‘Yes.” This went on for a few minutes. I was anxious looking for the correct information to give her. This is important work for me since I can be a change maker in a family’s life.
Finally when I returned to the phone I decided to tell her my first name. Her reply back to me was “This is Jane Doe.” I almost dropped the phone. I knew this Jane Doe through my business associations over the last eight years. In that instant I felt like Esther in the Bible. It was time to make an instantaneous decision: to tell her my full name or not.
For if you remain silent at this time, relief
and deliverance for the Jews will arise from
another place, but you and your family will
perish. And who knows but that you have come
to a royal position for such a time
as this? Esther 4:14
This phone call was my Esther moment. I had a responsibility
to share with Jane my own recovery journey. With God’s help
I was able to tell her my own experience, strength, and hope
that God had shown me in the AA community. Jane Doe and her husband have now walked through the doors of AA for their own
individual recovery programs.
I may not be Esther, but I can with God’s strength have my own
Esther moments. It’s my job to recognize these times.
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