The Doorway To Recovery

The above website (post title) is currently under construction. Isn't that appropriate for an alcoholic living the life of recovery?

Mark Burchell, the founder of The Doorway to Recovery ministry, was given a vision to provide safe, transitional housing for men and women choosing to find a way to overcome alcohol or drug addictions. Mark himself has walked in those shoes and traded up for a different pair since walking through the doorway to recovery. A fine balance is necessary if you're going to offer a hand up to someone in need but not everyone living the life of recovery carries all those attributes. God has blessed and gifted Mark with truth, action and compassion, and it's evident in the work Mark and his team put forth by the results of this teams efforts to honor God with their lives.

Lou (http://brokenheartedmom.blogspot.com/) and I went to a local radio station yesterday to speak with Mark on his program broadcast throughout the Detroit area and on the web. It was time well spent and a great discussion from the perspective of the co-dependant/enabler. Hopefully, a listener or two will have heard something in our conversation with Mark that will give them hope, comfort and a new direction in dealing with the ones they love in the clutches of death. Lou and I seemed to be in sync for certain and worked well together. When our hour was up, they nearly had to pry the headsets off of us. "No, I don't want to take them off. I'm not finished talking!", I thought. :)

The biggest emphasis we hope to make was to stress that we are not alone, nor are we expected by God or others to carry this load on our shoulders. Such a mixed message is sent out in this culture via media, friends, schools and churches. The disciples were never expected to go anywhere alone. They were always sent out by two's for safety, encouragement and to uphold each other in temptations.

Mark's been given support that way too. He doesn't carry the message alone or independently. Most of all, he doesn't carry any part of his ministry without prayer.

We are all under reconstruction until the day we die. Hopefully, God alone is being allowed to be the re-creator of our lives and open a door for us to step through to recovery.


"For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking,
[the door] will be opened. "
Matthew 7:8 The Amplified Bible

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Laura, the following comment should really have been posted on, but anyway, here is URL to my blog for 'regular' people:

http://yaneverknowwhat.net

but specifically, please check in on the following posting:

http://www.yaneverknowwhat.net/2008/07/musical-memories.html

(I don't know how to do the HTML stuff on comments, so THERE! -g-
Steve E.

Patricia Marie said...

Laura,
A great post. Thanks.

Lou said...

I can't get over not being alone..in this "stuff". It was a great time, and I can't wait to hear Mark speak.

J-Online said...

I'm thrilled that you and Lou were able to do this. Is there a place I can go to and listen to your interview/message?

Syd said...

Laura, I'm glad to not have to go through life alone. I may be lonely at times but never alone.

Molls said...

I wish I had the faith you have. I was never raised in any religion and I'm jealous (!) of your faith belief. I would imagine that it helps considerably, especially in difficult times. I liked this post very much and will reread it a few times before I go to bed.
Thank you, truly.

ttt said...

That is great. I've called into a radio show that's out of California a few times. The show is on every Sunday. Parenting the Addict child. I've posted the info before but I'll post it again. I found them on MySpace and they check in on me from time to time. They changed stations and times but I think it is on at 1pm pacific time.

Anonymous said...

great post. I would love to follow you on twitter.