When I started our first Celebrate Recovery meeting 27 years ago, I didn’t know what to expect

Celebrate Recovery wasn’t known back then as it is today. We were just a small group of people, meeting weekly, trying to find freedom through Christ and the 8 Principles based on the Beatitudes. I didn’t understand all of it at first. But what I did understand was this: this was a process that could change lives.

Each week, I listened to people share their struggles with honesty and courage. There was no pretending. No masks. Just people being real about their pain — and somehow, that made it safe. I learned that recovery isn’t about fixing everything overnight. It’s about taking one step at a time. One day at a time. Sometimes, one breath at a time.  And as I look back on nearly three decades of doing Celebrate Recovery, I’ve learned a few lessons that continue to shape me:

Recovery is a daily choice.
Healing doesn’t happen by accident. I need to apply all that I have learned daily and that is a choice. I must decide to let God lead.

God’s grace meets me where I am.
For a long time, I thought God would only love me once I had it all together. But Celebrate Recovery taught me that He loves me in my mess. That’s where transformation begins.

You can’t heal in isolation.
The enemy wants us to believe we’re alone in our struggles. But healing happens in community. I have said this many times at our Celebrate Recovery evening, “we grow and are healed in context of small groups”

Serving others keeps you grounded.  One of the joys for me was sponsoring and being an accountability partner, to be able to be alongside another person as they shared all their struggles was, for me, a very humbling experience.

 It’s about progress, not perfection. Celebrate Recovery helped me replace all my hurts and pain with grace. The goal isn’t to “arrive”. The goal is to grow — one day, one choice, one prayer at a time.

Celebrate Recovery hasn’t just changed my life — it’s changed my church, my family, and my community. I’ve watched marriages restored, addictions broken, and people rediscover purpose and joy. There’s nothing quite like watching someone walk in broken and walk out free. You see the light come back in their eyes, the hope return to their voice. You see Jesus doing what only He can do. I’ve seen CR become a safe place for people who thought the church didn’t want them. It’s a reminder that the gospel is for everyone — not just the polished and put-together, but the bruised and the broken. Especially the broken.

Twenty-seven years later, I’m still showing up. I still need recovery. I still need grace. And I’m still amazed at how God continues to use this ministry to transform lives.

I’ve come to realize that recovery is a lifestyle a way of walking humbly with God and others. As I look toward the future, my heart is full of gratitude. Grateful for the people who stood beside me. Grateful for all those who shared their stories before I was ready to share mine. Grateful for every tear, every prayer, and every moment of grace along the way.

If you’re new to Celebrate Recovery or maybe just thinking about it let me say this, you don’t have to have it all figured out. You don’t even have to believe that you can change. Just come. Be honest. Be willing. God will do the rest.

“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 1:6