Way Overdue!!!

Hey everyone -

I hope that this finds everyone well. I'm sorry that it's been a month since I've last updated our blog but it has been craaaazzzy these last five weeks. In addition to graduating (which meant cramming a lot of work into two weeks :) I took on a new job that I absolutely thought was going to be incredible. In case you don't know this already....I am a people-person...that's the whole reason that I chose Counseling and Human Resources Management. So I was extremely excited to begin this new job which was advertised as "HR with 'light' bookkeeping for a small firm." I interviewed well and gladly took the job...without reading a job description. I know what you're thinking: "Jeremy! What kind of HR person are you? You NEVER take a job without reading a description!!!!" This was a hard lesson learned for me....especially for the newbie, in-experienced HR person that I am :). My job was straight-up accounting for 8 hours a day and it's been soooo uninspiring. This alone, I feel that I would've eventually gotten over, but to make matters worse, my boss is the antithesis of a people-person. Unfortunately, this man has created an atmosphere of utter fear and intimidation in his office and I, along with several other coworkers, have been the target of verbal/emotional abuse. Not being dramatic here folks....it really is that serious and it has made my life's balance just about unmanageable at times. FORTUNATELY for me, I have an awesome network of friends both inside and outside of CR that have truly helped me along this path - especially my wife, my sponsor, my accountability group, and our CR leadership.

However, I have learned some valuable lessons throughout all of this:

1.) Always get a job-description.
It is absurd to jump into a job not knowing what is expected. Our recovery journey is somewhat similar I suppose. In order to reach a place of recovery, we need a structured description or plan of action, if you will. Celebrate Recovery is a good plan of action for recovery. Not only does it lay out 12 steps, but it mandates a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ as well as encouraging service and giving back. It also lets you know that there is a good bit of work involved. Tonight, we just finished our first step but it has taken us two meetings to do so. There are 11 more steps to go.....roll up your sleeves folks because the job description for CR tells us that there is a good amount of recovery work to do.

2.) Be on the alert for hidden junk.
When I tell most people in CR that I have struggled with trust and abandonment, I usually get a furrowed brow and sometimes - if I'm lucky - a sympathetic head nod. It's hard to comprehend until I go deeper. Due to my trust issues I have battled pornography in the past. However, these last few weeks have revealed to me that I also deal with codependency issues. For an easy to understand website that explains codependency in greater detail, check out: http://www.nmha.org/go/codependency.

3.) Relationships are key!
This one is simple:
If you want a productive office, treat your employees fairly and respectfully. Value them.
If you want to truly experience grace and healing, you need to engage in a relationship with Jesus Christ.
If you don't want to be overwhelmingly alone, then you need to form supportive, healthy relationships with others - even when it's the last thing you want to do on earth.

Below is a video for a most incredible song that has really ministered to me throughout the past month. It's called "Whatever You're Doing" by the group Sanctus Real. Check it out :)



Also, one good song deserves another. This one is called "Revelation Song" and it's INCREDIBLE! Check out the link below and it should bring up the lyrics in addition to the tune. We introduced this song last week in CR and will be adding it to our praise and worship set so be ready to sing to our wonderful God!



Well....that's it for now. I will do my best not to neglect the blog for a month again. I hope to see you at CR this Wednesday. Until then, take care.
:)