Old Enough to Drink

That’s a strange way to start off a recovery blog…Here’s the deal though, As I was sitting at Starbucks waiting to go into a prison yesterday afternoon it occurred to me that Feb 19th was my 21st anniversary date for being released from jail. Pretty neat! My freedom is now old enough to order a drink at a bar (not that It would, but you get what I’m saying here). I found it strange though, that me, your MoM, the dude who writes his birthday countdown all over any calendar he finds, let this anniversary sneak up on me without noticing it until I was already half way through my day. I think that speaks to how “normal” it is for me to not be incarcerated. Even though I devote so much of my time to doing prison ministry, I sometimes forget that I used to be locked up. That’s a good thing. That means that my past isn’t in control of me anymore. Allowing ourselves to recognize the past without living there is critical in our recovery and it is the only way that we will ever be able to…

–Rise Up!!