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| My brother Steve in the wolf shirt and his AA sponsor Zim. |
This past
weekend my family celebrated the best kind of party with about 50 other guests.
It was Year One of my brother, Steve’s sobriety, 365 days alcohol free for the
first time since he was a teenager. We had a huge barbeque and just plain
celebrated.
My brother’s
addiction to alcohol almost killed him several times. He lost so much—his
marriage, for a while the love of his children. I share some of his journal on
my blog www.christinelindsay.org in Steve’s Journal.
But we serve a
God who is not into condemnation, but into redemption. God wouldn’t let my
brother’s suicide attempts be successful. God kept Steve alive so that He could
bring my brother to a new life—a live that is full of abundance of healed and
renewed relationships, especially the renewed relationship with God Himself.
That is where the fountain of life is found.
A mixed group of
people attended by squeezing into our tiny little yard with their lawn chairs.
Many of our guests have been in love with the Lord for decades. Other guests
have never really taking much interest in God. Some were recovering alcoholics.
My poor sister who is still an alcoholic turned up drunk. It was the only way
she could find the courage to attend our party. But I was glad she was there,
drunk or not. Maybe something got through to her that the Lord Jesus is all about
parties—not the kind of parties that hurt or are full of drunkenness and
foolishness, but the kind of parties where we rejoice over the redemption of a
life.
And man, can we
party over that, just like the angels in heaven.
Author Bio: Irish-born Christine Lindsay shares her
brother’s story and other inspirational blog articles on her blog twice a week.
She also writes award-winning historical novels. In Shadowed in Silk and Captured by Moonlight, Christine delights in weaving the endless
theme of the Heavenly Father’s redemptive love throughout stories of danger,
suspense, adventure, and romance. The Pacific coast of Canada, 200 miles north
of Seattle, is Christine’s home.
Christine would love to connect with you on any of
the following:
Christine Lindsay’s Blog where
she shares inspiring stories three times a week.
Congratulations to your brother and kudos for the party. It always amazes me that the secular world thinks Christians are dour, kill-joys, when the Holy Spirit is brimming over with delight and love and humour and compassoin and grace.
ReplyDeleteThat's wonderful, Christine! Congratulations to your brother! What a lifestyle change
ReplyDeleteWow Christine, thanks for sharing your brother's inspiring story. Sobriety is a big achievement. Congratulations to your brother for reaching this milestone.
ReplyDeleteWhat an inspiring post, Christine! It's wonderful to see a great example of a new creation in Christ. Blessings to your dear courageous brother.
ReplyDeleteThank you all for those encouraging words. I was away on holidays when this post went live so wasn't able to respond at the time. But it has been a wonderful and significant milestone. To God the the Glory.
ReplyDelete