CROSSROADS FELLOWSHIP

Every Sunday in July after church we will be taking family photos outside the front doors and collecting family information for the Crossroads photo directory. Our photo directory can be accessed on the website under the "Resources" tab with the password 1215Hazeldine. 
  WOMEN'S MINISTRY JULY SOCIAL

Well, "Why?" is not a useful question. 

I thought about having a cool refreshing beer, just to get all the flies going in one direction.

I was 32, with three published books, and the huge local love of my family and life-long friends. I was loved out of all sense of proportion. I gave talks and readings that hundreds of people came to. I had won a Guggenheim Fellowship, although, like many fabulous writers, I was drunk as a skunk every day. I was penniless and bulimic, but adorable, and cherished. 

But there was one tiny problem. I was dying. Oh, also, my soul was rotted out from mental illness and physical abuse. My insides felt like Swiss cheese, until I had that first cool, refreshing drink. 

So, not ideal. The elevator was going. It ONLY goes down; until you finally get off. As a clean, sober junkie told me weeks later, "At the end, I was deteriorating faster than I could lower my standards."

And against all odds, I picked up the 200 pound phone, and called the same sober alkie that my older brother had called two years earlier, when he had hit his coked-out bottom. The man, a Jack Lemmon type, said, "I will come get you at 11:30. Take a shower, and try not to drink till then. The shower is optional."

I didn't; when all else fails, follow Instructions. I couldn't imagine there was a way out of all that sickness and self-will, all those lies and secrets, but God always makes a way out of No Way. 

So I showed up. Before I turned on Woody Allen, he said that 80% of life is just showing up. And I did. There were all these other women who had what I had, who'd thought what I'd thought, who'd done what I'd done, who had betrayed their families and deepest values, who sat with me that day, and said "Guess what? Me, too! I have that too. Let me get you a glass of water." Those are the words of salvation: Gess what? Me, too." 

Then I blinked, and today is my 29th recovery birthday. I hope someday it will be yours, too, or at least your 1st. Don't give up on yourself. In recovery, we never EVER give up on anyone, no matter what it looks like, no matter how long it takes. 

Because Grace bats last. That spiritual WD-40, those water wings, that second wind--it bats last. That is my promise to you.

Happy birthday to me, and maybe to you. As my beloved ee Cummings wrote, "(I who have died am alive again today, and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birthday of life and love and wings.)"

Don't. Give. Up. Because guess what? Me too.

 

When we moved across the country to Albuquerque last fall, all communication was text based or over the phone.  It was so cold and impersonal, and worst of all, so prone to misinterpretation, that I told my mom not to expect a phone call for about three months after the move because I despised it so much.  Yet that was what became the norm, and apparently, it became a bad habit of mine as well.
 
Over the last few months, we’ve been preparing a team of women to serve the ladies of Crossroads.  You’ll never guess how we’ve been communicating.  Yep, that’s right.  Primarily email, text messages, and phone calls.  Starting something new this way has been a lot like attempting to get dressed in the dark.  There have been feelings of isolation, fear of miscommunication, and so much uncertainty about what might be going on at the other end of those electronic messages.  It has been mildly agonizing!
 
It should be no surprise, then, that when we were finally able to meet in person this week to discuss the vision for women’s ministry in the coming year, the figurative “light” came on.  Our face-to-face conversations were real.  Great ideas were flowing.  Fears and concerns were dispelled.  Faces were smiling, and words were encouraging.  The vision began to come to life!  Technology will never be able to duplicate this kind of personal interaction.
 
What is that vision?  An exciting one: Discipleship!  To “…live, speak, and serve as the very presence of Jesus…” to one another. To creating honest relationships where vulnerability is ok, where we share one another’s burdens, pray for and encourage each other to become more like Christ.  Hmmm… doesn’t sound like something that can be done via email, does it.
 
Granted, our technological communication methods have their uses.  But I’ll bet that if I asked you, you could tell me a story of how you experienced real growth and change because of a personal interaction with someone.  Ladies, get ready… we’re going to get personal. We’re praying that each of us will encounter Jesus through personal, discipleship relationships with one another in the coming year, and our team can’t wait to hear your story! 

 
Grace and Peace to you,
Erin Butzin