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Recovery

Brandywine Intergroup Newsletter
September-October 2019 


The Recovery newsletter is bi-monthly.
The Blast sends out a monthly report and any time-sensitive alerts.


 

The Steps, Traditions, and Concepts of OA

 
Step Nine:  Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
The principle behind Step 9 is Love.
 
Tradition Nine: OA, as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
Principle – Structure
 
Concept Nine: Able, trusted servants, together with sound and appropriate methods of choosing them, are indispensable for effective functioning at all service levels.
Principle - Ability

 
 
 

Step Ten:  Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
The principle behind Step 10 is Perseverance.
 
Tradition Ten: Overeaters Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the OA name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
Principle – Neutrality
 
Concept Ten: Service responsibility is balanced by carefully defined service authority; therefore, duplication of efforts is avoided.
Principle - Clarity

 
Information regarding "The BLAST"
 
"The BLAST" news update of the Brandywine Intergroup is sent out once a month. It is meant to precede the monthly Intergroup meeting which is held on the 2nd Saturday of the month. Submissions forThe BLAST must be received no later than one week BEFORE the Intergroup meeting.  Please send all submissions to: theblastfrombrandywine@gmail.com
Tools of the OA:

Plan of eating, Sponsorship, Meetings, Telephone, Writing, Literature, Action Plan, Anonymity, Service


Chair's Message 

I remember an incident a few years ago, I was late for my meeting and hurriedly getting dressed in the bathroom. Unlike most families, we have a cockatiel who lives in our bathroom. We hadn't yet killed him with fumes. As I was closing the door, I realized the cat (who loves tasty bird) was still in the bathroom and would probably topple the cage and ... gonzo bird.

I chased that cat and couldn't grab him and was really getting frustrated. Then the thought came: "TAKE THE CAGE OUT OF THE BATHROOM AND LEAVE THE CAT THERE!."
 
This seemed a rather simple solution and what I have learned in this program Is that simplicity, calm, letting go and acceptance all enable me to have my Higher Power God's will be revealed. God has shown me so many times how creative his ideas are.

I have tried to look at a resentment from an entirely different angle, a bit like what happened here. I didn't stay in the problem and squander time losing out on my day. To be free I had to be free of anger and frustration and not do the DEEP DWELL; rather, to think perhaps I'm wrong, perhaps it isn't about what I think it's about. 

Yours in recovery,
Irene


🌻OFFICERS🌻

Chair: Irene C

Vice-Chair: Louisa

Treasurer: Laura W

Recording Secretary: Linda R

Corresponding Secretary: Nancy M

Region 7 Delegates: Jane S, Mary Francis, Irene C. Nancy M will rotate in spring, 2020 when Mary Francis rotates out.

WSBC delegates: Bob B and Marilyn; Mary Francis-alternate

*****

 
Brandywine Intergroup Meeting – 2nd Saturday,10am-11:30am
Paoli, PA 19301
255 West Lancaster Avenue Board Room 206
Paoli Hospital Board Room
A speaker meeting follows the intergroup meeting from 11:45 am to 1:00 pm. All are welcome!  (Bring a brown bag lunch.)


❓❓❓
 
Do you or does your meeting have a voice?  If no one from your group attends Intergroup meetings, you have no OA voice outside of your group. All are welcome to attend to check it out. Please consider being a representative for your group if no one is currently in that role.

👇 BRANDYINE INTERGROUP NEEDS YOU 👇

 

Important Service Opportunity: People to serve on our important PIPO (Public Information, Professional Outreach) Committee. Need someone to lead PIPO for Chester County area. For more information contact Sandy: 610-742-2566




Professional Outreach Committee of BIG
 
The purpose of the POC is to carry the message of recovery to hospitals, treatment centers, correctional facilities, religious organizations, schools, libraries, corporations, and civilian and military professional communities while adhering to the principles in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.

The first goal of the committee is to enlist committed volunteers who could be available for any of the following: (a) panel presentations; (b) health fairs; (c) professional trade shows; 
(d) temporary sponsors or mail sponsors (e) presentations to audiences that would have an interest in what Overeaters Anonymous has to offer their clients or patients. This committee is best represented  by members who are in recovery and have a working knowledge of the Steps, Traditions, OA service structure and OA literature.

If you have a vision or a passion for this sort of outreach or if you have any questions about serving on the committee, please contact Mary Frances W. at 302-753-3767 and share your contact information with her. BIG would love to have a mighty committee that can brain storm on how to get this train running!

Thank you,
Mary Frances


PS.  You do not have to be an intergroup representative to serve on this (or any) committee for the Brandywine Intergroup.
 UPCOMING EVENTS

SAVE THE DATE
The 12th Step Within committee will be holding a “Mindfulness & Meditation” workshop on Saturday, October 26th.                  
More details as they become available.


NEW 15 SESSION WORKSHOP ON ALL 12 STEPS

Beginning on Friday, October 11th, there will be a 15 week workshop on all 12 Steps. 
This workshop will take place at the King of Prussia Church of Christ from 9:30 t0 11:30 am.3
More details may be found on the attached flyer.

 

Overeaters Anonymous Workshop

on the Twelve Steps

A15-session workshop designed to help participants
achieve and maintain abstinence through 
working all Twelve Steps
 

October 11, 2019 - January24,2020

Fridays, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
October 11 is theIntroductory Session
 
The following QA-approved literature will be used in the workshop sessions and homework assignments (Participants need their own copies.):
 
The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of OA                                       Alcoholics Anonymous, Fourth Edition (the big book)

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions by AA, (3rd edition)


Voices of Recovery,

For Today
 
 
Workshop Location:
*King of Prussia Church of Christ,
590 W. Valley Forge Rd. King of Prussia, PA 19406
NOT handicapped accessible (second floor)
Questions? Contact June D.610-247-4398

 
This is a closed workshop for 4 to12 participants. No new members may join after the IntroductorySession.
Participants commit to attend and fully participate in all sessions.
 
More to come (flyers,see below):
PAIG (Philadelphia Intergroup) Retreat, Saturday/Sunday                   September 27 & 28, Malvern 

Region 7 Retreat, November 1-3,
 Ocean City Maryland (hotel right on the beach!)

Thank You!

 

The Board would like to thank the following meetings which made financial contributions in the past few months:
 

Saturday - BIG Speaker
Sunday - West Chester
Monday - Collegeville
Wednesday - Devon
Friday - Valley Forge
Saturday - Amber
Saturday Downingtown
Saturday - Havertown

Thanks also for extra contributions to BIG Delegate Fund to send delegates to WSO:

Monday West Chester             
Wednesday Devon
Saturday Amber


 
Please give to keep our Fellowship thriving.

Automatic Recurring Contribution (ARC) is  available for our World Service Office here.
 
(https://www.oa.org/files/pdf/seventhtradition.pdf)
Brandywine Intergroup Website: www.brandywineintergroup.org

For submissions to Recovery, send by the 20th of the month prior if possible: brandywineintergroup@gmail.com
Please share your news, experience, strength, and hope.
OA SLOGANS
 
Holding a Resentment is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.

Expectations = Resentments under construction

Release what does not bless you

 
Step 9 is "remembering the principles of forgiveness and love for others, and that the focus of the amends should be on one’s own role and behavior, being specific and actually making amends and changes..."
"Step 10 is the most important Step of all - my sponsor told me that it's how I would learn to live in the 12 Steps and in recovery.”
Serenity is a feeling of stability within.
 
God give me the serenity to change the things I can.
 
     

Recovery by any name is still recovery.
ARE YOU CHRONICALLY LATE FOR MEETINGS?
 
BEING ON TIME FOR A MEETING IS A WAY OF GIVING SERVICE.

ARRIVING EARLY OR STAYING LATE TO HELP WITH SET-UP AND TAKE-DOWN IS A WAY OF GIVING SERVICE.

MAKING SURE THAT LATE COMING OR EARLY GOING DOES NOT DISRUPT THE MEETING IS A WAY OF GIVING SERVICE.

 


🦉🦉🦉 🦉 🦉
 
Members sharing Experience, Strength, and Hope

~ ~ ~
 



It is as important to cultivate your silence power, as it is your word power. ~William James

We bless ourselves with renewal and healing when we retreat from the world for a few private moments of silence. The power we cultivate in silence isn't generated by us; that power comes to us. We can do this by deliberately withdrawing from all distractions. Then we quiet our inner selves by concentrating on deep relaxation, thinking about a brief reading, or by praying.

Most of us already have a personal island of renewal that we have turned to many times in the past for serenity and strength. We can use it and turn to it daily. This natural pattern is necessary for a strong and healthy life. It builds our relationship with our Higher Power and ourselves. In our problems with self-esteem, we often label as worthless the quiet, subtle things we do, but these very things are essential to build our strength and self esteem.

I will take time for silence to receive the power it gives in my life.

                                                                              (shared by Irene)

 


Prayer/Meditation

Today, I ask for help with my food addiction.
Denial has kept me from seeing how
powerless I am & how my life is unmanageable.
I need to learn & remember that I have an incurable
illness & that abstinence is the only way to deal with it. (OA)

 


How can I apply a Step to my situation?
For example, as I struggle with perfectionism and
procrastination, I can apply Step 7. (anon)


Suggested topics for the 2019 newsletter sharing:
 
1) What does OA mean to me?
 
2) Awareness and Recovery
 


Find many virtual meetings at OA.org

For hundreds of podcasts visit the Los Angles Intergroup site
here.


How did OA Start?
In January 1960, three people living in southern California began meeting for the purpose of helping each other with their eating problems. They had tried everything else and failed. The program they followed was patterned after the Alcoholics Anonymous program. From that first meeting, OA has grown until today there are approximately 7,500 meeting groups in over 50 countries throughout the world.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      (Aware, PAIG)
Autumn

Autumn shows us how beautiful it is to let things go.

 
Men's Group Tele-Meeting

Men in OA will want to get acquainted with this special men's Tuesday evening telephone meeting.

 
https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/b0e3232c-7316-4bf9-8e25-
5b081f6d3d55



                                                 
 
From the Editor
This newsletter is for you, the members of our local BIG meetings, and you make it yours by sending in your own stories, thoughts, prayers, poems, favored readings that express your experience, strength, and hope. You may include your first name and last name initial, or leave anonymous.
Send to BrandywineIntergroup@gmail.com and I will get them in as soon as possible.

Speaker's Bureau

 
If you are willing to be a speaker for regular OA meetings (or for an OA event), please contact Carolyn M. to give her your information. She can be reached at 267-255-2639 (call or text) or carolynmcgill@comcast.net.  Each meeting has been provided with a current list of available speakers. Please do not call Carolyn to find a speaker.
 
 
Latest from the World Service Organization (WSO) link
At the 2018 World Service Business Conference, delegates voted to change OA Unity Day celebration dates and times to be more inclusive of all members of our Fellowship:

Therefore Unity Day will be celebrated alternately on the last Saturday of February in even years and the last Sunday in February in odd years. Plus, Unity Day will now be celebrated at 11:30 a.m. local time (previously Pacific Standard Time). The next Unity Day celebration is at 11:30 a.m. local time on Sunday, February 24, 2019. (As mentioned above, the Brandywine Intergroup Unity Day event will begin @ 1:30 pm)

For the purposes of 2019 Intergroup event planning the other OA holidays for the year 2019 are celebrated as weekends except for Twelfth Step Within Day.


OA’s Birthday will be celebrated every third weekend of January. Next year’s OA Birthday weekend is January 19–20, 2019.

Sponsorship Day will be celebrated every third weekend of August. Sponsorship Day weekend 2019 is August 17–18, 2019.

International Day Experiencing Abstinence (IDEA day) will be celebrated every third weekend of November:  November 16–17, 2019.


OA has released or revised more than twenty pieces of literature in the past three years, including three new books: The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, Second Edition; The Twelve Step Workbook of Overeaters Anonymous, Second Edition; and Twelve Step Workshop and Study Guide. It’s been an incredibly productive period, yet there is still more work to do, for example, making large print versions available and updating existing literature with the new language that reflects our current group conscience. Plus, there’s more literature already in the development pipeline! As a result, the Executive Committee of the OA Board of Trustees has decided to temporarily suspend the consideration and development of new proposals for Conference-approved literature from WSBC 2019 through WSBC 2021 or until the Board and WSO determine it is feasible to begin work on new literature.
SHOP LITERATURE HERE

The revised and redesigned New Prospect Card is now available in the OA bookstore.
 
Here is the direct link: http://bookstore.oa.org/pc_product_detail.asp?key=0B62ED3971ED4216B1DE486D99729F58
 
 
Use the New Prospect Card to Invite Potential Members to OA!
Reach out with OA’s redesigned New Prospect Card. The business-size card has OA’s web address, includes space for local meeting information, and carries the message: “OA. It Works!” Look for the New Prospect Card (#450K), available in packs of 30, in the OA bookstore.


 

http://www.oalifeline.org
Consider subscribing to Lifeline.
Many wonderful stories sharing experience, strength, and hope.

 
Free!
New! Twelve Step Within: Fun and Fellowship
What does it mean to live happy, joyous, and free? Enhance your recovery and encourage membership retention by using this Fun and Fellowship download, created by the Twelve Step Within Committee.
Here is the direct link: 
https://oa.org/files/pdf/Fun-and-Fellowship.pdf
 
 
"A Step Ahead" 

Latest World Service "A Step Ahead" Newsletter here

Philadelphia Intergroup Newsletter Aware 

From PAIG: 

“How I plan to do service in 2019?” is a great topic for a meeting!

OA Preamble 
Overeaters Anonymous is a Fellowship of individuals who, through shared experience, strength, and hope, are recovering from compulsive overeating. 
We welcome everyone who wants to stop eating compulsively. There are no dues or fees for members; we are self-supporting through our own contributions, neither soliciting nor accepting outside donations. OA is not affiliated with any public or private organization, political movement, ideology, or religious doctrine; we take no position on outside issues. 
Our primary purpose is to abstain from compulsive eating and compulsive food behaviors and to carry the message of recovery through the Twelve Steps of OA to those who still suffer. 
 
The OA Preamble, © Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. All rights reserved.
Service 
Any form of service — no matter how small — that helps reach a fellow sufferer adds to the quality of our own recovery.  The Tools of Recovery
This is the Recovery newsletter of the Brandywine Intergroup (BIG) of Overeaters Anonymous. Use of any content specific to BIG  is prohibited without permission.






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Brandywine Intergroup of Overeaters Anonymous · PO Box 605 · Bryn Mawr, PA 19010-0605 · USA

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