You can be free from addiction, drugs & alcohol.Change Is Possible!

I love to play my guitar, reaching inward for words that want to come out. Once living in addiction, in a dark place, I wanted out to somewhere...................GOD!
Reaching out was not easy, but I did, a long slow journey began. I needed freedom. I wanted to breath, know my day was going to alright without a drink or two, or more.
How did I get so sTuCk!  I picked up my bible and read II Corinthians 5:17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone the new is here. (NIV)

I want new! Letting go of the old habits was not easy, but with Gods help it's possible.
One moment at a time, looking at something new, refocusing my vision and life I had to aim for. I had to start something new, I went back to school, I had to engage in new information, I read my Bible, went to church, went to addiction groups, talk to new people that were doing the same thing. Get reacquainted with my family. Now I understood "a new creation" and the awesome thing about it, is I felt a power giving me the power to do what I needed to accomplish. My journey is not over, I'm still accomplishing my goals. 

My life is fresh and new, clean for 12 years now, pursuing my goals. I'm enjoying my journey with my savior and God. I have a new song to sing, and new portrate to paint, and I am.

I've dedicated my life assisting others out of addiction, witnessing wonderful people set free from the bondages that keep them locked up. There is a was out!

So I sang and played, again and again...

Drugs, alcohol, other addictions are killing so many each year, and increasing. This is WAR!
I'm one of many to help.

This year I've joined a Christian Band Called "ONCE FALLEN OUTREACH BAND". Joining the group has been very exciting and rewarding for me,  when your available for God, He will use what you have. It's not how well and polished you are, however he does want you to sharpen your skill, but he wants you to be availability to Him. Here I am Lord, use me. It's a very humbling experience to say the least.
He gets the Glory, but I get the Blessing..
I am still singing the songs God has given me with my acoustic 12 string...and enjoying every moment. Where ever God takes me, I will follow.
One scripture God has given me throughout the years in which He leads me..
Matthew 6:33 seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you!.. as I read it that's a promise to whosoever has God as his or her priority.. Amen
Keep on singing..

Greetings and Salutations,
I had a blessed Saturday morning singing with Shellie LaCross from "Once Fallen Outreach Band".
We were invited to minister to the homeless at 8am, located in Upland at a wonderful fellowship, that has the ministry of feeding those who are in need. The two basic necessities in life, shelter and food, many people don't have. I was blessed, humbled, and convicted at the need before me. Suddenly I realized my own problems were minimal comparatively speaking. When one is trying to get food for their next meal, and I can  walk to my kitchen, I realize, I have nothing to complain about. Count your blessings Arleen!
I saw mothers with their young children, someone's grandfather, a lost uncle, a mother & daughter with no where to go, someones' father and someone's brother. Where are their families, I asked myself.

I'm reminded in God's word: Genesis 4:9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" And he said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"

Matthew 12: 46-50
⁴⁶ While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. ⁴⁷ Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”
⁴⁸ He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” ⁴⁹ Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. ⁵⁰ For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

back to the question: Am I my brother's keeper? yes we are. Make a difference where ever God places you.

Substance Abuse, Addiction, medicated..Our Culture needs Help!

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 14,800 Americans died of an opioid overdose in 2008 - three times the number of overdose deaths 20 years earlier. Across the U.S., it's estimated that 22.5 million people are dependent on alcohol or drugs, according to Frank's team.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/10/23/substance-abuse-diagnoses-increasing-in-us.

Possibly driven by a surge in painkiller abuse, the number of drug and alcohol problems diagnosed by U.S. doctors increased by 70 percent between 2001 and 2009, according to new research. "We know that increases in prescription drug use are a big part of what's going on nationally. I also think - in our study - the availability of effective treatment is a big part of it as well and likely drawing people into care," said the study's lead author Dr. Joseph W. Frank, from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Those treatments include medications such as methadone, as well as talk therapy.

The new study, which used information from two national surveys of doctors' visits, estimated that the number of those visits involving drug or alcohol abuse or addiction increased from 10.6 million between 2001 and 2003 to 18 million between 2007 and 2009. Over the same span, the number of visits including a diagnosis of opioid painkiller abuse, in particular, increased from 772,000 to 4.4 million - almost a six-fold increase.
Psychiatry researcher Amy Bohnert from the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor said she's not surprised with the increase in opioid-related visits. "It is quite a large increase and it does really highlight that this is a substantial problem in terms of this being a growing trend," Bohnert, who wasn't involved in the new research, told Reuters Health. "This finding is consistent with trends in substance use disorder-related utilization at the nation's community health centers and emergency departments and, sadly, use of its morgues," the study's authors wrote in the Archives of Internal Medicine on Monday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 14,800 Americans died of an opioid overdose in 2008 - three times the number of overdose deaths 20 years earlier. Across the U.S., it's estimated that 22.5 million people are dependent on alcohol or drugs, according to Frank's team.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/10/23/substance-abuse-diagnoses-increasing-in-us.




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