December 30: Thankful for the People Who Carried It to You

Somebody carried the message to you once. Do you remember who?

Maybe it was a friend who took you to your first meeting. A coworker who noticed something was wrong and said something. A pastor who didn’t flinch when you told the truth. A family member who refused to give up on you. A stranger at a meeting who handed you a cup of coffee and their phone number. A sponsor who answered at three in the morning.

Somebody did for you what Step Twelve asks you to do for others. They carried the message. They practiced these principles with you, probably when you weren’t easy to be around.

Paul wrote to the church in Philippi from prison. He had every reason to focus on his own trouble. Instead he started with thanks. I thank my God whenever I remember you, always in every request of mine for you all making my requests with joy, because of your partnership in furthering the Good News from the first day until now.

Partnership. That’s a good word for what happens in recovery. Nobody does it alone. It’s a chain of people, each one passing along what they received. Someone carried it to the person who carried it to you. And now you carry it to someone else.

As the year closes, this is a good day to remember the links in your chain. Write down the names. Think about what each one did. Some of them you may never be able to thank in person. Some have moved away. Some may have passed on. Some may have gone back to drinking themselves. Thank God for them anyway. Pray for them.

And for the ones you can reach, reach out. A card. A text. A phone call. Tell them specifically what they did and what it meant. “You drove me to my first meeting. I’ve been sober since.” People rarely hear that kind of thing. It might be the best gift they get all year.

One thing today

Make a list of every person who helped carry the message to you. Pray for each one by name. Then contact at least one of them and say thank you.

A prayer

Lord, I thank You every time I remember the people who helped me. Bless each one of them. Thank You for making me part of this chain, and help me pass along what they gave me. Amen.

Every link in the chain is Step Twelve.

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