Hi Everyone!

Thank you for your participation and sharing during our meeting this week.

The telephone conference numbers for our group are:

Telephone conference number: (712) 775-7031 Access Code: 397-681-282

Playback recording number is: (712) 775-7029 Access Code: 397-681-282#

Playback reference number: 7

Since we do not have a lot of storage available on the telephone conference line, recordings through the phone line will only be available for 1 week.

Here is the link for the MP3 from our meeting this past week:

To listen to a meeting that is older than 1 week, please go to the Recordings 2016 tab of the blog to get access to the link to the media fire account.

As a reminder, our group takes place on Sunday mornings at 5:30 AM EST.

Please join us as we “trudge the Road of Happy Destiny.” (AA Big Book 164:3)

This week, we continued our discussion on abstinence and surrender.

 

We had a very lively discussion on “What is abstinence in OA?” handout.

We read up to page 11 in the Abstinence Presentation Handout.

We discussed sponsorship, how to sponsor, briefly discussed creating a food plan, and service.

Notes that I took during our meeting:

We discussed the questions: “How can I turn my fear into faith?

• Our main purpose in life is to get close to the God of our understanding and to trust that God knows what He is doing.
• I do not have to be fearful. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen. I just need to show up and do my best.
• Keep breathing. As long as I am alive, there is hope.
• Developing faith takes practice. Spirituality is a muscle, just like our physical muscles. We have to exercise our spiritual muscle daily if we want to develop and strengthen it.

How can a sponsor help you with abstinence?

• Sponsorship is a tool. We have to be willing.
• Sponsorship is the antidote against our grandiosity and defiance and helps us to develop humility and trust.
• In addition, sponsors are only people. If we feel injured or insulted by them, we need to choose to be responsible and accountable for our response. In addition, it is easy to think that they are wrong, and we are right. When someone says something that hurts our feelings, we need to also consider: Is it true? Is this something that we need to work on? Is there something to this that I need to consider?

How can a sponsor help you with a plan of eating?

Are you being completely honest about your food with a sponsor?

Will service make you and keep you abstinent?

• Betty said, “Program is holistic: we cannot just pick and choose. With balance, discernment and the application of wisdom, we need to work our program and all the tools daily. One tool is not more important than the others.
• The tools of the program are like our other activities of daily living (ADLs). Just like we brush our teeth, go to work, pay our bills, we need to work all the tools of the program.

Next week, we will continue reading this pamphlet and then read the other documents that were posted.

I am so grateful to be sharing this journey with all of you!

Thank you all for sharing your experience, strength and hope.

“Together we can do what we can never do alone.”

 

In love and service,

Shira