Can you relate to any of the following?

• You decided to try living clean/sober again and really want to make it stick this time. You’re concerned though as past strategies haven’t worked so you are willing to try something new.
• You are recently clean/sober and are interested in expanding the spiritual side of your recovery.
• Your recovery program is working but given all that’s going on it is getting tougher each day. You would like some additional support.
• You have been sober and/or clean for a while and would like to support others at the start of their recovery journey while refreshing your own program.

If you answered yes to any of the above, I can assure you that you are not alone! I know because not only have I answered yes to each of these questions myself, but I’m also part of a support group Hoboken Grace has started called Crossroads to help all others who can relate.

My name is David and my Crossroads journey began 23 years ago. For the first 6-plus years, I battled with whether or not I really had a problem with alcohol. After finally admitting that the answer was yes, I agreed to attend an intensive outpatient program and then a 12-step program. Over time, I came to realize that to remain clean and sober, I needed to confront the question I had been avoiding for so many years, namely who God was to me. After struggling for several years, finally, through regular meetings with a local pastor, I slowly found my way back to God and began a journey of building a relationship with Him.

After gradually slipping into an auto-pilot recovery program for about 10 years, several very vivid drunk dreams really shook me. They made me acutely aware that I needed to find a way to better integrate my recovery experiences with my spiritual life as well as do more to help others with their recovery journeys because I know that it is by giving that I receive.

Through a variety of what I believe were God-directed events; Hoboken Grace connections and working with Pastor Anthony; I found my answer – establishing a Crossroads Support Group at Hoboken Grace. Crossroads is a step by step guide away from addictions. The original intent was to pilot a group later this year, but with Covid-19 causing many to live in isolation, a real enemy of sobriety, we decided to launch the first group several days after the Hoboken “stay at home” announcement. Five weeks in, our group of 8 is going strong. We are supporting each other in staying clean and sober and growing in our relationships with God.

Thinking back over the past 23 years, somewhat implausibly I have come to believe that my addiction was one of the best things that could have happened to me. Crazy maybe, but without it I never would have stopped running away from God and avoiding Him, and never found the forgiving and loving God with whom I have a growing relationship today.

If you would like to learn more about Crossroads and/or how we can support you in your recovery, on a confidential basis, email: Crossroads@hobokengrace.com