Participants: Cheri Peters (Host), Alvy Quispe
Series Code: CLR
Program Code: CLR000115A
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00:01 The following program discusses sensitive issues
00:03 related to addictive behavior. 00:05 Parents are cautioned that some material 00:06 may be too candid for younger children. 00:11 Welcome to Celebrating Life in Recovery. 00:13 I'm Cheri your host and today 00:15 we're gonna talk about on faithfulness, 00:18 resentment and the power of belief. 00:22 Come join us in the café, it's gonna be amazing. 00:53 Welcome, you know, this season we're doing-- 00:55 we're going over the book Celebrations as our main thing. 00:58 And it was really funny to me 01:00 because I'm looking at this incredible stuff, 01:03 you know, like you know Celebrations, 01:05 the book is amazing, has some great stuff 01:08 and it have things that acronym is C is choices, 01:13 E exercise and liquids, environment, belief, 01:17 rest, air, temperance, integrity, 01:20 optimism, nutrition, social support. 01:23 And I'm thinking, why didn't I cover that 01:25 like in season one and so, so I feel like God said 01:28 because you were in rebellion. 01:30 It was no way you couldn't cover that in season one 01:33 because I really thought that I don't need all that stuff. 01:37 What I need is just to stop doing heroin 01:39 or what I need is to work on my insecurity, on my anger. 01:43 However, my whole family has a generational thing 01:46 where we never felt good enough 01:48 and I need to work on some of that kind of stuff 01:51 and I definitely need to work on my relationships 01:52 because my poor husband, 01:54 he's from a more normal family and I just like drama. 01:58 So I'm working on all that kind of stuff 01:59 and when somebody said, look at diet 02:02 and you should exercise and may be drink some water 02:04 and I'm like whatever. 02:05 You know and I think because of the rebellion in me, 02:09 that the rebellion in me just said, 02:11 you know, I just push that aside 02:14 and now I'm years into recovery man, 02:17 and you know I used to be embarrassed to say 02:19 how many years but over 30 years into recovery 02:21 and somebody out there I prayed 02:23 that you're standing up and shouting for joy for me 02:25 because that's a long time and it's incredible. 02:28 There are people in families that just, 02:30 they just long for their kids to get a day. 02:34 And so I'm 30 years into recovery. 02:36 Now I'm looking at how much easier 02:40 would my recovery have been 02:42 if I would have worked on somebody's issues 02:44 and so that's what we're covering at this season. 02:46 And today we're on a topic 02:48 that a lot of people kind of skip over, 02:52 or they do it in a way that is not-- 02:55 they do it in a way that is kind of superficial. 02:59 So I'm going to try to hit belief 03:02 'cause that's the word 03:03 where we are right now is belief. 03:05 Anyway that we'll cover, we cover it in a broader sense. 03:09 So belief is gonna be one thing. 03:11 It's definitely, you know, belief in God, belief in-- 03:14 there is a God that cares about you that-- initial thing 03:17 that He can restore you to sanctity. 03:19 There is a God that not only delights in you 03:21 but really delights in the fact that 03:23 He has a plan for you 03:25 I mean that-- He has a plan for your life. 03:27 When I came off the streets, I came off the streets 03:29 and I'm illiterate and I'm heroin addict, 03:32 I've been on the streets for ten years. 03:34 I was in a lifestyle that if you could lie, manipulate 03:37 and rob somebody of their entire mortgage payment, 03:40 people would be going like give me five, good job. 03:42 You know, I mean, it really was the whole different thing 03:45 and so I have a belief in a God 03:47 that says I can rewire you, you know. 03:49 Wow! 03:50 You know, how incredible is that? 03:52 I have a belief in a God that says, 03:54 you know, what I can feel you with my spirit, 03:58 with the Holy Spirit and literally teach you 04:01 and mentor for you and do all that kind of stuff 04:04 and I'm like how incredible. 04:05 So I have to have that basic belief. 04:07 I have to have a belief there's a way we can communicate. 04:10 You know, I want to be able to say 04:12 is that I could talk to God. 04:14 I can pray, 04:15 I can open up the Bible which for some of you, 04:19 you just think that's lame or whatever. 04:22 But I'm telling you 04:23 there is something alive about that book. 04:25 I mean, you can open it up and it's so relevant 04:28 to where you're going to that very moment. 04:30 It's just an incredible thing 04:32 but I have to have belief in that. 04:34 And I'm gonna tell you a story 04:35 where it really hit me hard that I was doing this talk 04:40 and I am at a church and it's midnight, 04:44 I mean, you know, we did the event, 04:46 the talk was over about 9 o'clock. 04:48 And at 9 o'clock people started doing one to ones 04:51 and we're praying together. 04:52 About midnight somebody comes up to me and says, 04:55 Cheri, there is a little girl here 04:57 that waited to talk with you. 05:00 And I thought a little girl, you know 05:01 and I thought, you know, how old she seems. 05:04 She said about ten and I'm thinking about ten. 05:06 Are you kidding me? 05:07 So little girl about ten years old 05:09 it's midnight, I'm feeling bad for her parents 05:12 because, you know, she probably kept them there. 05:15 And so I said, let's put her in front of the queue. 05:17 Let's put her absolutely she can come in 05:19 and so she walked in to the office 05:20 and I'm in the pastor's office 05:22 and she was very tiny, there's quite little thing, 05:24 she looked like a little cherub. 05:26 And, you know, how some kids are like that, 05:27 you just look at them 05:28 and you'd say you are so darling. 05:30 And I didn't want to sit on the chairs 05:32 because I felt like she was-- you know, 05:35 I was just so much taller than her, 05:37 so I sat on the floor 05:38 and she sat on the floor with me 05:39 and she sat down and she said 05:43 I'm in foster care and I thought, oh. 05:45 You know because everything 05:46 I just thought about her is this little cherub. 05:48 I realize her life is not as sweet as I thought. 05:51 It's not as easy as I thought. 05:52 She's probably gone through some pretty tough things. 05:55 I'm in foster care she says 05:56 and my mom's in prison for prostitution 05:59 and I thought oh, man. 06:01 And now I just want to hold her 06:03 'cause I don't know about you, but I know that life. 06:07 I know what it feels like to have 06:08 that twisted stuff around you even as a child. 06:11 Her mom taught her how to be a prostitute 06:14 when she was three and four years old, 06:15 really groomed her to 06:17 because she got more money for her than for herself 06:19 and so she talked about that kind of stuff 06:22 and then she looked at me and she said, 06:23 you know, I like your story. 06:25 And she said, I'm really good at what I do, she said. 06:29 And I thought oh, and then, you know, 06:31 and I'm just begging God. 06:33 God give me an answer for this kid 06:36 because I really believe she's good at what she does. 06:38 She goes in to foster care, it's with an Adventist couple, 06:41 so very Christian couple. 06:43 And they put her in an academy, a Christian school. 06:47 And she says I find all the nasty guys right away. 06:51 And I started to come on to them, 06:53 so I could get what I want and she went on and on. 06:56 And I still don't know what to say to her yet. 06:58 And so, finally God just gave me 07:00 what to say to her and I said. 07:02 I said you know Alvy, 07:04 do you think I was good at what I did? 07:06 You know, do you think, 07:07 Alvy, I was on the streets from the time 07:09 I was 13 years old and survived 10 years. 07:11 Do you think I was good? And she said, yep I do. 07:14 And I said, do you think I'm good at what I do now? 07:17 I traveled all over the world. 07:19 I get to tell people about recovery. 07:21 I get to tell them about the God 07:22 that's crazy about them. 07:24 I get to give them hope that there is a different life 07:26 that they can step out of all that kind of stuff. 07:28 Do you think I am good at that? 07:30 And she said, yes I do. 07:32 Because I mean, she just experienced some of that. 07:34 And I said, Alvy, you could be good at either one. 07:38 You could follow your mom right to prison 07:40 or you can let God change you 07:42 and be really good at that change 07:45 and she got it. 07:46 That quick. 07:48 I watched this kid get it and I wanted to cry. 07:50 I wanted to grab God and kiss him on the face 07:52 and say it's incredible 07:54 what you can do with faith and belief. 07:57 And the fact that we could change 07:58 and know that no matter what has plagued us? 08:01 What has followed us? 08:02 What we're dealing with that I know there is a God 08:06 that can change that completely. 08:09 And so today we're talking about belief in a bigger sense. 08:11 I mean belief changes what people do in surgery. 08:14 I mean you could pray for somebody 08:15 across the country that just had surgery 08:17 and there are studies that say that they heal faster. 08:20 Shut up how cool is that, not only did they heal faster 08:23 the person doesn't even have to know. 08:25 They did studies with the doctor that pray, 08:27 didn't even have a Christian background 08:29 but just praying, knowing I believe 08:32 that there really is a God that response to that, 08:35 that the person actually gets well 08:36 and does the recovery faster. 08:38 So belief is a big deal. 08:40 I'm gonna introduce to you guest today 08:42 that had to hold on to a belief that wasn't evident for years 08:49 before she got to smile. 08:53 So stay with us, you're gonna love this story. |
Revised 2014-12-17