Share It Share It: Powerful Shares, Joyful Reading, Pages and Prayers Powerful Shares I wanted to share how sad I am to hear about the discontinuation of Lifeline. It has literally been a lifeline to me. I am one of the ones who answered your 2018 subscription appeal, and I recently renewed my subscription and will cherish every last issue. Thank you for the articles about “The Joys of Retreats and … Read More
Fellowship Make My Needs My Wants I’ve been in OA since September 1983. I helped start a local retreat in the 1990s, which I’ve attended now for many years. In 1998, I heard someone at the retreat say that they could be abstinent 100 percent of the time, and somehow that really hit home. That same year, the retreat leader emphasized looking at my part in … Read More
Fellowship Retreats Revitalize Renewal, revival, resurgence: these are all emotions I experienced this weekend at the annual retreat sponsored by my intergroup. It was held at the foot of Mount Beacon, a tranquil place of beauty in the Hudson Valley of Upstate New York. The bright, sunny facility had numerous comfortable rooms where we met for breakout sessions and meditations. The beautiful grounds … Read More
Fellowship Courage and Magic I love OA retreats and workshops. I want to tell my OA fellows to jump in, don’t hesitate, make the commitment, and just go! I sometimes hesitate, but once I’ve gotten up the courage to commit to a retreat, magic happens! I show up and participate, just as I do in my OA recovery. I connect with people like me … Read More
Relapse Twelfth Step Within Twelfth Step Within Works In 1985, it took a strong, concerted effort to get World Service Business Conference to accept some Twelfth Step Within suggestions from a group of women from Region Two. These members fought for five years for something they believed in: the need to “carry the message to those already in program,” to members who were still struggling, maybe people whose … Read More
Sponsoring Tools & Concepts Speed Dating for Sponsors At our annual retreat, a miscommunication turned into a fantastic new workshop. When the leader of a session on sponsorship referred to “speed dating,” several members of the organizing committee thought we were going to experience speed dating for sponsors! It seemed a natural progression: we could move from a session on the benefits of sponsorship to a practical activity. The … Read More
Higher Power Spirituality Space for God I had never led a retreat by myself and worried I’d come off as unprepared and not able to give anything to the group. I worried that I’d get lost, miss the ferry, get carjacked, or hit a moose. I was crossing into Canada—aren’t moose everywhere? I was at a retreat two years before where a woman in the audience … Read More
Tools & Concepts Any Distance, Any Length “Any form of service—no matter how small— that helps reach a fellow sufferer adds to the quality of our own recovery.” —The Tools of Recovery Six months ago, I moved, leaving behind the OA meeting that had been my home for five years—my strong, healthy meeting full of abstinent recovery and knowledge of the Twelve Steps. There are meetings in … Read More