Redwood Family Center Alumni

We are slowly approaching our annual Open House event. Please join us this upcoming Tuesday, 12/6/2022, from 4 pm - 6 pm. If you have been interested in touring the relocated treatment center than this is your day to do it. Come on out and see what we have done to the building to make room for 24 women and 12 dependent children in a treatment setting. God has done remarkable things and the past 6 months work is glowing within our site. Dinner will be provided so come hungry.

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." Colossians 2:6-7

Here’s a special shout out from Aimee M. Love, RFC is proud of you!  🦋

Andddddd, the prepping has begun. Oh the delicious smells we are already smelling. We can not wait to see all of our friends and family tomorrow evening during our taco event. Just a reminder this is a DRIVE THRU event, no need to get out of the car. Perfect for those of you who just picked up kids from school or are heading to cheer, football, or soccer practice. $15 gets you THREE asada tacos, beans, and rice dinner plate WITH tortilla chips on the side. If you haven't purchased a ticket, don't worry, you may purchase a plate by simply driving up and placing your order. Don't forget to tell your friends, neighbors, and please share this post. All proceeds go to supporting the women and children of Redwoods....Which alumni families are we going to see there ??

The countdown has officially began!! We have exactly 14 days until our dinner event!! Who’s excited?!?! If you haven’t bought your tickets yet hurry and do so. I hear we have some amazing cooks ready to serve you all.

Tickets can be purchased via PayPal or Venmo. To order on PayPal send all payments to [email protected]. Venmo payments can be sent to -Fundraiser

For those of you who would like to purchase tickets with cash you may do so at our Corson location or on the day of the event. We look forward to serving you all.

Firework stand opens tomorrow. Come buy some fireworks!

Good morning alumni’s! Praying that everyone of you have a blessed day.

March 12, 2021
Getting out of the rut
Page 74
"Many times in our recovery, the old bugaboos will haunt us. Life may again become meaningless, monotonous, and boring."
Basic Text, p. 78
Sometimes it seems as though nothing changes. We get up and go to the same job every day. We eat dinner at the same time every night. We attend the same meetings each week. This morning's rituals were identical to the ones we performed yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that. After the hell of our addiction and the roller-coaster craziness of early recovery, the stable life may have some appeal - for a while. But, eventually, we realize we want something more. Sooner or later, we become turned off to the creeping monotony and boredom in our lives.
There are sure to be times when we feel vaguely dissatisfied with our recovery. We feel as though we're missing something for some reason, but we don't know what or why. We draw up our gratitude lists and find literally hundreds of things to be grateful for. All our needs are being met; our lives are fuller than we had ever hoped they'd be. So what's up?
Maybe it's time to stretch our potential to its fullest. Our possibilities are only limited by what we can dream. We can learn something new, set a new goal, help another newcomer, or make a new friend. We're sure to find something challenging if we look hard enough, and life will again become meaningful, varied, and fulfilling.
Just for Today: I'll take a break from the routine and stretch my potential to its fullest.

March 01, 2021
Anxiety attack?
Page 63
"[The] Power that brought us to this program is still with us and will continue to guide us if we allow it."
Basic Text, p. 27
Ever had a panic attack? Everywhere we turn, life's demands overwhelm us. We're paralyzed, and we don't know what to do about it. How do we break an anxiety attack?
First, we stop. We can't deal with everything at once, so we stop for a moment to let things settle. Then we take a "spot inventory" of the things that are bothering us. We examine each item, asking ourselves this question: "How important is it, really?" In most cases, we'll find that most of our fears and concerns don't need our immediate attention. We can put those aside, and focus on the issues that really need to be resolved right away. Then we stop again and ask ourselves, "Who's in control here, anyway?" This helps remind us that our Higher Power is in control. We seek our Higher Power's will for the situation, whatever it is. We can do this in any number of ways: through prayer, talks with our sponsor or NA friends, or by attending a meeting and asking others to share their experience. When our Higher Power's will becomes clear to us, we pray for the ability to carry it out.
Finally, we take action.
Anxiety attacks need not paralyze us. We can utilize the resources of the NA program to deal with anything that comes our way.
Just for Today: My Higher Power has not brought me all this way in recovery only to abandon me! When anxiety strikes, I will take specific steps to seek God's continuing care and guidance.

February 28, 2021
The greatest gift
Page 60
"Our newly found faith serves as a firm foundation for courage in the future."
Basic Text, p. 96
When we begin coming to meetings, we hear other addicts talking about the gifts they have received as a result of this program, things we never thought of as "gifts" before. One such "gift" is the renewed ability to feel the emotions we had deadened for so long with drugs. It's not difficult to think of love, joy, and happiness as gifts, even if it's been a long time since we've felt them. But what about "bad" feelings like anger, sadness, fear, and loneliness? Such emotions can't be seen as gifts, we tell ourselves. After all, how can we be thankful for things we want to run from?!
We can become grateful for these emotions in our lives if we place them in their proper perspective. We need to remember that we've come to believe in a loving Higher Power, and we've asked that Power to care for us-and our Higher Power doesn't make mistakes. The feelings we're given, "good" or "bad" are given to us for a reason. With this in mind, we come to realize that there are no "bad" feelings, only lessons to be learned. Our faith and our Higher Power's care give us the courage we need to face whatever feelings may come up on a daily basis.
As we heard early in recovery, "Your Higher Power won't give you more than you can handle in just one day." And the ability to feel our emotions is one of the greatest gifts of recovery.
Just for Today: I will try to welcome my feelings, firm in the belief that I have the courage to face whatever emotions may come up in my life.

NA Just For Today

Sick As Our Secrets

"It would be tragic to write [out an inventory only to] shove it in a drawer These defects grow in the dark and die in the light of exposure."
Basic Text, p. 31

How many times have we heard it said that we are only as sick as our secrets? While many members choose not to use meetings to share the intimate details of their lives, it is important that we each discover what works best for us. What about those behaviors we have carried into our recovery that, if discovered, would cause us shame? How much are we comfortable disclosing, and to whom? If we are uncomfortable sharing some details of our lives in meetings, to whom do we turn?

We have found the answer to these questions in sponsorship. Although a relationship with a sponsor takes time to build, it is important that we come to trust our sponsor enough to be completely honest. Our defects only have power as long as they stay hidden. If we want to be free of those defects, we must uncover them. Secrets are only secrets until we share them with another human being.

Just for today: I will uncover my secrets. I will practice being honest with my sponsor.

Just For Today
February 20
Powerlessness, Personal Responsibility
“Through our inability to accept personal responsibilities, we were actually creating our own problems.”
Basic Text, p. 13

When we refuse to take responsibility for our lives, we give away all of our personal power. We need to remember that we are powerless over our addiction, not our personal behavior.
Many of us have misused the concept of powerlessness to avoid making decisions or to hold onto things we had outgrown. We have claimed powerlessness over our own actions. We have blamed others for our circumstances rather than taking positive action to change those circumstances. If we continue to avoid responsibility by claiming that we are “powerless;” we set ourselves up for the same despair and misery we experienced in our active addiction. The potential for spending our recovery years feeling like victims is very real.
Instead of living our lives by default, we can learn how to make responsible choices and take risks. We may make mistakes, but we can learn from these mistakes. A heightened awareness of ourselves and an increased willingness to accept personal responsibility gives us the freedom to change, to make choices, and to grow.
Just for today: My feelings, actions, and choices are mine. I will accept responsibility for them.
*********************

February 17, 2021

Carrying the message, not the addict

Page 49

"They can be analyzed, counseled, reasoned with, prayed over, threatened, beaten, or locked up, but they will not stop until they want to stop."

Basic Text, p. 65

Perhaps one of the most difficult truths we must face in our recovery is that we are as powerless over another's addiction as we are over our own. We may think that because we've had a spiritual awakening in our own lives we should be able to persuade another addict to find recovery. But there are limits to what we can do to help another addict.

We cannot force them to stop using. We cannot give them the results of the steps or grow for them. We cannot take away their loneliness or their pain. There is nothing we can say to convince a scared addict to surrender the familiar misery of addiction for the frightening uncertainty of recovery. We cannot jump inside other peoples' skins, shift their goals, or decide for them what is best for them.

However, if we refuse to try to exert this power over another's addiction, we may help them. They may grow if we allow them to face reality, painful though it may be. They may become more productive, by their own definition, as long as we don't try and do it for them. They can become the authority on their own lives, provided we are only authorities on our own. If we can accept all this, we can become what we were meant to be - carriers of the message, not the addict.

Just for Today: I will accept that I am powerless not only over my own addiction but also over everyone else's. I will carry the message, not the addict.