#TuesdayTreasures Guest post by Dale Vernor

Good Morning Friends,

When today's guest contacted me I was unsure about how his message would resonate with YOU, my audience. After all, you're used to hearing what authors treasure and learning about their books. 

But I think his message is uplifting and definitely something to treasure so please welcome Dale Vernor....

Treasuring My Sobriety After Alchol Rehab

I look at my daughter now and I know I would do absolutely anything to protect her, to ensure her happiness. But there was a time not too long ago when I couldn’t say that — even in my most drunken moments.

Yes. I’m an alcoholic.

I am one of those fortunate ones who had help, who was forced to get help. And just in the nick of time, alcohol rehab changed my life. Today I treasure my family and in order to be the best for them I have to also treasure my sobriety, if it were not for finding it, I would have no family to love so dearly.

It Wasn’t Bad… In the Beginning

I used to tell myself that alcohol wasn’t all bad because I met my wife in a bar. She was celebrating a cousin’s engagement and she noticed me sitting alone in the bar. She approached me then and there. I should’ve been mortified. But I already had a couple of glasses in me and I readily answered all her questions. I think she really believed I liked her, too. I think it was only later that she realized that I was so flirty with her because I was already drunk.

She always said she didn’t mind that I drank more than she did. She said I was a sweet and quiet when I was drunk. And then she got pregnant and there wasn’t really time for us to think.

After the baby was born, my drinking got worse. It’s scary being in charge of a whole person. You need liquid courage; at least that’s what I told myself. I felt I enjoyed my time with the baby more when I had a few sips. I was more relaxed.

My Wife Knew I Had a Problem

Once, my stash of vodka in the laundry room disappeared. I think, like me, she was trying to deny it.

Until she came home early one day and saw me lying face down, naked a few feet from my robe and the crib. The baby’s face was already red from crying and her bottom was irritated from a very soggy diaper. It could’ve been worse, but it was enough for her. The next day, my daughter spent the day at a childcare center while my wife  brought me to an alcohol rehab facility.

That was more than three years ago.

What I Learned

One of the most important things I learned in rehab was that I had to forgive myself for what I had done in the past, while the alcohol still had its grip on me. It’s not easy. I look at my little girl and wonder what damage I had caused. But I strive to do it, and not as a punishment, but as a way to endure.

My story could have gone in a different direction. My wife and I didn’t really know each other all that well when we got married. I am grateful that she stayed with me throughout and didn’t take the baby and leave. I’m also very thankful that she enrolled me in alcohol rehab.

I cannot describe the wonder of looking at my daughter with eyes not blurred by alcohol. I am amazed at how interesting and funny her three-year-old stories can be. I cannot bear to imagine being drunk and not being able to enjoy them.

And when I go out with my wife, orange juice or ginger ale gives me a buzz when coupled with her boisterous laugh.

Every Day is Wonderful

I can smell the flowers that we planted together. I can taste the different dishes I prepare for them.

And in five months, we will welcome a new member to our family and I’m so excited. Not that I’m void of any apprehension. But I’m in a good place right now—full of gratitude and love for my family and for myself. I have faced obstacles in the past and can confidently say that I can squarely face the challenges ahead.

Thank you so much, Dale for sharing your story! We wish you the BEST of luck and God's blessings as you continue to walk out your journey.

PamT

Saturday Spotlight - David Murdoch

Hello Friends,

Today's spotlight is on David Murdoch and his book, Ana Markovic.

David Murdoch is a convert to Roman Catholicism and a native of Toronto, Canada. He grew up in a liberal protestant tradition that he drifted away from as a teenager and embraced catholicism when he discovered it as a young adult at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. He began writing Ana Markovic while he was at university and finished it soon after graduation. He wrote the book out of a need he felt to share the gifts and graces God has given him with others. He has also written a theological book called 'The Knowledge of Good and Evil' that deals with human sinfulness and judgment.


David is 23 years old, and is currently training to be a teacher. He prays and trusts in the Spirit's guidance to lead him wherever he is called to go in the life that is before him. In the photo with David is his mother and they are standing in the ruin of one of king Herod's palaces in the modern-day West Bank.

Emerging from an alcohol-poisoned sleep that should have left her dead on the streets of Toronto, Ana Markovic slowly began to remember a dream that she had while unconscious. She hadn't always been homless. Once, she had a home and a family, but she lost this as a result of alcoholism and her own misguided will. She had abandoned her family to live on the streets in a perpetual state of self-hate.


Ana no longer seemed to matter to anyone including herself, but she was not forgotten in the eyes of God. One night she had drunk herself to a point that should have killed her, but while she awaited death, St Michael the Archangel appeared to her in a dream explaining to her how important she was in the eyes of God and urging her to accept this.

A long discussion took place between the two, which was joined at times by demons, the Lord Jesus Christ and all of the saints. Through the discussion and arguments over the life of this seemingly insignificant homeless woman, there is revealed the indescribable meaning, the struggle for salvation, and the redemption God's love offers every human being.

Excerpt:
They found themselves on a hot grassland with the sun high in the air and gazelles jumping through the fields. A man was there. He was dark-skinned, with a scruffy beard of black hair on his face, and he was singing verses of a song in a language that is unknown on this earth. Annie could have mistaken him by appearance, for a member of the Somali community in Toronto except for the fact that he was completely naked.



“Annie, meet Adam,” Mick said, “He can’t see us, but we can see him.”

Annie opened her mouth in disbelief, “So there really was an Adam then?”

Mick said, “Yes, and this is him. Now do you know what makes Adam different from all the other creatures in the garden?”

Annie said, “You mean he is a human?”

Mick said, “Yes, but why are humans different from every creature. Why is it that humans are special in a way that other animals are not? Why is it that the demons are wrong when they say that the humans are just meaningless apes? What is different about them?”

Annie said, “They are smart, they are intelligent?”

Mick said, “Not true. There are other animals that have intelligence, elephants have a brain that is larger than humans, and dolphins are self-aware. Besides that, a person could build a machine that is capable of doing many things that a human brain could not.”

“They make tools, they have technology?”

“Not true. Chimpanzees make and use tools, great apes use tools.”

“They have civilization?”

“Look at your feet Annie” (there was an anthill next to her) “Is that not a civilization? It is an organized colony with castes, territory and social structure.”

“Humans have emotion? They smile and frown?”

“Many creatures possess emotion and use gestures to display how they are feeling.”

“Humans do evil and good. They possess free will. They know what love is.”

Mick said, “Humans are made in the image of God. Unlike all creatures upon this earth, humanity is the only kind made in God’s own image and likeness. That is why they are special. You could make a machine, a ‘cyborg’ which possessed many of the traits and abilities that a human being possessed, with enough technology and it could even surpass humanity’s weak flesh in many ways, but you could never create another creature in God’s image.”

Ana Markovic can be purchased at Amazon and has received good reviews there.
Well Friends, hope you enjoyed another edition of Saturday Spotlight!

See you next week.

Until then...take care and be BLESSED!
PamT