Trust me, I've been there, I've looked, I've searched and I know now, that there are no answers to be found in the bottom of a bottle or on the edge of a blade! Fighting Hard, Recovering, Rebuilding, REBORN. Moving on from addiction to a new life.
Our seasons change, our circumstances vary, but Christ never changes, He never leaves and His love never fails.
FOREVER by BETHEL MUSIC & KARI JOBE The moon and stars they wept The morning sun was dead The Savior of the world was fallen His body on the cross His blood poured out for us The weight of every curse upon Him
One final breath He gave As heaven looked away The Son of God was laid in darkness A battle in the grave The war on death was waged The power of hell forever broken
The ground began to shake The stone was rolled away His perfect love could not be overcome Now death where is your sting? Our resurrected King has rendered you defeated
Forever He is glorified Forever He is lifted high Forever He is risen He is alive, He is alive
We sing Hallelujah We sing Hallelujah We sing Hallelujah The Lamb has overcome
Whatever your fight, know that Christ has already overcome, He has given us the VICTORY!
FOREVER by BETHEL CHURCH The moon and stars they wept The morning sun was dead The Savior of the world was fallen His body on the cross His blood poured out for us The weight of every curse upon Him
One final breath He gave As heaven looked away The Son of God was laid in darkness A battle in the grave The war on death was waged The power of hell forever broken
The ground began to shake The stone was rolled away His perfect love would not be overcome Now death where is your sting? Our resurrected King Has rendered you defeated
(Now) Forever He is glorified Forever He is lifted high (And) Forever He is risen He is alive, He is alive
We sing Hallelujah We sing Hallelujah We sing Hallelujah The Lamb has overcome
His Love will be there forever, when we feel alone, unlovable or empty, just know His Love is there for you and will endure beyond anything you are going through.
FOREVER by KARI JOBE & BETHEL MUSIC The moon and stars they wept The morning sun was dead The Savior of the world was fallen His body on the cross His blood poured out for us The weight of every curse upon him
One final breath He gave As Heaven looked away The Son of God was laid in darkness A battle in the grave The war on death was waged The power of hell forever broken
The ground began to shake The stone was rolled away His perfect love could not be overcome Now death where is your sting Our resurrected King has rendered you defeated
Forever, He is glorified Forever, He is lifted high Forever, He is risen He is alive He is alive
The ground began to shake The stone was rolled away His perfect love could not be overcome Now death where is your sting Our resurrected King has rendered you defeated
Forever, He is glorified Forever, He is lifted high Forever, He is risen He is alive He is alive Forever, forever
You have overcome Your resurrected King You have overcome the grave You have overcome
We sing Hallelujah We sing Hallelujah We sing Hallelujah The Lamb has overcome
We sing Hallelujah We sing Hallelujah We sing Hallelujah The Lamb has overcome
We sing Hallelujah We sing Hallelujah We sing Hallelujah The Lamb has overcome
We sing Hallelujah We sing Hallelujah We sing Hallelujah The Lamb has overcome
We sing Hallelujah We sing Hallelujah We sing Hallelujah The Lamb has overcome
We sing Hallelujah We sing Hallelujah We sing Hallelujah The Lamb has overcome
Forever, He is glorified Forever, He is lifted high Forever, He is risen He is alive He is alive (Forever)
Forever, He is glorified Forever, He is lifted high Forever, He is risen He is alive He is alive
After a few stressful days, I know I have taken refuge in Him and thankfully today has been so much better.
FOREVER by BETHEL MUSIC with KARI JOBE The moon and stars they wept The morning sun was dead The Savior of the world was fallen His body on the cross His blood poured out for us The weight of every curse upon Him
One final breath He gave As heaven looked away The Son of God was laid in darkness A battle in the grave The war on death was waged The power of hell forever broken
The ground began to shake The stone was rolled away His perfect love would not be overcome Now death where is your sting? Our resurrected King Has rendered you defeated
(Now) Forever He is glorified Forever He is lifted high (And) Forever He is risen He is alive, He is alive
We sing Hallelujah, we sing Hallelujah We sing Hallelujah The Lamb has overcome
So this evening marks my 100 week of sobriety, at 10.30 this evening it will officially by that magical mark. I’ve written so many times about that pivotal moment in my life and I will probably write about it many more times, but for this post I highlight what that means in term of numbers, this it what it would have cost me over the last 100 weeks, had I continued drinking at the rate I was in the weeks before I quit, the figures are pretty interesting!
TOTAL CONSUMPTION: Bottles of Rose Wine: 1000 Pints of Cider: 1800 Cans of Cider/Lager: 800 Bottles of Jaques Cider: 200
This was based on what I drank over the last few weeks before I quit, this was an average week, obviously it was some times a little more or a little less, but this was the average as I remember it, this obviously doesn’t include the odd bottle of Rum or other spirit I may have every now and again.
TOTAL UNITS OF ALCOHOL: 17560
So the recommended intake of alcohol for a male in the UK is 21 units per week, so that would total 2100 units, right so my average intake would have been over 8 times that, is it any wonder my blood pressure was rising.
TOTAL COST: £11,900.00 ($19,857 US)
Okay, so I’ve saved myself almost £12,000 in these last 100 weeks, which in itself is interesting seeing as I’m still almost flat broke, luckily this week the bank gave me back the charges they took from me last week. I don’t know how I kept my habit going consider the cost of it, but I guess until you step back and look at it with fresh eyes do you really realise the cost.
TOTAL CALORIES: 698800
So the total calories of 698800 alone does not seem to be too interesting a figure, but when you convert that into weight it makes a truly different reading, that converts to around 200lbs in weight. Seeing as I was at my heaviest when I quit drinking and that was only 182 pounds, that extra 200lbs in weight would probably have increased that figure drastically!
I’m not sure given the above figures whether I would actually be here to count these figures, which would have got to me first, the high blood pressure or the stress of the financial burden I was putting on myself and the family, it drove me close to suicide on many occasions.
The hardest thing for an addict is to admit they have the problem in the first place, that realisation hit me smack in the face when my relationship with Victoria essentially ended, but I still couldn’t stop, I knew I had to change and I knew there was only person I wanted to speak to about it.
The rest is history, I called Gareth one Monday morning, I met with him that evening and poured my soul out to him, along with a thousand tears, that night everything changed, Gareth brought the possibility of a life with God, it may have taken me a few days to embrace that, but when I did, I found the strength that I prayed for to overcome my addiction.
On 29th March 2012 I took that last drink and although the next few weeks were hard work, the temptation and then the intense pain of withdrawals were hard to deal with, but again I prayed for strength and fought through it and made it to the otherside.
It’s not been an easy ride all the way through those last 100 weeks, I’ve struggled with many things in that time, eventually ending up on anti-depressants, but despite that these last few weeks I have felt more positive about the future than ever before. But there is no way I would be here celebrating this milestone without the Grace of God.
My future seems bright, now that there’s a light shining upon it.
FOREVER by BETHEL MUSIC The moon and stars they wept The morning sun was dead The Savior of the world was fallen His body on the cross His blood poured out for us The weight of every curse upon Him
One final breath He gave As heaven looked away The Son of God was laid in darkness A battle in the grave The war on death was waged The power of hell forever broken
The ground began to shake The stone was rolled away His perfect love could not be overcome Now death where is your sting? Our resurrected King Has rendered you defeated
Forever He is glorified Forever He is lifted high Forever He is risen He is alive, [and] He is alive
Forever He is glorified Forever He is lifted high Forever He is risen He is alive, [and] He is alive
The ground began to shake The stone was rolled away His perfect love could not be overcome Now death where is your sting? Our resurrected King Has rendered you defeated
Forever He is glorified Forever He is lifted high Forever He is risen He is alive, [and] He is alive
He is alive! He’s lifted high
We sing hallelujah We sing hallelujah We sing hallelujah The Lamb has overcome
We sing hallelujah We sing hallelujah We sing hallelujah The Lamb has overcome
We sing hallelujah We sing hallelujah We sing hallelujah The Lamb has overcome
We sing hallelujah We sing hallelujah We sing hallelujah The Lamb has overcome
Now death where is your sting? Our resurrected King Has overcome, He’s overcome [oh]
The Bottom of a Bottle 