Introduction to Catholic Sobriety

Speaker 1 0:00

Welcome to the Catholic Sobriety Podcast , the go-to resource for women seeking to have a deeper understanding of the role alcohol plays in their lives , women who are looking to drink less or not at all for any reason . I am your host , christi Walker . I'm a wife , mom and a joy-filled Catholic , and I am the Catholic Sobriety Coach , and I am so glad you're here . Welcome to today's episode , friends . This is a bit of a different episode , because I had planned a group coaching session for the Sacred Sobriety Lab members to talk about something very near and dear to my heart , which is our identity in Christ . Life happens , though , and everyone's busy schedules meant no one could make it , but instead of letting that moment slip by , I felt the Lord impress upon me to use that time to speak directly to the hearts of my Sacred Sobriety Lab sisters , and as I was sharing , I realized that it wasn't just meant for them . It was meant for you too . So in this episode , I'm bringing you those words of encouragement to remind you of the truth of who you are in Christ and the freedom that truth carries . My prayer is that , wherever you are listening from , these words bless you and remind you of how deeply loved and valued you are . I also talk about my new Lenten challenge , freedom 46 , just briefly toward the end . So if you've not heard of that , or if you have heard of it and you were wondering what that's all about , I give some details at the end of the episode . So you definitely want to stick around for that . And if you have any other questions , just go to the link in my show notes and that'll take you to the page that will explain more about what that freedom 46 linton challenge is and how you can get signed up . So let's get to it .

Speaker 1 2:18

Hello and welcome to today's group coaching . Today is febru , february 25th , and I don't have anyone here yet . That's okay , I will let people in as they come . I did get a lot of emails from people saying that they weren't able to make it today , and I appreciate that . Thank you so much for letting me know . I do have some things I'd like to talk about today , and I do want to also talk about the Freedom 46 Lenten Challenge that the Lord placed on my heart , and I'm getting it put together , working feverishly to get it put together and finished up . I think it's going to be really good and so , yeah , so I'm excited for that .

Speaker 1 3:04

So let's go ahead and start off in prayer , in the name of the Father , the Son and the Holy Spirit . Amen , good and gracious God , we love you . We thank you for this time , we thank you for your mercy and we thank you for those gifts that you have given us by virtue of our baptism . Thank you for the graces that you pour into us each and every day , that you pour into us as we receive the sacraments , when we go to mass , when we partake in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Eucharist , and all of those ways that you just love us and pour into us . Lord , we thank you for that . Thank you for those tangible reminders of your love and your care . Just ask , lord , that you be with each and every woman who is listening today , who's watching this replay or listening to it . Just ask , lord , that you be with each and every woman who is listening today , who's watching this replay or listening to it . Just pray , lord , that you speak life into her heart , speak your love and your words into her , so that she can just feel tangibly , feel your comfort , your peace , all of those wonderful fruits of the Spirit , because they are consolations that will help us continue to move forward . We just ask your protection and care over ourselves , over families , communities , church and our world , and we ask this in Jesus' name , amen , in the name of the Father , son , holy Spirit , amen .

Speaker 1 4:49

Okay , so I had a call earlier with someone and you know we were talking about identity and one of the things that . So , when I got sober , when I realized that alcohol and I were not a good mix , that I wouldn't be able to drink or moderate anymore if I wanted to live the kind of life that I desired , that desire that God had placed on my heart , I did go to AA . I went to Alcoholics Anonymous and I went for two years and I'm thankful for it . I learned a lot there . I met some great people , I was encouraged . There were things that happened that led me not to be there anymore and want to not to be there anymore , but one of the main things that I had trouble with , as did the woman that I was speaking to , was identity like having to continually identify ourselves as alcoholics , even when you have years and years and years of sobriety . When you go into an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting , they don't want you to say I'm a recovered alcoholic or I'm a recovering alcoholic . They want you to say I'm Christy and I'm an alcoholic .

Speaker 1 6:14

It was really difficult for me because I felt like I was speaking that over myself continually and even though my faith wasn't strong , I was nominal at best , but I knew the Lord loved me . I just knew that there was something more for me and that that I wasn't that like maybe I was other things , but I wasn't that anymore and fast forward through my recovery , many years of recovery , and coming back to the Catholic church , my reversion back into the Catholic church . The thing that has been so transformative for me is knowing that Jesus loves me . He sees me . He's been with me , like through my entire journey , even those days that I just felt like I had messed things up so terribly that he would never want anything to do with me again , that he was with me , he was chasing after me . I was the one that he left the 99 for in that moment .

Speaker 1 7:32

And the beauty of this community is that we are all faith-filled Christian women . Who knows that God loves us ? But we also know that we fall short time and time again . And if that's you , if you are struggling with hearing His voice , if you are struggling with that feeling of maybe you're I don't know somehow not living authentically , that maybe , for some reason , jesus isn't , is like ashamed of you or something . He's not . He's with you . Like , just close your eyes and just imagine Jesus standing behind you with his hand reached out on your shoulder . Yeah , that's how close he is to you , always , even and especially in those moments when you feel at your lowest , when you feel so tired or overwhelmed or defeated defeated . He's with you and he's asking you to lift your head to him , just to raise your eyes up to him , turn your face to him . Sometimes that's the only act that we can do in certain moments is to turn our faces to him . But that is an action of love , that's an action of trust and that's what he asks us is to trust him , to trust that we know that we are beloved daughters , that we are his and he is ours . So if you're struggling with this the very last module in the Sacred Sobriety Lab feel free to skip over to that , and it's all on identity and purpose and the love that God has for you and the heart that he has for you .

Speaker 1 10:53

I'm going to read a verse . It's of my favorite verses and I have to tell you this all the bible study I've done and just knowing how much the Lord loves me , how much I've been able to fill my mind with scripture , with the Lord's promises to help root out the lies of the enemy , nothing has quite set in or connected with me in the way that this verse has , and it's Isaiah 40 , and I'm going to read verses one through . I think it's six or seven . But what happened was a friend of mine gave me a mug and I talk about this in the video in the lab . But a friend of mine gave me a mug and I loved it , it was beautiful , and it said you are mine . And then it just said Isaiah 43 , 1 . And I didn't know what that verse was . So I went and I looked it up and when I read it I was just struck Like you know how they talk about like scripture piercing through bone and marrow , like that is what happened with this verse , and so I share it often because it's so meaningful to me and I've used it with youth , I've used it at women's retreat me , and I've used it with youth .

Speaker 1 12:18

I've used it at women's retreats , I've used it at talks and every time just to see people's faces as I read it and as they really start to think about it , is just a gift and it's the Holy Spirit working in them . So just why don't you just stop and just close your eyes and let me read this passage to you , this scripture to you ? But now , thus says the Lord who created you , jacob , and formed you Israel . Do not fear Jacob and formed you Israel . Do not fear , for I have redeemed you . I have called you by name . You are mine . When you pass through waters , I will be with you Through rivers . You shall not be swept away . When you walk through fire , you shall not be burned , nor will flames consume . You shall not be burned , nor will flames consume you , for I , the Lord , am your God , the Holy One of Israel , your Savior . I give Egypt as ransom for you , ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you , because you are precious in my eyes and honored , and I love you . I give people in return for you and nations in exchange for your life . Fear not , for I am with you . From the east , I will bring back your offspring From the west , I will gather you . I will say to the north , give them up , and to the south , do not hold them . Bring back my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth .

Speaker 1 14:02

And I just love it because in that first verse , that very first verse , there are five things that the Lord tells us that he created and formed us . He tells us not to fear . Do not fear , for I have redeemed you . He redeems us , no matter what we do , where we go , how far off the beaten path we are , how many times we have to take our sins to reconciliation . He has redeemed us and he has called you by name . You are his and I would add that he is yours . So it's not , as our society always tells us , like know who you are , find out who you are , find out who you are , yes , but it's more important to know who you are , because of whose you are . That's your identity . True identity is rooted in the fact that we are the lords , that we belong to the Lord by virtue of our baptism . We're His and he is ours . The other encouraging words from the Lord that I love is that you know when he's saying you can pass . When you pass through waters , I will be with you . Through rivers , you will not be swept away . When you walk through fire . You shall not be burned , nor will flames consume you .

Speaker 1 15:41

Sometimes we feel just this heaviness like will this suffering end the situation work out ? Will you know ? X , y , z ? Whatever it is , it may not always turn out the way that we wanted it to , it may not turn out the way we planned , but God redeems it all , he is in it all and he uses it all for our good . And that is where you know , when you see those people who are engulfed in immense suffering and they can have this joy , this peace , and you're like where did that come from ? It comes from the Lord , and you could have that too , and you could have that too . And so one of the ways that we do that is again , by reading scripture , by knowing and seeking God's heart . For for us , like asking the Lord daily , how do you see me ? Do you see me ? If you think he sees anything other than how beautiful you are , how much he loves you , your goodness , your efforts . If you see anything other than that

Coach Christi Walker’s Personal Journey

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, then that is not from God , because what is from God is going to be encouraging , loving , merciful , kind , compassionate , empathetic . Anything else is coming either from us or from the enemy . And when we are doing his work , that's when the enemy wants to attack us most .

Speaker 1 17:40

Now I could tell you a story . So I was many years sober . My husband and I were married . He was going through RCIA and I was growing in faith because my husband was going through RCIA and , of course , I couldn't let him be a better Catholic than me or know more than me , because I had been a lifelong Catholic and went to Catholic school and all those things , and so I was really diving in to the whys of our Catholic faith . I was constantly trying to catechize myself , watching EWTN , listening to Catholic radio , I was listening to Catholic Answers , like constantly , and I have never been well , I won't say never , but I was being attacked a lot and it was a really hard time , but it got to the point where I was actually having panic attacks , panic attacks , and I have never , despite how much anxiety I have felt in my life , had never , ever , ever had a panic attack and it was for all of you who've had them , you know very scary . I ended up in the emergency room because I thought I was having a heart attack and I wasn't , and I kept thinking there was something wrong with me . I went to doctor after doctor and finally I went to another doctor and she diagnosed me as having panic attacks . And it was at this time as my husband and I were moving toward God . We were finally attending mass regularly , we were getting ready to put our boys in Catholic school , we were getting our marriage convalidated because we hadn't been married in the church . So we were having it convalidated , which is sacramentalized . We were doing all these really good things and yet it was like we were being attacked from every side .

Speaker 1 19:42

So as you are moving through your efforts to reduce or eliminate alcohol and if that is a stronghold that the enemy has been able to use on you , you may face some resistance , you may face some extra chaos coming at you , because what happens is that prevents you from wanting to continue not to drink or to continue your efforts , because you're feeling so defeated . And that's when the enemy strikes . So he'll tempt us to sin and say no , you need this , you deserve this . You're never going to get it , so you might as well just have it . Whatever tactic he uses to entice us or seduce us or encourage us to that vice , whatever it is , whether it's alcohol or something else , as soon as we are taking it . Then he pummels us with shame and condemnation and all of these things and it just increases our anxiety and everything else and makes us feel worse . And then it's really easy to get stuck in the shame cycle of drinking and then you know feeling the effects of that . Then the buzz wears off , then you feel shame and then you drink again because of that and it's just like this vicious cycle .

Speaker 1 21:25

But what is so helpful is recognizing either that voice is from you or somebody who has said mean things to you or discouraging things to you in the past , or it's coming from the enemy , and the enemy wants to keep us from doing the will of God . The enemy wants to keep us from being the women that the Lord wants us to be . And so you guys , I didn't prepare any of this . So hopefully , this whole like making sense and everything , I just feel like the Holy Spirit just in me and wanting you to know this . But the Lord loves you . He knows that you can do anything that you set your mind to . If it's within his will , he will empower you and encourage you and help move you forward , but at the same time he won't force it . He needs your cooperation . So we have to cooperation with his grace . We have to cooperate with those gifts that we've been given , whether that is the gifts of the Holy Spirit or our charisms . He loves you so much and he knows what you are capable of . He knows that you are capable of breaking free from the chaos that alcohol is causing you .

Speaker 1 23:05

So , whether that again is reducing or eliminating alcohol , and if you're in that part where you're trying to see if moderation is going to work for you , that's fine . Like you're trying , you're seeing if it's going to be something that you can do and you may have to try some different things . Like , is it that you can have it , you know , three times a week ? Is it that maybe it's only a glass of wine or two on the weekends , maybe it's only during special celebrations ? You have to kind of try these things out before you get to the point where you're like , okay , this is it . This is where I feel good . And then there's those of us that where I feel good . And then there's those of us that you know , we've tried moderating .

Speaker 1 24:08

I tried moderating and it was nothing doing for me , like it was . It would even if I was able to do it , which I don't know if I would even be able to do it , it would take so much energy and restraint and planning to be able to do that that it would not be worth it to me . Because being free and having peace , whether you take alcohol or leave it , means that you're not having that anxiety of having to plan it and think about it and all of that , yes , in the beginning that is something that we have to do . That's why I say you know , plan your evenings , plan before events , all of those things , but eventually you won't have to do that In the beginning . That's how it is .

Speaker 1 24:56

But for moderation , if I had to try to moderate , or other clients that I have who choose not to drink , who have discerned that moderating is just too super difficult . Even if they can do it , it just takes so much thought and so much energy that they're not experiencing the clarity and peace that they desire . Then you know and maybe not drink . But here's the thing even if you discern not drinking , you don't have to say forever . You don't have to say I'm never having alcohol again . Unless it's a problem for you , like for me , I say never again , like I will never have alcohol , but I was in a different place than a lot of you are . So all that to say that was kind of rambly . I apologize , but I hope that you got out of it what the Lord desired you to get out of it , out of it , what the Lord desired you to get out of it .

Speaker 1 26:02

And one more thing on identity it's in the lab as well , and I've talked about it in other programs . That I've done is to have some scripture handy that you can make declarations out of . And so we've all heard of affirmations like I am beautiful , I am smart , I am this , I am that , and you know . If affirmations are for you , that's you know . Then you can use those . But declarations are different , because declarations is speaking God's truth over you , god's truth over you . You are actually imparting grace , opening up those channels for God to pour forth his grace as you speak , his words , his truth over you . So declarations , you can use any scripture that you love .

Speaker 1 26:53

And if we were going to take Isaiah 43 as an example , I would say I declare that I will not fear because God is with me , or I declare that the Lord is mine and I am his , and you don't even have to say I declare Some people like to , some people don't . But even just speaking that scripture , like when I pass through waters , the Lord will be with me . When I go through rivers , I will not be swept away because the Lord is with me . So just doing that can be so beneficial , because what you are doing when you do that is to root out those lies of the enemy and then you're filling that space with truth , or you're just filling space with truth so that you can repel those lies . So when the enemy comes at you and says you're never going to be good enough or you know you're too far gone , you can say the Lord has redeemed me , he is mine and I am his , and then that repels that lie . So I would encourage you to practice that . Maybe write down 10 to 20 of your favorite Bible verses and figure out how you can speak that over yourself and have them handy so that when you do feel that attack or you do feel that lie come up , you can speak that over yourself and know that that is truth . That is truth with a capital T , because it is the Lord's truth . So I hope that that is helpful challenge .

Speaker 1 28:58

I actually wasn't going to really do a Lenten challenge . I just thought we would kind of work on that , you know like coach through Lent in our weekly coaching calls , and that you guys would be working through the lab . But the Lord just kind of placed on my heart that there might be some other women who would like to join us , and maybe not for the whole lab , but maybe they would like to join us for Lent and find freedom or , you know , kickstart their freedom journey during the 46 days of Lent . And because Lent is such a sacred time , I just feel like we have all those graces . I love Lent . It's really my favorite time of the year . I just feel so close to Jesus during Lent and I know that I can do anything that I set my mind to if it's ordered toward him and ordered toward a sacrifice that I am giving up because I love the Lord so much . And so I just felt like I needed to do this . And so whether I don't know if we'll have anyone join us , if not , it'll just be us doing the Freedom 46 together , but maybe we'll have some other sisters that join us .

Speaker 1 30:18

I'll have like a reflection or something to do each day for 46 days . And yes , it's 46 days , because I'd really like to do it even on Sundays . So my invitation I know that when we do Lent , we don't have to do Lenten sacrifices on Sundays because it's a feast day . I don't usually adhere to that for all of my sacrifices , because there are some that I just want to do through the whole Lenten season . For example , I'm going to be doing an elimination diet through Lent you might be too , so I'm going to give up flour and sugar and dairy and alcohol is one of them , but I can ace that one and then . But the other ones are going to be super hard . So pray for me , but I'll do it as my sacrifice and I will do it for the whole of Lent . Like I won't partake in any of those things on Sundays , but there will be other things , like if I'm not watching TV or screens or something like that , I may do that on Sundays for my feast day . So it'll be 46 days .

Speaker 1 31:36

I have something special for Holy Week as well , and then I'm also inviting anyone who signs up for Freedom 46 to also join us for our group coaching calls and in the Sacred Sobriety Society in our community , the only thing they won't have access to during that 46 days is the course , is the actual lab course , and then at the end they will be invited to join the lab if they want , and of course , I would deduct the amount that they're paying for the challenge from the lab price . You guys , I'm just as members of the Sacred Sobriety Lab . You're going to have access to anything I create . So if you see something about it , you're not going to have to sign up for it . You're not going to have to do anything . I'm just going to automatically add you to the Freedom 46 . So you don't have to do anything . I will be opening it up . This Sunday will be the first week .

Speaker 1 32:38

So , anyway , this was something that I needed to talk about and use to encourage you with , and so I really hope that it has been a blessing for you and I guess I will talk to you next Friday and if anything comes up , feel free to email me or put it in the chat in our community and I will be happy to answer it . So God bless you . Well , that does it for this episode of the Catholic Sobriety Podcast . I hope you enjoyed this episode and I would invite you to share it with a friend who might also get value from it as well , and make sure you subscribe so you don't miss a thing . I am the Catholic sobriety coach , and if you would like to learn how to

Importance of Our Identity in Christ

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work with me or learn more about the coaching that I offer , visit my website , thecatholicsobrietycoachcom . Follow me on Instagram at the Catholic Sobriety Coach . I look forward to speaking to you next time , and remember I am here for you , I am praying for you . You are not alone .