Instead, I was humbled by the transparency of a very human, Christian man. He wore jeans, flirted with his wife (which I thought was adorable), shared about his walk with God, and openly confessed that after a long period of sobriety, bought the lie that he could have one drink. It took less than twenty-four hours for him to be reminded that he cannot. So he repented and humbly started over. And isn't that what we're supposed to do?

I've lost count of the times I've sat in church alone after one of my husband's relapses, and wished that just once someone would speak to my reality. Church pews are  full of families who long for validation and direction on not just the topic of addiction, but what to do when your loved one relapses. Today, Michael is clean and sober, but just like Josh and Katie Hamilton, we both know the importance of maintaining accountability and an intimate relationship with God.

I like Josh. I prayed for his family on the way home from church that day. Who knows, maybe I'll become a Ranger fan.

How about you? Are you accountable to someone? Are you spending time alone with God? If you're wondering what I mean when I say accountable, go back to select a category and click on Setting Boundaries.

An excerpt from Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller (Thomas Nelson 2003)

"I think every conscious person, every person who is awake to the functioning principles within his reality, has a moment where he stops blaming the problems in the world on group think, on humanity and authority, and starts to face himself. I hate this more than anything. This is the hardest principle within Christian spirituality for me to deal with. The problem is not out there; the problem is the needy beast of a thing that lives in my chest." [end excerpt]