Alateen coordinator

Okay, so I'm guilty of mostly writing this while at work. I have definitely over committed myself, but I'm working on it!

I handed off the info I had to our new District 5 Alateen Coordinator, Melanie F., today.  Hurray!    I'm thrilled to have Melanie on board.  She and I had lunch and it was so wonderful to share with someone what needs to be done to get our AMIIAS all up to date as well as some other concerns that we might want to discuss and further address in our District 5 Alateen/AMIIAS Guidelines.

If you are interested in Alateen, we would love for you to contact us and start the ball rolling on you receiving your AMIIAS certification. 

We had a big public outreach effort on 9/18, but I haven't had a chance to connect with Heather to hear all the details.  I'm sure it went really well.

Also, the Courage to Change Workshops held this past Saturday 9/25 were great.  150 people in attendance!  This is fantastic and shows what one AFG can do when they put their minds and talents together.

Okay, so I'm off to physical therapy for the knee and then to pottery class.  I have God boxes to make and Christmas presents and both will be due before I know it.

Hugs to you all!  (my sponsor says we all need 6 a day to grow)
Angela B.

Service - those who came before us

Well, you should have guessed I would get around to this topic eventually!

I had this really great thought about service early this morning and I should have written it down.  Maybe it will come to me while I'm writing this.  In a nutshell, service is one of the three Legacies of Al-Anon.  Without service our organization would not continue.  Service comes in so many varied forms, but one of the most important is the continued involvement of those who have completed the steps and gone before us.

This service, by those who have completed the steps, allows newcomers to see what the program can do for them.  Their service can be as simple as continuing to attend meetings regularly, or as complex as volunteering to serve at the District, Area or WSO level, or becoming a sponsor.  Without the service of those who came before us, we would not have our wonderful Al-Anon and Alateen programs to turn to.

So, I would ask that any of you who are reading this remember this topic and perhaps bring it up in your meetings if you have the opportunity.  Read from the Service Manual or from our literature, discuss your thoughts about service (big or small), and remind all of our fellowship that those who have worked the steps have the responsibility to continue their program by offering their experience, strength and hope to those who entered the program after them.

Happy Monday everyone.  Wish for some rain for me here, will you?  We could use it.
Angela B.

rambling thoughts

I've no particular thought on my mind today, so this will be a bit of this and a bit of that.

Saw a very good program friend over the weekend. She went to her first Area World Service Committee meeting. Lots of questions from her on the way home about our organization/structure. It really can be quite overwhelming. I highly recommend looking at the org chart on page 157 of the Service Manual. You can even look at it on online. The service manual is accessed through the members website at http://www.al-anon.org/members/
The service manual part you want is at http://www.al-anon.org/members/pdf/p2427/P2427_115_162.pdf.

It probably doesn't help that we can so easily fall into acronym use too, plus the identification of "Alternate" positions.

Work for me has been going along pretty well and busy, so no complaints on that front. Pottery class is starting again tomorrow night so I'm looking forward to that.

I finished Step 3 and just need to review it with my sponsor now. Did I mention that before? :-)
It is funny because the program friend I saw over the weekend, showed up with her Paths To Recovery book and was going to have me answer questions on the way to the meeting in Burlington. She had no idea I had been working the steps and yet I could swear I had told her!

My oldest niece is turning 15 in a couple of weeks. I'm feeling like an old fogie and I'm only 42! I remember holding her in my arms like it was yesterday. geez, where does the time go?

I'm looking forward to my meeting tonight. I miss my home group folks and I'm sad to say I didn't make it to any of my usual 3 meetings last week. That makes for a not good Angela B.

Well, it is time for me to duck out of here and head to that meeting. It is such a part of my Monday night schedule that it really does throw me all out of whack when I miss it.

Hugs to you all! (my sponsor says you need 6/day to grow!)
Angela B.

Sponsorship - more thoughts

I read today's reading in Hope For Today this morning. It was about sponsorship and how that role plays out in our recovery. Lately I have been turning more to my service sponsor than my program sponsor (although they are actually the same person in my case). My service sponsor helps me with questions I have about the position of District Representative, about questions the fellowship poses to me that I have no idea how to answer, and many other things about Al-Anon.

Every time I'm amazed at how happily she takes my call or reads my email and provides me with thoughtful feedback.

I have also called on the previous DR many times to answer my questions or get history about a particular issue. He too always answers my call or responds to my email.

I'm gearing up for the next Area World Service Committee meeting which is tomorrow. A friend who lives in District 1 will be coming along as their Alternate DR. It will be her first AWSC meeting and hopefully I'll be able to do as her friend what my service sponsors have done for me - answer her questions and encourage her service work tomorrow.

Take care everybody.
Angela B.

long weekend

Hi all,
Well it feels like a Monday here after the long holiday weekend.

I traveled to see my sister so I missed my Friday, Saturday and Monday night meetings. I'm already looking forward to this Friday night meeting. Then I have an Area World Service Committee meeting on Saturday in Burlington. Before I know it half of September will be over.

So a long weekend spent with family is fraught with the opportunity to slip into old habits, as you might imagine. For the most part I didn't find myself doing those things. Part of it may be my sister's fiancée. Wow what an influence he has been on her. So calm and just doesn't let her temper tantrums (over the little things) get to him. So, consequently she doesn't seem to have those temper tantrums over the little things.

He does play in a band and so I do see both of them drinking quite a bit, but they aren't doing it every day so I'm leaving it be. He holds a real job too and drives over an hour each way to work, so he must love my sister to do that.

My one desire to slip into my old habits of offering my opinions and advice occurred Sunday night. She got into it with her soon to be stepson. She felt he lied to her about who drank the last diet Mt. Dew in the fridge. Whether he did or not I don't know. But I stayed out of it, so good for me and my program.

Okay, off to work now. Meetings all day today.

Yours in service,
Angela B.

A request for info on sponsorship

I had a request from someone to share about finding a sponsor.

I can tell you my story about a sponsor. I found my first sponsor during my first year in the program and we had a lot in common. However, I wasn't ready for the committment. Especially her request to call her every day. I felt like I was interrupting because she had a family and kids to tend to. When I finally decided I needed a sponsor and I had to make this committment to my program, she was unable to continue as my sponsor.

So I began to search. I settled on someone who regularly attended one of the meetings I did. Then, as soon as I made up my mind to ask her, she stopped showing up at the meeting. Okay HP, I'm listening!!

So, I decided I might need to broaden my search pool and tried a new meeting. The Queen City Friday night meeting. I had heard lots of good things about this meeting. Well, that first night when I walked in, the woman who greeted me was someone I had met at the previous Winter Round Up. I didn't remember her name, but what I remembered was that she came into one of the same sessions at Winter Round Up, gave everyone a hug (whether she knew us or not), and stated "You need 6 hugs a day to grow!" She was just this vibrant person who immediately made an impact on me. So when I walked into QC Friday night and there she was I though "Okay, HP, I'm paying attention!"

So I asked her after that meeting if she would be my sponsor. She is both my program sponsor and my service sponsor.

I have actually finished Step 3 and I'm about to embark on the journey of Step 4.

Finding your sponsor and establishing a relationship is a journey, just like every part of this program. I asked a few others before widening my search pool and finding my sponsor. It just wasn't the right time for them. It wasn't about them not liking me! Sponsorship is about establishing a new relationship of trust and communication. No hurt feelings, no old resentments, none of the old patterns we know oh so well. Enjoy finding your sponsor. You never know who you will meet along the way!

Yours in service,
Angela B.