The Recovery Pastor Podcast

Controlled Chaos is hard to understand at first.  Think of it as someone who starts a problem.  They watch it grow.  It becomes a dangerous situation.  They run in to help solve the problem when they actually started it.  They do this because it is easier to deal with the issues in the lives of others instead of dealing with their own issues.  It is easy to become mad but we need to pray for them...

Every day is filled with routines that make up our game plan to conquer the day.  These routines occur without us having to put much thought into them.  What if our Spiritual game plan could occur without putting to much thought into it?  What if it was so routine that we followed God's game plan for our life without any doubt?  At the end of the day, do you feel like you were able to conquer the...

We all have homes to maintain.  It does not matter if we are renting our dwelling space or purchasing our dwelling space.  We must do home repairs and maintenance to keep our dwelling place in a livable condition.  The definition of maintenance is the process of maintaining or preserving someone or something or the state of being maintained.  The same goes for our Spiritual dwelling place.  We mus...

Self-care is a regular and intentional process of devoting time to yourself to protect and sustain your all-round well being.  We must take time daily, weekly, and monthly to check on our well being as it applies to ourselves, our families, and our community. Special thank you to Steve Strange, the Senior Pastor at Trussville First UMC, and David Teal, the Executive Pastor at Trussville First UMC,...

Disruptions occur all around us.  Some we see quickly.  Some we notice after it has happened.  Some we never see.  In crisis situations, we must manage our disruptions and boundaries while heading toward a positive outcome in our lives and recovery. Special thank you to Steve Strange, the Senior Pastor at Trussville First UMC, and David Teal, the Executive Pastor at Trussville First UMC, for offer...

Thank you for the encouraging words as they related to the different episodes.  Thank you for your topic suggestions.  Thank you for reaching out with this question.  Why start a podcast?  You asked so here goes.   If you have a question or topic suggestion, please send your email to pastor.shankay@gmail.com or you can go to recoverypastorpodcast.com and submit your question there.  Thanks again a...

What is amends?  How do we make amends?  Talk is cheap.  Actions speak louder than words.  Actions speak straight from the heart.  Actions are the words of our heart motives.  Completing the amends step is a process.  It is not like dropping a quick "I'm sorry" as if it was a "get out of jail free" card in the game of Monopoly.  Amends is a process of things you can and cannot do.  It should be gu...

Along life's highway, sometimes our vessels go fast, go slow, and fishtail.  This journey is full of the good, the bad, and the sideways.  What does it mean to have a balanced life Spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically?  You might experience a dry season, waiting season, grinding season, a season to say yes, a season to say no, test and trial season, Spiritual warfare season, or the s...

We continue talking about TBI as it plays a role in the recovery process of those in addiction.  Pat describes the addiction disorder treatment plan for TBI survivors.  This includes 6 key components for success.  The treatment plan for TBI survivors has their own 12 steps of recovery that were adapted from the AA 12 steps for recovery.  For more information about TBI, please visit www.ahif.org to...

Today we are talking about TBI as it plays a role in the recovery process of those in addiction.  Pat is describing the different causes of TBI, the changes following a TBI, and the importance of getting an assessment in addiction recovery for a previous TBI.  For more information about TBI, please visit www.ahif.org to contact the Alabama Head Injury Foundation.   Special thank you to Pat Motley,...

If you have not met me yet, I am a very visual person.  When I see clouds moving across the sky, I think about the hand of God moving from house to house as people pray and ask for God's help.  When I see rain pouring out over a section or a community, I think of prayers going up and God pouring our mercy and grace.  It is His grace that washes away the stains of this world.  I hope you never look...

We may feel like we are physically, mentally, emotionally, or Spiritually alone.  We may walk, live, journey, or feel alone.  Hebrews 13:5 says keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have because God has said, "Never will I leave you; Never will I forsake you."  When the Light is invited into the dark places of our lives, it floods our lives so no shadow can hide....

A question was asked by a pastor to his congregation.  What is something that everyone has that we are able to clearly see in others yet rarely in ourselves?  The answer is blind spots.  Blind spots are anything that makes a negative impact on us or anyone around us.  Our Spiritual blind spots are our sin.  Our blind spots in our recovery are our character defects.  These include being stubborn, r...

Recovery is a lifestyle.  Changes need to be made at each level of recovery in order to maintain our motivation in recovery.  Here is the check list of things to watch out for as we keep striving to survive. 1. Acknowledge unhealthy patterns 2. Stay connected to your recovery support community 3. It is ok to seek mental health support 4. Give yourself some grace 5. Learn new coping skills 6. Take...

Shan and Sammy talk about the emotions that our favorite hymnals can invoke.  Today they are talking about the hymnal called Were You There. From the time of Moses when the blood of a lamb was placed on the doorpost and lintel of the house for the Lord's passover through Egypt to the Lamb of God offered as a sacrifice for our sins, Holy Week invoke strong emotions as a time of remembrace, praise,...

It only takes a split second for something to happen.  If we multiply the seconds x minutes x hours x days x weeks of each year, we have 31,449,600 seconds to impact the world around us.  Please do not waste a single second of opportunity to cause a positive ripple effect in our communities. Much Agape ev'body! Shan, the Recovery Pastor

In this game called life, we must learn from our recovery play book and our faith play book so we can reach the goal line with the help of our Sponsors and Accountability partners. Much Agape ev'body! Shan, the Recovery Pastor

Life is busy.  We need to slow down.  We need to take the time to sit with Jesus.  He will lend a shoulder for us to lean on.  He wants to carry our burdens.  Psalms 46:10 tells us to be still and know.  We must know Jesus in our hearts and our minds and He will give us rest. I want to encourage you to sit down on the next park bench you see and talk to Jesus.  He is always ready to listen.  Much...

When we follow the worlds GPS, it will only bring grief, pain and shame.  When we follow God's GPS, God's Plan for Salvation, it always brings us to and adventure, through a story, and a lesson learned.  Which GPS are you following? Much Agape ev'body! Shan, the Recovery Pastor

Shan and Scott talk about triggers and stressors in our lives. We must recognize the triggers on an emotional level and a mental level before we allow them to become physically part of our lives. We pray for your strength to rebuke the triggers in your lives before they take root and produce a relapse drift.  When we recognize the triggers, tiggers, and stressors on our journey then it is easier t...

Shan and Scott sit down to talk about relapse drift. Not just when the relapse happens, but all the things that lead up to it without your even realizing it.  Relapse drift is like a boat drifting away from the shore slowly but you have nothing to help you paddle your way back to land.  It is as if you can only watch the land move away while you feel helpless.   Special thank you to Scott Jones, o...

Matthew 5:8 says we are to openly examine and confess our faults to ourselves, to God and to someone we trust. Your heart is like a warehouse. It receives inventory. It repackages the items then it sends them back out into the world. What is in your heart warehouse?  It is time to clean out your warehouse. Much Agape ev'body! Shan, the Recovery Pastor

Here's a faith conversation between Shan and Sammy about faith, action, and generational blessings. It's our first go at - well, at something different. Since we couldn't meet this week, we took a shot at something we'd been talking about for a while. It's a work in progress, like we all are, so enjoy it in that spirit. This went a little longer than we had planned, but the conversation had such a...

Shan and Sammy talk about faith, recovery, and everyday life as they break down the short version of the Serenity Prayer... God, Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen Special thank you to Sammy Hodges, the Senior Pastor at Ashville UMC and Evergreen UMC, for offering insight on today's topic!...

As Shan and David prepared to have a faith talk about the Moral Recovery Lesson and Lamentation 3, God nudged them to talk more about the Lament process and what it looks like on a personal level, community level, and how to lean on God during our times of Lament. We hope you receive God's peace through listening to our talk. Special thank you to David Teal, the Executive Pastor at Trussville Firs...