A requirement when you move into Phase 3 of the Dallas 24-Hour Club recovery program is a weekly “service commitment.” 

What that means is doing something within the community to help others in need each week. Be that feeding the homeless, chairing 12-step recovery meetings, raising money for charitable organizations, etc. 

Sometimes it’s not easy to get that done every week even for the best of us because life gets in the way. But it’s always worth it and makes you feel really good when you just gut it up and do it. Sometimes you even get rewarded in the most amazing ways. 

For me, today was one of those days when I really didn’t feel like doing my service work, chairing a 12-step prayer/meditation meeting at the 24-Hour Club at 7 a.m. every Wednesday morning. I was tired and it was threatening rain and this was my first day off from work after working all weekend, Monday and Tuesday. 

But those are really not very good excuses and a commitment is a commitment so I got my tired ass out of bed and made my way over to the club to honor it. Luckily the rain held off during the short 10-minute walk over. 

The meeting went really well and I believe the addicts seeking help that were there got some good spiritual healing out of what was read and shared to start their days. It helped me personally as well because it reminded me (as it does every week) of where I could go back to if I don’t continue to do the work to stay clean, sober, and connected to God. 

When the meeting ended it was raining so I had to wait out the rain. I did a few housekeeping tasks I do after every meeting and then went and caught up a little with the 24-Hour Club staff. Then I hung out in the Hubcap Cafe the rest of the time while the rain passed. 

There was a man in there with a laptop that I didn’t recognize. It turns out he represents Parkland Hospital to help members of the club with health problems. I have an eye appointment to do a Pre-Op for cataract surgery through Parkland on May 19th and have had some anxiety and questions about it. He was happy to answer all the questions I had and even gave me some valuable information in terms of getting the financing I need to get the surgery done so I can see clearly again. YES! Talk about a Godsend! 

Had I decided to just blow off my service commitment today, or had it not started raining, or had I brought an umbrella… none of that would have transpired. Everything just fell into place and I was rewarded for doing the right thing by going over and chairing the meeting. God is so good! 

Peace and love. 🙏