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Hi… It is so nice to see you again. As I promised, I am meeting you here to share some of the magic secrets I have learned at Doorway to Recovery. Would you like to know what brought me there? Well, I wandered in the front door seeking some much needed direction with my then 23 year old grandson who was serving yet another prison sentence. I carefully lugged in a large cauldron of simmering, toxic emotions, known as my mind! The situation had reached a crisis level and it was slowly eroding away my emotional foundation.

The fire under this simmering pot was fueled by guilt. The guilt was constantly being stroked by inappropriate thoughts, which led to inappropriate and irrational behaviors. It finally boiled over, affecting my very being and daily existence. I was slowly being poisoned by my own thoughts and actions. I was stewing in my own juice! It was violent, sad and crippling!

Further, I was the World Champion Enabler, which I had honed into a fine art! I grew up with an alcoholic father and Grandfather, and alcoholic step-mother and stepfather, 7 of my 9 uncles were raging alcoholics and eventually my dear mother became drug addicted. Her drug of choice was Percodan! They all, every one of them, died from a direct connection to their addictions. And yes, I am unfortunately all too familiar with the blood, the guts, the mud, the tears, the beer, the fights and abuse, more martinis and lots of Percodan! These things, and worse, always keep close company with addiction.

In the middle of all this chaos and depravity, I contracted a nasty virus which left me paralyzed from the neck down. I did eventually recover, but only after months of painful and lonely rehabilitation built around the philosophy of “never give up, never quit, never say you can’t, and I can fix anything!” How about that for perfect training for a lifetime of enabling! I proved I was a star pupil… teachers pet! The clouds were gathering… the perfect storm was approaching!

Fast forward to many years later and there I was standing on the doorstep of Doorway to Recovery with a heavy load of baggage. I had showed up for the 3:00 performance of the Mark Burchell Magic Show! I was filled with elation to have found this resource as I fully expected, it would be here, that I would finally uncover the one thing that I must have overlooked that would be the magic to “fix” everything, including my grandson! I reasoned that this magic show would pull that information and instructions out of a hat, and my eternal and destructive search for a “fix” would finally end!

Needless to say, I got the shock of my life… but I was not disappointed! The magic proved to be nothing at all like what I was expecting… illusion was transformed into reality. What a relief… and one of the secrets of this magic show was how to spell “relief”… it is spelled B-I-B-L-E! Read it and live it! I also learned some of the tricks to a more balanced life… I gained my emotional eyesight back and it came with an excellent GPS system to navigate life and all the perils. I also gained a magnificent personal bonus, a gift of a lifetime, but I will share that particular information when we meet again. It is a story in and of itself!

The following is some of the magic I would like to begin to share with you, more will follow! This is just the beginning. I have found this to be of great value… it is tucked into my brain for future use! This magic appeared, seemingly out of nowhere during the magic show… abracadabra… it will work for you too!

+ Never make a decision based on guilt!

+ Never postpone joy!

+ Emphasize the part of life you can control – lifestyle and mental attitude! You can only control you!

+ Don’t do anything until you are asked, and then decide if you can do it, should you do it, and do you want to do it?

+ Love should not be crippling. Some detachment is a healthy, neutral place to be.

+ Fear and worry are not the same. Fear is put in us by God and needs to be addressed. Worry has no purpose and can be set aside. We create our own worry.

+ If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change.

+ Open your heart, unconditionally, and let Christ in! Seek and follow His word… enjoy the magic!

More magic tips will appear in our next meeting. The joy is in the seeking… the misery is in the denial!

 

Until we meet again,

 

Boom Boom LaRue

Hi, my name is Bonnie, (alias Boom Boom LaRue) and I have been wandering into a magic show every Monday for a year! It was there that I discovered all who wander are not necessarily lost! I would like to share some of this magic with you. We could meet right here, at your convenience, and share some of these secrets, tell you about the Lost and Found Department, and the magnificent gift of a lifetime that was bestowed upon me.

I understand how valuable your time is, so we will keep our time together worth your while. Brenda Dela Casa, author and blogger, once said, “Use your time wisely, even when you are alone in the space of your own mind.” Looking forward to our rendezvous. I will be here… will you?

To Whom It May Concern,

The Doorway to Recovery Program and Services is pleased to announce our new and improved sober living program. “The New Doorway to Recovery” features new homes, new administrative procedures, and most importantly our new Life Recovery Program, designed to help men and women in and out of our sober living homes achieve continued sobriety. This letter is to keep you, the in-patient substance abuse treatment providers, in the loop of what we have going on.

The Doorway to Recovery has recently opened a new women’s home in Redford, the Seminole Home, our newest addition to our women’s sober living program. This beautiful 3 bedroom home is a place where up to 5 women are able to call home, located near public transportation, many employment opportunities, two blocks from the Metro-West ALANO club, and many restaurants and shops. Currently our women’s homes are located in Redford and Livonia while our men’s homes are located in Detroit (Old Redford), Livonia, Plymouth, and Westland.

The New Doorway to Recovery’s administrative office features effective case management which monitors and tracks our participant’s progress in our sober living program. With this data, we are then able to report on our participant’s behalf to referring treatment providers, allowing for effective communication and feedback to better serve those in our sober living homes.

The most important aspect of the “New Doorway to Recovery” is our Life Recovery Program, offering several pathways to a full recovery from drugs and/or alcohol. Life Recovery’s new programs include: Back to Basics: an accelerated crash course on the twelve-steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, Life Recovery Bible Study: a comparative group that examines and discusses biblical scripture and its relation to twelve-step recovery, Weekend Retreats: monumental healing weekends for men and women who are looking for spiritual growth through the guidance of others, in a nurturing and loving environment plus many other programs that focus on healing and restoration.

We are grateful to be able to share these new programs with our local recovery community, and the treatment providers who make the process possible. Please do not hesitate to contact our office at any time should you have any questions, comments, or feedback.

 

Sincerely,

Ruben M. Carreri
Office Administrator
Intake Coordinator
248-987-2696 – Office
734-237-8171 – Mobile
[email protected] – Email

Good Monday Morning,

Mark Burchell here just with an updated piece of information about one of our former participants. I asked “C.B.” (abbreviated for confidentiality) how she has been doing since staying in our sober living home… We were very pleased to have gotten this response:

 

“This is C.B. I was in the program at Seminole in case you don’t remember I had gotten your email sorry I haven’t replied sooner. Hope things are going well for you and DTR. Just a little quick update on me… I have been working quite a bit, had two grand-babies on August 18th, bought a car, and get my license on Tuesday. Needless to say things are going pretty well I still have rough days, I believe that is called life LOL God i s good! And the promises continue to come. Still working my program and my recovery. Please tell everyone I said hi and I’m doing well. With me becoming mobile next week and as my schedule allows I hope to be able to come around some. I hope everybody is doing well as I said take care have a great day!”

 

This is truly a great check-in response, and we’re glad to be able to share that recovery works if you work it! The Doorway to Recovery is always open to you!

 

Blessings,

Mark Burchell
Founder and CEO
Substance Abuse Counselor
Family Interventionist

Doorway to Recovery has been very gifted to have a wonderful intern for the past several months helping out in the office. I asked him to help us out by writing a blog… He did a great job laying out information about Heroin and what it does. If you are a family member or loved one, make sure that you educate yourself by reading through…

 

Heroin: What is it?
Heroin is an opioid drug that is synthesized from morphine, which is naturally occurring from the seed pod of the opium poppy plant. You know, the pretty red flowers that are depicted in paintings. These pretty flowers!

As beautiful as these flowers are comes a dark and ugly side of them too. From their seed pod, people use the liquids that are extracted to produce heroin. Heroin usually comes in a white or brown powder or in a black sticky substance called “black tar heroin”.

Heroin can be smoked, snorted or injected by the user, all of which deliver the drug to the brain very rapidly. With this rapid delivery to the brain, users have a high risk of addiction, health issues and relapse if the person has quit the drug.

How Does Heroin Affect the Brain?
As soon as the heroin reaches the brain, it is immediately converted back to morphine. While in the brain, the morphine binds to molecules on the cells, which are your opioid receptors. These receptors are located all throughout your brain, body and brain stem- which control automatic processes of life, like breathing, blood pressure and heart beat.
Heroin overdoses more often than not involve the slowing down of breathing and heart rate. With breathing slowing down and heart rate dramatically slower, the brain receives less oxygen, a condition called hypoxia. Hypoxia can lead to short and long-term neurological effects, including coma, brain damage and death.

Other Health Effects of Heroin
Heroin abuse can and will lead to a number of serious health concerns. Some of which include fatal overdose, spontaneous abortion, hepatitis and HIV. To go along with that, chronic users can develop collapsed veins, heart lining and valve infections, liver and kidney disease, and pulmonary issues due to the effects on the breathing of the users.
Additionally, street heroin contains toxic additives that can clog vessels that help transport vital oxygen, nutrients and blood to the lungs, liver, kidneys and brain. All of which can cause permanent damage to these vital organs.

The use of heroin during pregnancy can lead to a wide variety of different pregnancy issues. According to drug abuse.org, low birth weight and other developmental issues can develop. Drugabuse.org also states that if the mother is regularly using the drug, the infant can be born with a physical dependency on heroin thus suffering from a condition called neonatal abstinence syndrome or NAS.

Breaking the addiction process is a tough uphill battle. A battle that is worth the fight. With recovery, you receive your normal life back and you get restored to your family, friends and most importantly, yourself.

For more information on the facts of heroin and how devastating it is, visit the following:

Drugabuse.gov
Drugpolicy.org
Drugfreeworld.org
For help visit or call the following:
1-877-751-7925
1-855-drugfree – 1-1855-378-4373
1-877-670-0564
Drugfree.org

 

 

God’s grace

The Doorway to Recovery

Worship Song: “Grace on top of grace” by Fellowship Creative http://youtu.be/YdNZzWM0vac

 

Definition of grace (verb): to honor or credit to (someone or something) by one’s presence

 

Thinking point

What has God done with me that he could I could have never done by myself?

 

To anyone who has seen the immeasurable power of Christ in their lives, knows the immense grace that God had given to the world by sending his son Jesus. He lived as a perfect, sinless man, yet he died the death of a sinner. Remember one of the most well known bible verses:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” - John 3:16 (NIV)

Talk about grace, a holy God who became flesh to save His people from their sins! By the very definition of grace, we have been graced by God’s presence in our daily lives since that Holy night in Bethlehem. Jesus is our advocate to the Father. Check out what the bible says…

“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” - 1 John 2:1 (NIV)

In order for this to fully work, we must accept and acknowledge the presence of God, and not just in private. While God may be the only one able to read into the true intentions of our hearts, Jesus, our advocate, is pretty clear on what the “terms and conditions” are for receiving Jesus as an advocate, look at what Jesus said in the book of Matthew:

“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.” - Matthew 10:32-33(NIV)

It’s pretty simple, acknowledge Jesus to others, and He will advocate for us to God, that when we sin, which trust me, we will all sin; your pastor, your parents, your children, everybody (thanks to the sin nature brought about in the garden of Eden by Adam and Eve); we have God’s only son standing and working to help us. Jesus knew what it was like to be tempted by sin, and to not fall to sin, where we have failed. Yet though our advocate, we experience grace, never ending grace.

God is an awesome God who loves us, shows us daily grace, and helps us overcome the world, including the hurts, habits,and hang ups that we occasionally struggle with. I am very grateful for the grace that has been bestowed upon myself and my brothers and sisters in Christ.

If you are suffering through an addiction, or have had your live affected by someone with an addiction, take the next step. Turn to the almighty God. Give your life to Christ so you may find healing from these hurts, habits, and hang ups. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and if you are looking for a change in your life, try aligning your life to that of the Creators.

“The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death.” – Proverbs 14:27 (NIV)

 

Doorway to Recovery is now a faith based program. While we do not force anybody to believe anything, but we promote healing and recovery through the power of Jesus Christ, and encourage and love others the way Christ instructs us to love each other. With that being said, I would like to talk today about Ephesians 5:18, which definitely offers a straightforward solution to those struggling with alcoholism. Let’s take a look at what exactly it says…

“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,”
Ephesians 5:18
N.A.S.B.
(OTHER TRANSLATIONS)

Before we get into this, let’s get ourselves into the context of Ephesians. Paul is in prison, sometime between 60-62 A.D. This book was written to encourage believers to walk the walk that Christians are called to walk…

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”
Ephesians 5:1-2

Imitators of God… What is so special about this? I can certainly remember a time when I was an imitator of man… in all man’s sinful ways. Sin had an appeal to it, and I was hooked. That is before God’s great grace came into my life and rescued me from that past life. I am not saying that I’m not tempted to imitate man, nor am I saying that I do not attempt to do so from time to time, but what I am saying is that I know the difference today. Paul Continues to go deeper into this topic:

“But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”
Ephesians 5:3-5

Ouch! That really hits hard! Paul really convicts when he writes! God is truly our redeemer and how many times have we done, said, or acted things that do not show God’s presence in us? I am not speaking for anyone else but myself, but I do have a feeling that I’m not the only one who feels this way.

“Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are the Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.”
Ephesians 5:7-13

It just keeps convicting me, in myself, and in the process of helping others through their recovery journey. Quite often men and women who have been living in active addictions do things that are described as “unfruitful deeds of darkness” Ephesians 5:11 It is our job, first as Christians, but secondly as family, friends, and of course mentors, to expose these activities that are a hindrance not only to life itself, but the whole recovery process as well. Recovery is a process that is thoroughly honest, and quite often deeds that are done by people in recovery are not thoroughly honest or righteous, and it is right for them to be brought to the surface, or to have a light shined on them.

Let’s get back to the central point of this blog…

“Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.”
Ephesians 5:15-21

Wow, those verses sum up the mission of Doorway to Recovery, and sum up the recovery process in general. “Be careful how you walk” Ephesians 5:15 is similar to step 10 - continuing to take personal inventory, “…the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:16 reminds me why Doorway to Recovery takes an active stance on keeping individuals busy, through work search, volunteering, and other activities; the days are truly evil, and it’s best to be occupied than to get caught victim of them. And the most recovery focused verse says, “… do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,” Ephesians 5:18, and this is really straight forward that you may be filled with either wine (in the aspect of drunkenness) or with the Spirit, so why choose the one that takes away from your life… Choose the one that fills your life and brings good fruit.

Thank you very much for reading this. If you have any comments, you are invited to do so below. From Doorway to Recovery’s Office in Farmington Hills, MI, have a blessed day everybody!

Hello everyone,

I hope that everyone had a blessed and safe holiday and that your wishes and blessings were plentiful. In the near future I am going to be announcing some new things happening at Doorway to Recovery, but for now, let’s recap 2015:

• We had 4 spiritual meetings with an attendance of 150 or more
• Over 50 people rededicated their lives to Christ at Doorway to Recovery, and this we give all glory to God
• Field trips to Tigers Baseball Game, Detroit Red Wings, canoe/picnic trips, bowling, were just a few of the outside activities that people in addictions were able to attend and stay sober during the events and have some good fun in recovery, while being participants and residents at Doorway to Recovery… Along with their families!
• 2015 was the lowest relapse percentage in the entire time that Doorway to Recovery has been in existence, showing that our new Life Recovery Program (link) along with our Relapse Prevention Recovery Program is working. I will tell you a little more about Life Recovery in a future blog
• Doorway to Recovery had its first silent auction fundraiser in September 2015 held at the Joy Manor in Westland. This event featured guests from all over, a live auctioneer, all to the sounds of Dr. Pocket playing in the background. It was great time for all. It was 100% successful with Doorway to Recovery raising enough funds to secure our 2^nd 15 passenger van, sponsor in new clients who are who are without income (homeless), and raise money for better furnishings in Doorway to Recovery’s sober living homes. The effort put forth by volunteers and staff of Doorway to Recovery made this event one of the best that we’ve ever had.
• Doorway to Recovery was very happy to install at it’s fall spiritual meeting, “Drop the Rock” corner at our beautiful sober living home in Westland called the Palmer House.
• At the end of the year, Doorway to Recovery Participants were able to celebrate my favorite time of the year, Christmas. Woodside Bible Church and Doorway to Recovery hosted a Christmas that was absolutely fabulous. Afterwards, clients were bussed to Woodside’s Troy campus to see a nativity scene that was nothing but spectacular. Outside arrangements, live animals, and of course the nativity scene of the Christ Manger. This event was simply outstanding, ever reminding us that the birth of Christ is the most important remembrance during the holiday season. It is the ultimate gift that we have received.
• New Years Eve was celebrated at Woodside Bible Church in Farmington Hills with our staff/residents having fun with games, food, and good fellowship, and watching the ball drop into the new year of 2016.

God blessed Doorway to Recovery and myself in 2015 with health, more wisdom, and patience. In closing, I would like to thank Christ, my savori, for forgiving a wrench like me, for being our lawyer to God, and for His grace over us. I, Mark Burchell, C.E.O. of Doorway to Recovery speak for myself and Doorway to Recovery in saying God is great, Christ is the way, and The Doorway to Recovery is always open to you.
Blessings Friends,

 

Mark Burchell

Bob was a great guy and one of the most animated people you would ever meet. His personality was very unique and outgoing and he was never afraid to share what was on his mind. Bob came to Doorway to Recovery and while he was in our program it was great to be able to see him change and grow. Bob immediately clicked with others who were in recovery around him and brought laughs to many people.

When we found out Bob had passed away, it brought the good memories of Bob to the front of all our staff’s minds…. When he came in, his no-frills attitude, his kind generous heart. Bob was a great guy and will be missed.

All of the staff at Doorway to Recovery would like to thank Shannon Hiatt and Southwest Airlines for their generous donation in memory of Bob Shepherd. These funds will be used for continuing DTR’s Life Recovery Program to be able to reach more people like Bob and help get them out of the grips of addiction.

Thank you again.

This past weekend, some of the Men from The Doorway to Recovery took a trip to Timber Wolf Lake for Woodside Bible Church’s Men’s Retreat. The annual Woodside Men’s Retreat was an amazing trip filled with great times and even better people. Check out some of the pictures below.

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