Celebrate Recovery for Kids

I'm writing a new resource that I'm very excited about--it's Celebrate Recovery for Kids, and it should be available this August.

When I first started considering freelancing this project, I was unsure. I haven't freelanced since my first husband's death. I just haven't had it in me. And, even now, I'm not sure I have it in me. (Pray for discipline!)

But I sensed that God was calling me to this project. And the fact that I am an adult child of an alcoholic, I figured that God wanted me to also walk through the 12 steps in the program. I have been ministered to by the principles in Celebrate Recovery (CR) already.

The other thing I find so amazing, though, is that God can take all the pain that I experienced as a child and transform it into helping children whose parents have hurts, habits, and hangups. That's very cool of God! And, like John Baker's dream, God can take a resource like this and help children avoid the patterns of hurts, habits, and hangups. That's very cool of God, too!

I remember so many times as a child praying and asking God to help my dad stop drinking. That prayer was finally answered in my dad's 70's...kind of. So the fact is that regular Sunday school lessons about "God answers prayer" just fall short of what a child in a situation like this faces. Children like me need something different...and I think CR for Kids will provide it. I'm eager to work with the CR folks to create something that'll help children continue to cry out to God--even when their parents' pain may be too deep for quick answers.

I love what John (founder of CR) said when we met with him months ago. "We've translated CR into nine languages; we need you to translate it into 'child.' " I am a translator.

Comments

[Larry Shallenberger]

Congrats, Chris!

Keep us posted.

[Dave Truitt]

WOW, we started CR in our church 1 1/2 years ago and it has been such a blessing! It has touched many lives and our CR team is amazing. I'm excited to see what material you create for kids going thru these rough times.

[Adam]

Christine:

This is huge. I'll be praying for you, for that discipline to see this incredible work completed.

-Adam

[Chris Yount Jones]

Let me know if you have any ideas of what kids in CR need! We're talking to CR folks and getting great insights, but we can always keep learning about best practices!

[Kathryn]

Hi Christine,

I'm so excited that you are working on this project! I, too, am an adult child of an alcoholic. (I did a paper in college about some of the effects). I, too, prayed for dad constantly. I am SOOO grateful, though, that God took me under his wing and became my DADDY! Through the help of some awesome youth leaders in my church, I really learned to love and trust God and find my value in Him - despite of what was going on in my world.

Now I'm a children's ministry director, where God is allowing me to share what He did in me with others!

Oh, and i'll friend you on fb.

[Kathy Oyama]

Christine,

My husband and I are the coordinators for Celebrate Recovery and Purpose Driven in Japan. Recently, several people have asked us about CR materials for children. Please let us know about your materials. We would be interested in looking at them with an eye to translating them and publishing them in Japanese.

[Chris Yount Jones]

Kathy,
What a great ministry! If you could translate this into Japanese, that would be amazing! When John Baker asked us to do this with them, he said, "This has been translated into nine languages; we need you to translate it into CHILD." Now you can translate child into Japanese! Keep me posted...and check it out at celebrationstation.group.com

God bless you!

[Kimberly Jarman]

yeah, I'd be interested in seeing your material. I am feeling led to begin Celebrate Recovery for kids in my church too. I work with alot of woman in recovery and their kids have so many issues, yet there are not any meetings for them and they need it too.