I want to try and
wrap some of this up.
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I love what Rhonda was saying
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that she had a
balloon that she put together.
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She put every single thing
that she was carrying for many
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years on that balloon.
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It was her visual, I am
going to write it out and try to
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think of everything.
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If you have a balloon, get
a helium balloon and do this.
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Every single thing from
the time you were a little kid,
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as a little kid I can remember
carrying so much and I took
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that into my early
teens and into my adulthood.
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Definitely into my addictions.
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Write them out and then
she said she held it up.
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Held the rock up first, I love
this, and when her hand got so
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tired she could no longer hold
that up, releases the balloon
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and watches it
rise up to heaven.
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That was her indication
that she did let go and let God.
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So in this part of our recovery
that is going to be a really
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big thing is that I am so
going to take every single thing
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that I have been carrying,
everything single thing that I
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have been trying to
get self-help books about,
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everything that I have
been trying to white-knuckle,
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everything that I have been
trying to hide from everyone
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that I love, they all know it.
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Just say to God,
finally I am done.
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The stuff that is in my pocket
I no longer am going to carry.
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The stuff that I have been
trying to figure out or behave
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about I am no longer
going to be able to carry.
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What is really hard for a
lot of us is that we can change
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our behaviors for some time.
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Some people can change a
negative behavior for years
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before they realize that
they still have it there.
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It is growing and
has mold around it.
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God says, don't even keep
it there, surrender it to Me.
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It is not about changed behavior
it is about getting to the
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point where I absolutely can
surrender to God all my stuff.
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All my defects good and bad.
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I am just going to give You
everything and then I am going
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to ask You, maybe for
the first time, who am I?
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Who are You?
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When we get to that point God
says not only can I come in and
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show you, because you
know what I found out with God?
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It is He is crazy about me,
He absolutely, it was like Cheri
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I love you and He is
saying that to you too.
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I love you, I know who you are.
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I know when you laugh
outside of all this junk.
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When you finally get a
break from desperately seeking
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relationships to
fill that emptiness.
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When you get a break
from that you are Okay.
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I'm thinking, can
You write that down?
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He says, I have.
Actually in the Bible He has.
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We are okay, but He says when
you surrender all that to Me
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I will literally will come
in and show you who you are.
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I will free you of your
addictions, I will free you of
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that stuff, but more than that
I will actually bless you with
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who you are. You
will laugh out loud.
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You will be able to be a
blessing to all those around you
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When you walk into the room
you can start to see when other
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people are in
trouble and help them.
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I think it is
absolutely amazing.
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