Hurts, Hang-Ups, and Habits: An Introduction to Celebrate Recovery

While I was incarcerated one of the programs offered by the chaplain was an introductory course on Celebrate Recovery.  There was an AA program at the prison, and I knew a lot of guys who attended because they always had a coffee urn, but CR was different.  I had recently read Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life book and was looking for concrete information on healing. The old expression says “Time heals all wounds,” but mine weren’t.  I was in pain; my hurt wasn’t going away.  I was looking for a faith-based program that could provide me with an actionable process to systematically address my brokenness and guide me toward healing. In this post, we’ll explain what Celebrate Recovery is, what a typical meeting looks like, and why the same CR principles that help people in church communities can also bring real hope behind bars through Celebrate Recovery Inside (CRI), the prison and jail extension of the ministry.

House Arrest

Being on parole is not freedom.  Too many guys coming out of prison think that having received a parole that they have earned their freedom, that their sentence is complete.  But that is not the case.  While on parole you are still under the control of the MDOC.  Parole is prison without the razor wire.