The outpouring of cards being sent to the MIP recovery homes, for the residents in them is absolutely amazing! The guys are so touched by what you have done. Every time I walk into one of the homes, someone pulls me aside to share one of the cards they have recieved. These are not just cards. They are the heart beat of love, care, understanding and compassion. Someone shares that they have been clean since 2001, and shares a message of hope for the reader that is truly equals nothing less than motivational inspiration. An alcoholic shares that they too are less than six months sober, "so we are really doing this together, no matter what the distance is between us". A woman shares that she lost her very young son, (late teens - early 20's) to addiction and they buried him last year. Everyone in the house chokes back tears as this card is read out loud. Someone sends a humorist card called "The 12 Steps of Christmas" and everyone laughs as each of the modified 12 steps are read. Someone sends a card with a hand written messsage about the true significants of this holiday. Each card has a lengthy writting, all with the same purpose but not merely a repeated word for word writing, but reflects someone who spent a good amount of time, addressing each individual as such. There are cards with personally written peoms in them. Cards with gift certificates. Cards that express the joy of being able to share a piece of this first clean and sober holiday with them. Cards from all over the US, from Austrilia, England, Japan, Germany, even South Africa, and many other places throughout the world. They all have one thing in common... that as members of Miracles In Progress we are able to reach across the miles, and truly touch the lives of others in a miraculous way.
I am the most fortunate person in the mix. I get to see the man who hasn't shed a tear in years break down and cry for the first time, ... because someone out there was able to reach his heart. I get to see the man who barely smiles, bust out in laughter from the gut, not out the side of his neck or based in his throat, but from deep within... I get to see a man who opens each card as if its the only present he will get this year, full of excitement, and see his eyes glow as he reads the words on them. I get to hear the man who says... "I never in my life knew so many people really cared about me, most people had lost hope in me".
These men have already recieved approximately 60 cards each. And each card they have gotten, brings them to a fuller understanding of what Miracles In Progress is really all about. People, reaching across the miles and helping eachother through another day in recovery, sharing the pain, and celebrating the joy, holding eachothers hand in the minds eye and saying the serenity prayer together. All over the world.
What I get to witness first hand is the Unity, in which we come together for the benefit of others, and in doing so, we become the beneficaries of our deeds. The light that you have shined on these two addresses in Wilmington, NC, will without a doubt one day be a light that is carried forth and shined by todays recievers to many others over years to come.
