Finding your Recovery through God

This is a repost of an article that can be found at http://www.mormontimes.com/

“God is all about recovery,” says Rachelle Call. “God can do anything … He can work any miracle.”

She said, “If you knew my story, you would know that God is a god of miracles. There is not one reason why things should have worked out for me and my husband of 15 years. We were dead in the water. But God restored us. He raised me and my family from the dead — and I am not kidding about that. God can do anything. He can restore anyone. The Atonement is real and it heals.”

Call wants to “send hope to (others)” through “Recovery,” a bold, beautiful project created by Rachelle Call, Jen Marco Handy and Aaron Edson to help others find healing.

“Recovery: The Music” is a new album that addresses the 12-step program.

In case you’re not familiar with the 12-step program, it’s 12 outlined principles designed to help those with addictions or behavioral problems to change their lives.

Call, who wrote or co-wrote all the songs on this album, said, “We are losing too many people to addiction. Addiction is fed by shame, lies and secrecy. Once we start to speak, confess and come out of hiding, addiction will be challenged. There is strength in numbers.

“If we can stop pretending and just be as honest and authentic as possible, I believe it has the power to shift the whole dynamics of our culture.”

Call shared an experience when she and her husband were going through their recovery. She was suffering from severe depression and music lifted the darkness.

“I could barely get out of bed and get my kids to school,” she said. “The darkness was so intense and I was desperate for relief. As I would get my kids to school in the morning, I noticed that every time I played my Gladys Knight and The Saints Unified Voices CD, the darkness would lift. I began to listen to uplifting music all day. I flooded my home with it and at night I played the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (CD) while I slept. I kept it on repeat every night for maybe a year. Good music was key for me and I do not believe I would have made it through that period in my life without it.”

Her experience was an important inspiration for this special project.

“Recovery” is not just for those who struggle with addictions or who’ve had a loved one with an addiction. It’s for everyone who’s ever been hurt, felt alone, or faced any kind of struggle.

Handy, one of the incredible singers on this project, said she hopes “Recovery” will “help bring people into honesty, transparency and healing … that it will help anyone who is hurting to know that they are not alone … that people will realize the 12 steps are for everyone, regardless of whether or not they have an addiction. Anyone can benefit from working the steps, because we are all in need of recovery — whether it is from addiction, codependency, family tragedies, depression, eating disorders, perfectionism, or struggles with relationships with God, others and ourselves.”

This honest music acknowledges that we as human beings are imperfect, but emphasizes that we can come to God as we are and there’s “grace enough” — God can ”mend all things” (lyrics from steps eight and nine on the album).

Step three on the album, a song called “I Can Hear You Now,” says, “Let the waves crash around me. I’m not afraid anymore.”

Handy said, “That has become my motto of late … I’m not living in fear of what might happen, of what people might think, or what has happened in my past. I trust that God and I can handle anything together from here on out.”

That’s the message of the entire album. Don’t live in fear. Don’t hide or pretend. Just put your trust in God. Find hope in Jesus Christ. Let his Atonement change you, let it rescue and lift you. And let the change be real and complete. Find your recovery through God.

“Recovery: The Music” was released on August 18. For more information, visit http://www.rachellecall.com.