I Didn’t Add God to My Recovery—I Started With Him

A Christian Addiction Recovery For Women

That Starts With Jesus

Scripture is the Big Book at Selah House Recovery

It has never been my agenda to push myself on anyone. I’ve never tried to sell sobriety.

I believe in salvation—and there isn’t a price tag on that. It’s free for the taking, and it’s not mine to sell. Salvation is what I received the day I got sober.

Freely Given.

Maybe I thought I had it before. I probably would have said I did. I grew up a Christian, after all. But it’s hard to feel saved when you’re spiraling every day down the well of a bottle—when your greatest accomplishment is hiding your deepest shame from everyone around you.

When I got sober—and I write about this in my book Sober Cycle: Pedaling My Way Through Recovery One Day at a Time —my moment of truth was between God and me. I didn’t bargain. I didn’t strategize. I asked for His help, and only His, because I knew He was the only one who could save me from the hell I had created.

Yes, I take full responsibility for my choices. For creating my own personal hell and choosing to return to it day after day.

And if that offends you, I’m okay with that.

The devastation and grip that alcohol, or other drugs can have sometimes does require medical help to rid the body of its poison before recovery can even begin. But I believe this: if you truly desire to be free, you can put it down and decide, never again will I choose the drink or the drug.

If I’m being honest, I prefer to call it the same thing Scripture does:

Sin.

Thankfully, Scripture also promises to help us fight it.

Addiction, like any other sin, is capable of grabbing you, consuming you, and overtaking your life.

Thankfully, once again, it is capable of being washed away, redeemed, and forgiven, all because God sent His Son to die on the cross.

That sounds simple. But it doesn’t feel simple when alcohol has become the thing you rely on for relief, identity, and escape, and you are asked to let go without a clear path forward or an understanding of how to live without it.

I remember standing on my living room floor after my surrender moment, thinking, "What now?" (That moment is chronicled in my book.)

I didn’t go to a meeting. I didn’t find a group. I didn’t enter a program or rehab.

Not because I was defiant. Not because I thought I was above it. I simply didn’t feel called to it.

Instead, I sat with God for a long time. Months. I dug into His Word. I read the writings of others whose faith was deep and honest. I leaned on a small handful of people who loved me through it. And that's how I got sober. Sweet Surrender.

Sweet Surrender, the end. Or should I say, A beautiful beginning.

And for a few years, I was guarded about my story—sometimes even saying,

I don’t recommend doing it this way.

Why did I feel the need to say that?

Because we live in a world that insists we cannot succeed at anything without every tool imaginable. That if you don’t attend every meeting, track every step, memorize the material, and call your sponsor or coach, you’re one misstep away from relapse—aka failure.

I’m generally not a quiet person, but I was quiet about my sober life for a long time.

Years passed before I began to share my story publicly. And when I finally did, I felt the need to add disclaimers. To say things like, I did this alone, but you shouldn’t.

And yet the truth remained.

In the moment of surrender, God took my addiction from me.

Completely.

When I stood up from that floor, I knew—without question—that I would never drink again. I remember wondering how that could be possible.

Who do I call?

Who do I follow?

And in the quiet, gentle way He speaks, God said: “You’re going to follow Me.”

From that moment on, I never considered drinking an option again.

I say that with absolute truth.

Did I romanticize alcohol at times? Of course. It whispered lies about who I used to be. It tried to convince me I was more fun back then, when in reality, my life had been a disaster.

Every day I put space between my last drink and my new life, healing came—physical, emotional, and most importantly, a closeness to God I had never known.

So why am I telling you all of this now?

Not to grandstand. Not to compare journeys.

God brought something into focus for me recently—an uncomfortable but Holy realization:

I didn’t need to add God to my recovery because I started with Him.

I no longer apologize for not going to rehab or following a particular program. I will always say, "Do what works for you."

But start with Jesus.

We tend to try everything else first, especially things that promise quick fixes before turning to what is freely offered.

When faith is your foundation, everything else becomes a supplement—not the source.

Christian Addiction Recovery For Women Starts With Faith

At Selah House Recovery, we don’t teach the Twelve Steps. We don’t anchor ourselves in secular programs.

We teach the Word, focusing on the Fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

The Curriculum at Selah House Recovery is based on the Fruit of the Spirit.

We do introduce women to AA, Celebrate Recovery, RU Recovery, and Bridge to Life—because community matters, and many women want that supplement when they leave. But those are just a few hours of their time. The rest of the day—eyes on Him.

Selah House Recovery exists to provide Christian addiction recovery for women who want sobriety rooted in faith-not programs alone.

There is no other place like Selah House Recovery, and it’s not for everyone.

If faith is not your foundation, it won’t work. Just like recovery won’t work if you’re doing it for someone else.

I wanted to please God when I quit drinking. I didn’t just ask Him to take alcohol away. I asked Him to love me through it.

And He took it all and gave me a whole lot of love.

That book of mine—the one that never blew up the internet- has served a huge purpose. It has brought nearly every woman who has walked through the doors of Selah House Recovery to us. It’s made its way into jails, church libraries, speaking engagements, and countless mailboxes. It became exactly what God intended for. I asked God for it to help another woman like me. And He has made sure of that.

That’s why Selah House exists—what God intended.

When I wrote Sober Cycle, I had no idea what God would use it for, much less a recovery home our family would one day open. But that’s God—full of incredible plans (and surprises.)

At a recent Selah House graduation, one woman said during her testimony, “If it were not for Sherry’s obedience in saying yes to God, this opportunity would not be here for us.”

In that moment, I assumed she meant saying yes to opening our doors. But now I think about the yes I said more than twelve years ago—and all that God has done because of my yes to Him and no to alcohol. My life has Ephesians 3:20 written all over it.

"He will do more than you could ever ask or imagine."

What could happen if you say yes?

Only God knows.

But I assure you of this:

You need to find out.

Love,

Sherry

-Click on the link below. Then scroll down a little, and you will see a video I would love for you to watch. It shares my heart and will share with you exactly what Selah House Recovery is all about. I assure you there will be no intrusive pop-ups for a chat, and no one will ask for information. Just take a moment and see what we are all about. That's all.

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