How I Got Started with Celebrate Recovery

Hello my beautiful peoples! ✨

In February 2022, my toxic and abusive ten-year relationship with He Who Shall Not Be Named finally ended. I left our shared apartment and moved into my sister’s house after a physical altercation. In this case, I was the aggressor. Towards the end of our relationship, I had no respect for him and just wanted him out of my apartment and life. He moved in with me because he had been living on his uncle’s bedroom floor and begged me for help.

Two years before that, we had been engaged to be married, but five days before our wedding, he decided to text all his exes, telling them that he was soon to be married and would officially be off the market. One particular ex was invited for wine. As if that wasn’t enough, he also tried to start a business with her. That’s when I lost it—I trashed our Miami loft and was physically escorted out by Miami police. Letting him back into my life and helping him was the biggest mistake of my life. But when you’re codependent and don’t know you’re codependent, you make dumb decisions that serve others instead of looking out for yourself.

When I moved in with my sister, I knew I needed to make serious changes. Ten years of on-and-off with this man wasn’t getting me anywhere. The longer I was with him, the further he took me from God. He believed in spirituality, God, and Buddhist principles, but he didn’t walk the talk. His beliefs were all about his desires, money, and ego, with spirituality sprinkled in at his convenience. I think at some point, that way of thinking rubbed off on me, and I lost my way.

Living at my sister’s gave me the opportunity to be less than ten minutes away from a church with four services. There was no excuse not to go. So, I invited my sister to join me at my first service. It had been a while since I had gone to a big church. I wasn’t much for worship; in fact, many times, I’d be the one coming in a bit late—just in time for the pastor’s message.

During one particular message, the pastor talked about how coming on the weekends was just part of the big picture. He urged us to get out of the outskirts and stop being spectators, emphasizing that small groups are what truly connect us to the congregation. His words convicted my heart, and I felt nudged by God to sign up for a group.

As I looked through the groups, there was only one that aligned with my interests and schedule—The Journey Begins. It was a twelve-step study group meant to address hurts, hang-ups, and habits. At first, I didn’t want to choose that group because I didn’t think I needed it. I’m not a drug addict or alcoholic, I thought. My sister was in recovery and attended AA, so I had a preconceived notion about what a recovery program looked like. I wrestled with myself about signing up for the study, but ultimately, I decided to be obedient. (Celebrate Recovery Principle 3: Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control. – Matthew 5:5)

Normally, most people attend Celebrate Recovery before signing up for a step study, but as in the true Maritza way, I did it backward. It wasn’t until I attended my study group that someone invited me to come and attend Celebrate Recovery. The first thing that came to my mind was, UGH—two days? Both two hours long? 🙄Here I was signing up for one day, and now God was turning it into two days and four hours a week. Definitely not what I signed up for! But I had committed to being obedient to God. (“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” – Proverbs 3:5)

I remember feeling awkward walking into Celebrate Recovery. Walking in was like admitting I had a problem to a bunch of strangers. Thankfully, they had greeters at the doors who helped me find my way. Newcomers 101 gave me an overall understanding of how Celebrate Recovery worked. They explained that the first hour consists of worship followed by either a lesson or a testimony. The second hour consists of small groups where men and women separate and then break off into smaller groups—A-Z for hurts, hang-ups, and habits, or chemical dependency groups.

I chose the A-Z group, where I met women who dealt with childhood trauma, codependency, anger issues, trust issues, and much more. Three years later, I love my Celebrate Recovery family. I used to feel like an outsider at church, the black sheep filled with issues, until I found the rest of the black sheep at Celebrate Recovery. I loved being in a place where people were okay admitting they needed help and actually wanted help.

I love the sisterhood that grew over time by being vulnerable and honest about the decisions I’ve made in my life. I felt safe, seen, and heard. People didn’t judge me for my past but encouraged my growth. Celebrate Recovery changed my life for the better. (“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” – 2 Corinthians 5:17)

Celebrate Recovery is more than just about chemical dependency. It helps with fear, guilt, shame, unforgiveness, pride, anger, rage, sex addiction, abuse, people-pleasing, control, abandonment—just to name a few. It provides tools to process your hurts that have turned into hang-ups and gives you healthy, God-loving habits to deal with this crazy world and everything that comes with it. (Celebrate Recovery Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors and that our lives had become unmanageable. – Romans 7:18)

✨ Tune in next time to learn what I learned from Lesson 1: Denial. ✨

With love and grace,
Your Sista Ritza ✨

🙏 Thank you in advance for liking and sharing this blog post. The more people that get to read, the more people we can help. My intention is to help others through sharing my experiences. 🙌