Meet Jennifer Guerra
Meet Jennifer Guerra
My name is Jennifer, I have a new life in Christ, and I am recovering from alcoholism, not trusting God and pride. My outside life seemed perfectly normal and happy, but inside I was nothing short of anxious and insecure. I had a husband who loved me and four happy, healthy children. I was very active in my church. I taught Sunday school and led a discipleship group for teens as well as an adult ladies’ bible study. I believed in God and loved Jesus, but my sin struggles were too shameful in my eyes and pride kept me from reaching out for help.
Rock bottom came when I began using alcohol to cope with a really stressful period. I was overcommitted, over extended and I concealed my addiction because of pride and shame. God eventually led me to sobriety, but I still needed true recovery. I found it incredibly difficult to talk about alcoholism in church, so even in sobriety I found myself hiding. Re:Generation showed me how absolutely necessary Christ is to my recovery and has given me a safe place to talk about it within church walls.
Through Regeneration, I have discovered that the sins and struggles of others are no lesser or greater than mine. God freed me from the lie that there are people He loves more than me because their sins look different. Re:gen has shown me that I am forgiven through Christ, therefore I can extend that grace and forgiveness to those around me. While in addiction, I spent a lot of time blaming others for my circumstances, but I’ve learned to see clearly my part in the destruction and not through an accusatory lens. I have sought to continually make amends by not continuing my destructive behavior.
God has not only restored strained relationships in my life, but through Re:gen, He has gifted me with new ones. I have a place to talk about the heavy and hard life issues and in return be encouraged by others with the Word of God. My goal is no longer to be living for the next thing that will give me immediate pleasure, but instead to live in a way that glorifies God to the best of my ability.
Rock bottom came when I began using alcohol to cope with a really stressful period. I was overcommitted, over extended and I concealed my addiction because of pride and shame. God eventually led me to sobriety, but I still needed true recovery. I found it incredibly difficult to talk about alcoholism in church, so even in sobriety I found myself hiding. Re:Generation showed me how absolutely necessary Christ is to my recovery and has given me a safe place to talk about it within church walls.
Through Regeneration, I have discovered that the sins and struggles of others are no lesser or greater than mine. God freed me from the lie that there are people He loves more than me because their sins look different. Re:gen has shown me that I am forgiven through Christ, therefore I can extend that grace and forgiveness to those around me. While in addiction, I spent a lot of time blaming others for my circumstances, but I’ve learned to see clearly my part in the destruction and not through an accusatory lens. I have sought to continually make amends by not continuing my destructive behavior.
God has not only restored strained relationships in my life, but through Re:gen, He has gifted me with new ones. I have a place to talk about the heavy and hard life issues and in return be encouraged by others with the Word of God. My goal is no longer to be living for the next thing that will give me immediate pleasure, but instead to live in a way that glorifies God to the best of my ability.
Posted in Faces of Faith