Amber: from the moment of my first confession of addiction, you embodied patient love and gave me space to process the journey. You gave me more grace than I deserved and asked fewer questions than I expected. I cannot imagine sobriety without you.
Isaac, Jude, Ian, and Titus: thank you for asking me the tough questions about addiction, for asking me whether I’ve started drinking again when I’m cross or short. I haven’t. Sobriety is a gift to me, and I hope it’s one I pass on to you.
Heather: you are my sister. Thank you for being a prophetess.
Mike: shall we gather in the collective? Thank you for making space for Eucharist.
John Ray: there’s blood and then there’s kin; you are kin. Thank you for teaching me to be unafraid of the right questions.
Ryan: if there’s a better therapist, I don’t know him. Thanks for your work.
Bill: Coming Clean would not have been born without your gentle coaxing. Thank you for pulling it out of me. In another lifetime, you could have been a used car salesman. In this one, I’m glad you are my agent, minister, and friend.
Sobriety—from any addiction—isn’t a thing worked out in solitary confinement. Instead, it comes from good and right accountability, from a community that promises to ask tough questions, expecting only honest answers. I have the best communities. Thank you, Troy, Chad, and Preston, for being my cohorts, but thank you more for being my friends. To the crew at 1900 David, thank you for sharing a roof and bearing witness to my confession; you are good people. (I don’t care what they say!) To the men of the Genesis Project, you’ll never know how much the invitation to the table strengthened my resolve. To the Tuscany crew, thank you for breaking bread with me in the tender days of sobriety; thank you for praying the words wounded healer over me. Joseph and Lindsey, you are my people, and I am yours. (Raclette soon?) Bramlett, why you’ve stuck with me I’ll never know; thanks for being a big brother. Nish, Sarah, and Preston, thank you for reading my roughest drafts, but thank you more for speaking blessing over my life.
Mom: thanks for gifting me with words to process. Dad: thanks for gifting me with steadfast resolve. Schell and Paul: thanks for sharing your home during all those doctor’s visits to Little Rock; more, thank you for your toffee.
Stephanie: you caught the vision of Coming Clean when it was in its infancy, when I was still shaky on the sharing. For that I will be forever grateful. This project would not have seen the light of day without your enthusiasm, attentiveness, and skill.
Finally, to the team at Zondervan: you are a gift.