Central Office Announcements

COR Meeting12/20/2020

4 pm

Published Monthly by:

Acadiana Area Central Office, Inc.

Located at: 115 Leonie St., Lafayette, LA

70506

Phone: (337) 991-0830

(24 Hours)

Mail all Contributions

to:P.O. Box 61144Lafayette, LA

70596

Office Hours: Tues-Fri

11:00 - 4:00

COPYRIGHT © 2015Acadiana Area

Central Office, Inc.

www.aa-acadiana.org Email the Central Office at: centraloffice@aa-acadiana.org

MISSION STATEMENT

Want to contribute an item to the Plug-In-Jug? Email us at or send it to , by the 15th of the month to mail out with the following months publication. To include a

flyer with the Plug-In-Jug mail-out, please provide and a to defray postage expense to the Central Office.

It is the goal of your Central Office Steering Committee to monitor and improve upon the quality of services provided by the office and its workers. The Steering Committee meets regularly to review Policies and Operations in order to improve its services to our A.A. Community.

Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before

personalities.

Copyright © A.A. World Services Inc. Reprinted with permission

..

Available at Acadiana Central Office

Attention CORCOR MEETING

DECEMBER 20, 2020

at Turning Point Email us at centraloffice@aa-acadiana.org

Location: Turning Point

210 8th street

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Come Visit our BookstoreThe hand of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) extends – literally – around the globe. Today, an A.A. presence can be found in approximately 180 nations worldwide, with membership estimated at over two million. There are more than 118,000 A.A. groups around the world and A.A.’s literature has been translated into languages as diverse as Afrikaans, Arabic, Hindi, Nepali, Persian, Swahili, and Vietnamese, among many others.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BYTBD

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On Top of the World By: Tandy W. | Anchorage, Alaska

On a remote island near Russia, a member lucks out and finds another alcoholic, whose AA lifeline is the phone…

My job often takes me to places far away. Sometimes these places are distant in miles, and they can also place me in a remote area, far away from my comfort zone. I recently spent eight days on Little Diomede Island, right smack in the middle of the Bering Sea. It is only a bit more than two miles from Russia. There were no AA meetings listed for this small Inupiaq village of 147 residents. I have learned, when traveling to these types of places, to always take some Grapevines and speaker tapes with me so I can stay connected with AA and my Higher Power. I knew this trip would be a bit stressful, as most of my trips are. My job was to lead a Mexican film group to the border between Alaska and Russia. They wanted to travel by whale boat, interview native people and learn about native subsistence life and traditions. You might ask how the heck I do a job like this. Believe me, this is the same question I have asked myself more than once. I have learned through practicing the Twelve Steps of AA that if I stay connected to my Higher Power, I will be led to the correct path. Using the principles of the program, I usually find the easier, softer way. For example, I often ask myself what would be the next “right thing” for me to do. I get quiet and connect to my Higher Power for direction. Then ideas start popping into my head and the process starts happening. As, long as I am doing God’s will, things work out for me. So, I found myself sitting here in the Little Diomede School, after just disembarking from an incredible ride on a whale boat from the mainland with thousands of birds circling over our heads. Just then, an Inupiaq man walked in and said hello. We introduced ourselves and then sat and drank coffee for the next hour. Halfway through our visit, he just happened to mention that he’s been sober for more than two years. Thus, began a daily chat with my new friend about alcoholism and how we both stay sober a day at a time. He was able to get sober with the help of AA in Fairbanks, Alaska. And I actually knew the man who was helping him. On this little island, my friend is staying sober by calling in once a week to an AA conference call on Tuesdays sponsored by members in Nome, Alaska. My time on this unique island in the middle of the Bering Sea was magical for my clients and for me. I know for a fact that I would never have had such an experience if I had not been sober. My new friend took us on a four-hour hike to the highest point on the island. As we approached the island’s very top, we both smiled and thanked God for this experience. We both were so grateful to be sober and alive.

For more inspiring stories about AA sponsors, read One on One: AA Sponsorship in Action, available in the AA Grapevine Store.

District 13E Big book Donation Program

Book Donation Procedures

1. A notice explaining the program will be sent by the current treasurer to each

District 13E group via their GSR or other representative.

2. These procedures have been worked out with the Central Office prior to the time of

implementing the program. Central Office will receive a copy of this document and a

list of eligible groups (All groups in District 13E).

3. Each group will be entitled to three hard cover big books per month. The Central

Office will invoice the district for books given out. The invoice will be payable upon

receipt of the District 13E treasurer. The treasure will pay prior to or at the end of

each month as worked out with the Central Office. 1

4. The purpose of this program is to offer a free Big Book to any newcomer to

Alcoholics Anonymous who may not be able to afford to buy one on their own. This

would also ensure that every newcomer would have a Big Book from the very

beginning without putting any financial burden on a group or its members.

5. Each group can decide by group conscience to participate, with or without

notifying the district.

6. The administration of this program will be the responsibility of the District Treasurer

who will include its costs in the monthly financial report.

7. This program will be re-evaluated periodically to determine its success and make

any adjustments or improvements necessary. The first evaluation will be done after a

3-month trial period. The treasure at the time will administer this program and will

include its cost in their monthly district financial report.

1A detailed procedure for invoicing may need to be developed more fully between Central Office and the Program

Administrator during the initial trial period.

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ACADIANA CENTRAL OFFICE

NOVEMBER 2020 STATS

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Thanks

Happy Holidays!

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For YourDonations

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ACADIANA CENTRAL OFFICE

NOVEMBER 2020 COR MEETING MINUTES

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Anniversaries are based on group registration dates as recorded by the A.A. General Service Office (GSO) in New York.

Don’t see your name? Go to www.aa-acadiana.org and click on “Update your Sobriety”

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This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

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December 2020 | Remote Communities + Sober Holidays

Butterflies at the Alcathon By: K.W. | Tucson, Ariz. No better way to get out of ourselves and anchor our nerves than to pick up dirty cups and welcome people

My heart is pounding because I feel uncomfortable at our sober holiday alcathon. And yet I feel an intense need to do service work to anchor my nerves. I am acting on what I’ve been taught: Be of service wherever you are—it works every time. I know this to be true.

In early sobriety, my sponsor used to tell me, “When you’re at a party and you’re feeling nervous, go to the kitchen and help out. This will give you something to do. You will be able to be helpful and you’ll probably meet people you like. It’s ‘good orderly direction,’ it’ll keep your nerves in check, and will help you feel like you belong.”

Tonight, as with so many other times in sobriety, I just follow my sponsor’s suggestion. I walk around to the back of the long food tables, clean up empty cookie wrappers, brush crumbs into the waste container, throw paper plates away. I use a napkin to add more cookies to the half-full platters. I try to keep it looking inviting and festive for the crowd that’s here tonight. In this way, I calm down.

I’m glad to be at a sober holiday event. I thank my Higher Power that my legs have quit shaking and that my heart has slowed its beat. My hands are steady.

Someone asks me for another napkin. Someone needs a glass of water and directions to the bathroom. Another member wants to know where marathon meetings are held. I offer a smile and small talk with the people coming to look over the sweets, fruits, sandwiches and offerings at the tables. Some are just as nervous to be there as I am, ready to run out the door with even the slightest nudge. We connect and I welcome them, giving them a cup for juice or coffee.

The decorations have been out all day and this evening they look a bit haggard, just like I did at the end of big parties in my drinking days. They are a bit lopsided, ruffled from too many falls on the floor. At the end of my time drinking, I was a waitress at a bar. I worked and served drinks in a full blackout. I know I worked on the holidays, but I don’t quite remember much about them, except I was always getting fired afterward.

Now it’s time for the main speaker to come on. I finish cleaning up, go to my chair up front of the large auditorium and sit with my sponsor. The committee chairperson goes to the podium and speaks into the microphone, welcoming everyone and opening the meeting with the Serenity Prayer. I say it with deep feeling tonight.

A newcomer, with voice shaking, reads Chapter 5, and someone from the sponsoring home group reads the Traditions. Then the chairperson comes back to the podium and announces that it is time for the main speaker. She looks down at me, smiles and calls out my name.

Learn about Emotional Sobriety as described by AA founder Bill W, in Emotional Sobriety II, available in the AA Grapevine Store.

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*REMINDER* Acadiana Area Home GroupsDon’t forget to create COR Group Specific Email addresses

and send updated information to Central officeExample: groupname.cor@gmail.com

Email to: mailto:centraloffice@aa-acadiana.org

ACO Needs a Web Chairperson

Contact us TODAY!

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The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.

Set Aside Prayer

God, please set aside everything I know, or think I know, about You, me and my place in the grand scheme of things so

that I may have a new experience today.

3rd Step Prayer

God, I offer myself to Thee – to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may

bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love and Thy Way of Life.

May I do Thy will always.

Alcoholics Anonymous pg. 63

Fear Prayer

We ask Him to remove our fear and direct our attention to what He would

have us be.

Alcoholics Anonymous pg. 68

7th Step Prayer

My Creator, I am now ready that you should have all of me, good and bad. Please remove every single defect of

character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Give me

strength to go out from here to do Your bidding – Amen

Alcoholics Anonymous pg. 76

9th Step Promises

If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are halfway through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves. Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us – sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.

Alcoholics Anonymous pg. 84

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A flyer for most of the events listed can be found on our website. Visit www.aa-acadiana.org

Want to add an A.A. event to the Central Office Calendar? e-mail us at: plug-in-jug@aa-acadiana.org Phone: 337 991-0830

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