So what’s it like at Covered Bridge?  It’s fair to start with the fact that the program has evolved a bit, at least since this author walked through the door. Although there have been changes, the main core values and system remain. Let me walk you through my personal experience coming to Covered Bridge—and, hopefully, draw parallels to what happens with incoming residents today.

When I arrived at Covered Bridge, I was filled with hopelessness, fear, shame, and uncertainty. Couple that with mild confusion and you have a rough idea of where people can be, both mentally and spiritually when they arrive. I remember seeing the sign over the porch and thinking, “What is Covered Bridge?  Why is it named that? What exactly did I get myself into? I thought I was going to a rehab center??” (For the record – all this had already been explained to me.)

The house was a welcoming environment with helpful people that were more than patient explaining to me the ins-and-outs of the residential life. As the days passed, I fell into place with the daily devotions, book work, meetings, and a lot of learning. Most importantly, I was trying something new. Something had to change and two phrases kept surfacing over and over again– “new life” and “honest, open, and willing.”  It was new. It was alien. It… was… enticing!

The days were filled with studying, engaging the book work, and discipleship time. Although I didn’t realize it at first, this discipleship time WAS what the program is about- digging deep into the hurts, habits, and hang-ups that brought us through the door in the first place. One issue at a time, problems are identified, and time is taken to work on those issues from a Biblical perspective. Learning the Biblical “meat and potatoes” if you will, and how to apply them to your life, is exactly what happens as you develop/further your relationship with Jesus Christ.

The rest of the time I found it to be like living with a new family. There was time for reading, movies, cribbage, volunteering, and a personal favorite—family dinner. There are both in-house and off-site Bible studies, recovery meetings, and our home church activities at UBC.

That said, when a new resident walks through the door, I find it necessary to remember what it was like, and that we must do our best to make sure they are entering a family environment like I remember— because this certainly IS NOT just another rehab center. Covered Bridge is a house of God!             
—Sean Tymecki, Staff