Having recently celebrated the 2018 LIFE Recovery Commencement, we know the story is just beginning for the honorees. Their time at UGM was a time of preparation for a deeply satisfying life of connection, relationships, and service to others.  Maintaining that rich life requires cultivation of a different kind of hunger than we usually talk about at UGM – a healthy, lifelong hunger.

Each person who comes into UGM recovery comes in broken. The program extends the love of Christ and brings his truth to bear on their brokenness. As you can see in these excerpts from talks given by three men who are finishing the program and getting ready to move out of UGM, each person has different needs and hurts. But throughout all of their stories, there are also common threads of the power of truth, grace, and love. Please keep these men in your prayers as they look for housing and make the leap back into society!

Editor's note: This is the third post in a special Advent devotional series, focusing on Isaiah 61:1-3. You may also want to read the introduction, "A Front Row Seat to Holiness" and part 1, "What's the 'G' in UGM?"