Our Residential Rehab program here at Crossroads for Women uses a lot of craft supplies – typical stuff like markers, scissors, colored paper, old magazines for collages, etc. Clients new in recovery often find the art projects our clinicians give them a new and creative way to sort through their thoughts and feelings, outside of the typical therapy sessions. The artistic expressions become another part of their new toolkit of coping skills. Shoeboxes are often in use at our residential facilities to craft God Boxes.

Kathy L, who writes a 12 Step Recovery blog over at BellaOnline, dedicated a blog post to the meaning behind the God Box and how to make one. Following are a few excerpts from the article that illustrate the purpose of the God Box and how it’s helpful for people in recovery.

What’s a God Box?
Essentially, a God Box is a place to put what’s on your mind out into the universe so that the thoughts aren’t getting in the way of your daily life. No one has to see the thoughts or even know about them. It’s between you and God, or whoever your higher power may be. Here’s what Kathy L says about the God Box:

A God Box is the place where you symbolically turn over your difficulties, your fears, your defects to your Higher Power. I mention “symbolically” because you are writing down on paper what you want to turn over to God and then placing in the box. In and of itself, it is a physical gesture not much different than signing a card and placing it in an envelope. So it is what is inside of your head and your heart that make this act meaningful.

How do I make and use a God Box?
As I mentioned, we use shoeboxes that clients decorate and personalize at Crossroads for Women. Here’s what Kathy L suggests:

You find something that will hold small pieces of paper and keep it in a place easily accessible. Keep the paper and a pen close by. Know that it is YOUR God Box even before you put the first piece of paper in. Now you have a box and the day will come when you ponder or obsess about a problem that you have no control over. Think of the Serenity Prayer and if you know it is difficult to accept the things you can’t change or can accept them but can’t get them off of your mind, then write the thought on the piece of paper, put it in the “box” and tell God that this is beyond your control and you are now turning it over to Him.

Have you used a God Box or something similar in your recovery? Please feel free to share what has been helpful for you in the comments section.