Ocean and Bay Intergroup logo

WAVES of HOPE

Serving OA in Rhode Island 
Southeastern Massachusetts

DECEMBER 2018
















In This Issue
       _________________________________

PHONE SUPPORT AVAILABLE ON 
MAJOR HOLIDAYS

MARATHON PHONE MEETINGS ARE HELD ON  ALL MAJOR HOLIDAYS  EVERY HOUR ON THE HOUR BEGINNING AT 8 A.M. AROUND REGULARLY SCHEDULED MEETINGS. EACH MARATHON HAS A TOPIC FOR THE DAY.

DIAL  712-432-5200
ENTER PIN  4285115#
 
__________________________

Local Meeting List
  Updated OCTOBER 15, 2018   
 

IMPORTANT!

GROUP CONTACT INFORMATION: Please check your group contact name and phone number on the local Ocean and Bay Meeting List. Send changes to 

Also, check your meeting listing and contact info on the Overeaters Anonymous website meeting list at  oa.org. The oa.org website listing is different than the local meeting list and must be updated by your meeting contact person.
 
* Please call ahead to verify meetings are taking place, especially during holidays. 


FIND A MEETING ACROSS THE U.S. AND BEYOND -- FACE-TO-FACE, ONLINE, AND TELEPHONE! 


_____________________________

LINKS


New England Intergroups








Ocean and Bay Intergoup





__________________________________________
WSO A STEP AHEAD
THIRD QUARTER 2018

__________________________________________

Please note that every effort has been made to adhere to OA's policy for newsletter publications. 

Opinions and experiences expressed within are those of the individual writer and not OA as a whole. 

REMINDER: This is your newsletter, so please feel free to submit your writing contributions to: oceanandbayoa@yahoo.com.

You are also invited to be one of the members who provides answers for a Q&A. Again, just send us a note to: oceanandbayoa@yahoo.com.
GIVE AND RECEIVE

Dear Fellow OA Member:

It's probably not a coincidence that our Twelfth Step Within Day falls during the gift giving season. The good news is that you need not surf the Internet, clip coupons, comb shelves, or place special orders -- you only need you!  

On Wednesday, December 12th, OA recognizes that there are members within the fellowship or previously in the fellowship who are not abstinent and could use support. Do you know someone who is in relapse or struggling to get abstinent? You could make a difference to that one person by reaching out to them. You could give them the gift of hope, gift of love, gift of acceptance, gift of recovery, gift of fellowship... the list goes on. 

If you are a person who is struggling, if someone reaches out to you, pray to be open to receive the gift that may be presented to you that day, or any day for that matter. In doing so, you are actually giving that person a gift, too. This is a WE program and WE do this together. Giving is receiving and receiving is giving. 


My hand in yours, 
Leslie

Ocean & Bay Intergroup News
 
All OA members are welcome to attend Ocean & Bay Intergroup (OBI) meetings are held the first Tuesday of the month. 

THE NEXT MEETING IS TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4th at 6:30 p.m. at:

Arnold Conference Center in the Regan Building
3 Regan Court (off 111 Howard Avenue)
Cranston, RI 02920

INTERGROUP ELECTIONS

CHAIRPERSON: Diane C. graciously accepted the nomination to serve as Integroup Chairperson. She was elected to serve a two-year term. Thank you Diane for your service in the past and future! 

TREASURER: Sandy C. was re-elected to serve two years as Intergroup Treasurer. Thank you Sandy for all the organization you have brought to the position. 

CURRENT GOINGS ON AT INTERGROUP

PUBLIC INFORMATION/PROFESSIONAL OUTREACH COMMITTEE: The PI/PO Committee has produced a poster with local OA information for our members to distribute in the respective communities. Ask your Intergroup Rep for a few and hang them in your local markets, library, YMCA, etc. 

UNITY DAY 2019

Ocean and Bay Integroup is hosting the annual Unity Day event on Sunday, February 24th, 1-4 p.m. at Ray Conference Center on the Butler Campus, Blackstone Blvd., Providence. Lisa is the even chair and anyone else who would like to work on the committee is asked to attend the next Intergroup meeting. The committee will meet following the meeting. 

WORLD SERVICE BUSINESS CONFERENCE

With the support of a scholarship from Region 6, we will be able to send our delegate, Kara M., to the OA WSBC in May 2019 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

LITERATURE NEWS

Due to popular demand, we have ordered a reprint of the JOURNAL Ocean and Bay published. They are just $15.

An order of the new second edition of Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions is expected at the next Intergroup meeting. 

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN LEARNING ABOUT INTERGROUP? Come to a meeting! Everyone is welcome. Your level of involvement is up to you -- NO PRESSURE. 

ALL OA MEMBERS are WELCOME to any and all Intergroup meetings! 

*******************************************************************

TWELFTH STEP WITHIN DAY

THE DAY WE REACH OUT TO THOSE WHO STILL SUFFER WITHIN THE FELLOWSHIP

The Twelfth-Step-Within Committee was created to reach out to those in the Fellowship who still suffer and to address the relapse and recovery of our members. The committee's purpose is to strengthen Overeaters Anonymous by sharing information and ideas that generate recovery within the Fellowship.

Those who give Twelfth-Step-Within service encourage existing OA members to become or remain abstinent, to work the Twelve Steps, and to give service to the best of their ability. Doing this service increases the quantity and quality of recovery in our Fellowship, thereby assisting our own spiritual journey.

Twelfth Step Within does not focus on attracting new members; it explicitly supports the ones we already have. Anyone who is abstinent and working his or her own recovery can do this service. No special qualifications are necessary; only willingness is needed.

We can all help carry the message of recovery through abstinence and working the Steps by (1) being well ourselves; (2) giving service, sponsorship and friendship; (3) encouraging membership retention; and (4) attending meetings and OA events. 

What can you do on December 12th to help someone? A phone call? An invitation to go to a meeting together? Share your experience? 

DOWNLOAD FLYER


SAVE THE DATE AND VOLUNTEER TO HELP, TOO! 

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24th, 2019

OA UNITY DAY
HOSTED BY OCEAN & BAY INTERGROUP
1 PM to 4 PM 
Ray Conference Center, Butler Campus, Providence, RI

Speakers - Sharing - Fellowship
T his day recognizes the strength of the Fellowship worldwide. On the last Saturday in February in even years and the last Sunday in February in odd years, OA members pause to reaffirm the strength inherent in OA's unity.   

YOUR HELP OR GROUP HELP WELCOME! Contact Lisa at oceanandbayoa@yahoo.com. 

 
FROM
OA ASK-IT
BASKET

WHEN A SPONSEE IS NOT WORKING THE STEPS In what ways can I better serve a sponsee who is not working the Steps? Should I continue working with them no matter what? Or let them go with love and tell them to come back when they're ready? Or take another approach? 

There are, of course, many approaches to sponsoring in Overeaters Anonymous. Some of us are very structured in working with sponsees. Others of us vary the tools we use based on the particular needs of the person we are sponsoring. It is not a secret that working the Twelve Steps is key to long-term abstinence and recovery in OA. Without the Steps, we would just be another "diet with fellowship," and there are those who use OA that way-at first. Overeaters Anonymous offers many wonderful resources for understanding and support in sponsoring. Hopefully, one or more of these will help you find the answers you are looking for. 

The first and most readily available resource is your own sponsor, who likely has more experience than you have. And, knowing you, your sponsor will be a good sounding board for your specific concerns. 

The OA bookstore (bookstore.oa.org) carries a Sponsorship Kit (#210). which includes the pamphlets The Tools of Recovery (#160), Sponsoring Through the Twelve Steps (# 220), A Guide For Sponsors (#200), the Strong Abstinence Checklist and Writing Exercises (#415), a list of other abstinence resource materials, a packet of Lifeline stories about sponsorship, and the wallet card Twelve Stepping a Problem (#420). The wallet card might be the tool to use first when reviewing the situation with your own sponsor and also as a way to approach your sponsee. You might ask them if they would like to use the wallet card with you to help clarify the obstacles they're up against in working the Steps. 

Other wonderful resources are also available at oa.org/documents . Look under "Twelfth Step Within" for more supportive resources and ideas for both you and your sponsee.

"A ROOM WITH A VIEW" MEETING
KICKS OFF 2019 
using the new
"The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, Second Edition"

Come join fellow OA members reading and sharing recovery from THE TWELVE STEPS AND  TRADITIONS OF OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS, SECOND EDITION. 

WHEN: The first and third Saturdays of each month beginning Saturday, Jan. 5th
Saturday, Jan. 5th: Step 1
Saturday, Jan. 19th: Tradition 1

TIME: 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. 

WHERE: Newport County YMCA, 792 Valley Road, Middletown

Bring your own special copy of the 12&12 (second edition) or share one of the group's copies.


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

 
The principle of Step Twelve is Service. 

The Step Twelve workshop speakers share their individual stories of recovery and how giving service in all its forms has enriched their lives. The literature referenced was the  Alcoholics Anonymous  Big Book , and  The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous .


 Treasure Chest
HEARD AT MEETINGS

We are all cracked. That is how the light gets in. 

Gratitude is grit and grace. 

You need a psychic change --not a psychic sponsor or psychic group. 

My only trigger was waking up. 

Nothing had changed, yet everything had changed. 
Ocean & Bay Intergroup 
P.O. Box 41273, Providence RI, 02940
Tel: 401-438-1301 | Email:   oceanandbayoa@yahoo.com