Dear friends, thank you all so much for your sweet affirmations. They have been such an encouragement to me! Since the moment I arrived yesterday to find my friend half crazy and covered in filth cowering in a shed, through the moments of trying to get him cleaned up and settled down, to the moment I let go of his hand so security could take him away at the hospital, I have needed your prayers. Ive known this man since middle school and loved him since high school. To see what meth had made him was the worst thing Ive ever had to see. Weve been friends through many of his tough times, but this was by far the worst and he came very close to the edge. To see another human being walking that line of suffering is heartbreaking! As I read up on meth addiction last night, I realized I was probably in a more dangerous situation than I knew at the time and I appreciated your thoughts and prayers even more. Today is a tough day. He wishes Id just let him die. I knew hed feel that way today as he came down, but its still hard to hear the pain in his voice, asking the question Why didnt you just let me die? He thinks hes beyond help. Beyond forgiveness. Beyond hope. Heres what I think: As long as theres life, theres hope. I believe theres hope for him, and for all of us. Nothing hes done is worse than things Ive done, things weve all done. Im more sinner than saint, myself. Me, Im the wretch the song refers to. Im not in his place ONLY because of Amazing Grace. So heres something you may not know about me. My father was a drug addict. He chose to leave our family when I was young, but I know the struggle because I saw it firsthand. Years and years of it. He died of a cocaine overdose when I was 22, only one year older than my friends oldest daughter. I dont want her to have to live with such a terrible end to lifes journey, like I did. What is to be our response? Especially those of us that call ourselves Christians, what is our response?? We dont need to point fingers, but extend hands. Are we the hands and feet of Jesus or are we not? I didnt think of it that way yesterday; I just saw a need and knew I could help. I didnt wear a watch. I didnt look at a clock. I just WAS THERE. Isnt that something we all can do? For someone?? One of my friends posted this tonight: “There are no words to express the abyss between isolation and having one ally. It may be conceded to the mathematicians that four is twice two. But two is not twice one; two is two thousand times one.” (Chesterton). Im going again tomorrow. Because he asked, and Im answering. Does he have a long journey ahead? Oh yes, he does. But heres something else to ponder: When thinking of delays and byways along lifes journey... “I had considered these stops on my journey as interruptions – but Im coming to understand that perhaps these detours are my journey. No matter how much I, or the rest of humanity wishes otherwise, life is not lived in smooth, downhill expressways, but in the obscure, perilous trails and rocky back roads of life where we stumble and feel our way through the fog of the unknown. Life is not a sprint. It was never meant to be. It is just one step of faith after another.” (Evans) And Im not necessarily just talking about him...
Posted on: Wed, 28 May 2014 02:33:00 +0000
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