HOMELESS – DAY 002

Park by the River

I woke up and drove a bit, and remembered this park, with benches and a view of the river. I had been to Dollar Tree for some essentials earlier, and as I was checking out… I saw a small New Testament for sale, right there at the cash register.

It reminded me of my deceased Grandmother (Gran Gran) and I felt a draw, to get one and go do some reading a meditating!

Park Bench

I chose this bench.. Sat down and… Pulled out my Little New Testament.

New Testament

Excuse the hand… I suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns on my hand, when flaming grease spilled all over it a year ago.

In any event… The New Testament reminded me SO MUCH of my Gran Gran (Grandmother) because as a child, she would give me one of these to make sure I always had one. She probably gave me 5 or more growing up.

She and my Pa Pa took me to church as a child, especially when I lived with them. My mom was a single mom, and I got put with relatives (pretty much all of them, at one time or another, lol) very often as a child.

It was my Grandfather, a retired Railroad Engineer who taught me about Sports. He would watch one game on TV and listen to one or two more on radio, simultaneously to keep up with them!

He also taught me how to SAVE MONEY! (My abusive Step Father would later UNDO this important value, but… That story is not for THIS album! lol) My Grandfather got me a Piggy Bank, and he told me… “As long as you SAVE and don’t SPEND the money in this bank… I will put change into it EVERY NIGHT when I come home. I kept my promise… and he kept his! Even if deep in sleep, every night… every single one… I would hear the familiar jingle of my Pa Pa’s pocket change, falling into the jar and dancing around before settling on top of all the other change.

The only sad part of these experiences, is that later, when my mom took me back, which she always did eventually… It changed my Grandfather. He raised me during that time, like his own son! He pushed me in a Genuine Red-Rider Wagon and played ball with me, fished, took me to Jacksonville Suns Baseball Games! But when I had to leave… He closed up, and… stayed to himself more, became less friendly to EVERYONE. I think it really broke his heart, and… losing my grandfather… and I mean BEFORE he died… Certainly broke mine.

Sunset

I read the New Testament for quite a while, and quite LITERALLY cried as I turned every single page! I just felt God pouring His heart out to me, as I read the words that have changed my life, so many times! It was a beautiful day! But now night was coming, and it was getting colder, so… I decided to just Drive, and maybe stop somewhere and get a bite or maybe a quick beer and meet some new people. It can be lonely living in a mini-van by yourself. LOL — For some reason Karaoke was strongly on my mind. Which is odd, because when I DJ, I often do Karaoke based parties, and I even have a weekly gig, one night a week running Karaoke right now, so… I get Karaokied-Out a lot! Ha ha!

Well Lord, I thought… Should we go sing somewhere tonight?

I dried my eyes, got in the vehicle, and just started driving, trying to think of places that might have Karaoke on Fridays.

And THAT leads us to the Amazing Plan God had for me and a few others that Night!

New Friends

WAIT UNTIL YOU HEAR ABOUT THESE GUYS!

I decided I should go somewhere else than the Beaches, where I crashed the night before… So I headed down 95 South exit from Downtown. I started to go down Beach Blvd, but… Something told me to go down Atlantic Blvd instead. I didn’t know any places on Atlantic Blvd with Karaoke, thought I am sure there are plenty, but… I couldn’t resist the force making me travel down Atlantic Blvd! As I drove down Atlantic, I didn’t get very far… I saw a place called “The Mudville Grille” and it was lit up with colored lighting, and it seemed to be open. It felt right to pull into the parking lot and see if they had Karaoke!

I had never been to Mudville Grille, so I was looking forward to having a little fun in a new place!

So, I’m walking toward the Door at Mudville Grille, but my attention keeps focusing on the much smaller bar NEXT DOOR to Mudville! It was so tiny though, and I had determined to go to Mudville already, so I tried to dismiss the thought… after all… It was MUDVILLE that had ORIGINALLY made me pull into that parking lot! So, I put it out of my mind and went for the door handle of Mudville, but… It’s a good sized place and I went to the wrong door apparently… It was LOCKED! I saw two other entrances to the place, and started to go toward one, when… I saw the sign in front of St, Nicholas (I think that was the name) it was the little bar I had been avoiding… But the first door I went to was locked at Mudville, and I saw that little sign in front of St. Nicholas… KARAOKE TONIGHT! Ha ha! Well, well… Guess this tiny joint MUST be the place after all!

I went in, and the entire place was smaller than some apartments I have lived in! LOL — Really? This is the place I’m supposed to be? There was only a handful of people there… less than 20 probably, but… someone was singing Karaoke. It’s funny, because I had been thinking of that song Rhiannon, by Fleetwood Mac all week! No… I was NOT going to sing a girl’s song! even Stevie Nicks! Ha ha!

So, I survey the scene… but I haven’t ordered anything yet… The bartender offers me a drink, but I told her “hold on hun… just a second.” I didn’t even look at her… just held my finger up, telling her “one second” and kept looking around this tiny place! I’VE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE!!! HA HA!! WHAT AM I DOING IN THIS TINY JOINT? IT’S SO SMALL! NO ONE HERE!
Hmm…

By this time, the Bartender came back over, and said not one word, but flashed me about the MOST BEAUTIFUL SMILE I had seen all day that day! I couldn’t resist her sweetness!

“Ok, you got me!” I told her! I took my drink, and resigned myself to the situation! I wanted to sit at the bar, but there was only ONE SEAT available at it! And the woman who occupied the seat NEXT to that one… had her purse in the chair, and I didn’t want to bother her, so… I just stood the whole time! LOL

New Friend

But my attention kept going to the guy NEXT TO HER, clearly a friend of hers, as they were engaged in an animated conversation together. I did notice that her phone kept going off… lots of TEXTS it seemed! I kept thinking I should TALK to the guy next to her for some reason, but… I just got there, and wasn’t sure of the inspiration… so I waited. I didn’t have to wait long. The gentleman called me over and asked my name! I told him, and he said “Well, it’s good to meet you Craig! This is a really nice little place here! Give it a chance! Everyone is great and you noby gets into fights or anything. By this time… someone left the seat next to HIM! So… I asked if it was OK, to sit down there. They said “Of course”

As we are all 3 getting to know each other a little, making jokes, etc… Her phone just KEEPS GOING OFF!! She shakes her head, and looks exceedingly frustrated, and says: “I’m going to be a grandmother! I told my daughter: “CONDOMS, CONDOMS, CONDOMS!!! I preached that to her a MILLION times, and what does she do? Unbelievable! I work so hard to put BOTH my daughters through college, and… Now this! And doing it ALONE TOO!! I NEVER THOUGHT I would be ALONE at this age in my life, left by my husband… abandoned.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” I said. “What happened?”

She looked somberly at me, clearly debating whether to GO THERE and unveil everything or not! In almost the same instant though, I saw her face as she toughened up and resigned herelf to telling me WHAT HAPPENED!

Turns out… He had KILLED HIMSELF! Committed suicide! He had been paralyzed pretty severely and was a prisoner in his own body. Compared to the life he HAD lived… It was too much for him. He killed himself, and left her alone with her daughters!

“And now, if THAT wasn’t enough already… my daughter is PREGNANT!” she said.

“WHERE DID I GO WRONG???”

I STOOD UP right then, and pointed at her, and said: “Listen to me VERY CAREFULLY! It is not because you WENT WRONG… You did nothing wrong! It is actually the OPPOSITE!! YOU ARE EXACTLY RIGHT!! EXACTLY RIGHT for this situation, and EXACTLY RIGHT to be the ROCK your daughterds would need, to get THEM through life after something like this! You have SLAVED to put them through school, which will… CHANGE THEIR LIVES… not just for a while, but… FOREVER!! What your sacrifice has done, is SET THEIR LIVES UP FOREVER!! YOU BOUGHT THEM something… A FUTURE!!”

I moved a little closer… Still pointing at her to DRIVE THE POINT HOME, and I said… “AND GOD PLACED YOU THERE, because HE KNEW that you would handle it, NO MATTER WHAT, for your Daughter’s sake!!!”

Then I said… “And if you only remember ONE THING from this conversation tonight, REMEMBER THIS: GOD LOVES YOU SOOOO MUCH, that He brought a COMPLETE STRANGER down Atlantic Blvd and into this TINY DIVE, just to TELL YOU THAT, and ENCOURAGE YOU!! To tell you that you are not doing OK… you are doing AWESOME!!! And God watches you EVERY DAY as you work your fingers to the bone…and HE POURS HIS HEART OUT to keep you going! HE WATCHES YOU EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY!!”

She started crying, and looked so gratefully at me, and as she did, the Karaoke singer was singing… NO! Not Rhiannon!! LOL — He was singing “I’ll Be” by Edwin McCain. A song that I sing myself often at Karaoke! But as this grateful woman looked into my eyes, and the singer sang the lines of the song… I told her: “Listen to these words… RIGHT HERE: And as if on cue, the singer sang the line “I’ll be… the Greatest Fan of your Life!”

I took her hand, and after the singer sang that line, I told her: “God wants YOU to know, that He is the GREATEST FAN OF *YOUR* LIFE!! He is a FAN… Of… YOU!!! HE LOVES YOU!! HE THINKS YOU ARE DOING GREAT TOO!!”

Well, we were ALL tearing up then, and she walked around to get to me, and gave me one of the best hugs I think I have ever had!

I thought earlier: “Well, I guess I won’t have anything really spiritual to share with my Facebook Friends today, oh well.”

I could not have been MORE WRONG!!

I ask you: HOW GOOD IS GOD?!!

Rhiannon

Oh yeah!!! I almost forgot (no I didn’t! ha ha!)

I had to have a PIC with the girl who had that WONDERFUL SMILE that KEPT ME in that God forsaken place that night! Ha ha! That SMILE helped make sure I did God’s will that night!

So… HERE IS THE PIC of her and I.

I wanted to know her name too… So I could put a name with the face, whenever i looked at the PIC!!

What was her name?

RHIANNON!! No joke!

GOD IS AMAZING!!!

THAT IS WHY YOU NEED TO “INCLUDE HIM” IN EVERYTHING YOU DO, EVERY TIME!!! He will ALWAYS put you WHERE YOU “NEED” TO BE, When you do!

I LOVE YOU, MY FRIENDS!

END OF DAY 002

GO TO DAY 003: http://craigmaxim.wordpress.com/2011/11/17/day-003/

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