HOMELESS – DAY 004
Breakfast!
Bad night for sleep! :-(
I drove up 95-South to sleep in a Rest Area. But I just wasn’t comfortable and couldn’t sleep long, even though I was exhausted!
I finally gave up trying after looking at the clock!
It was getting early already…
The sun would be up soon. Only 2 hours sleep.
“Oh well” I figured. “Maybe I can catch the sunrise on the ocean, if I head back now?”
So, I headed all the way back down to the beach!
I pull into McDonalds at The Beach, just in time to see Chris, from the night before, heading toward me. With a big smile on his face, he says: “Hey, I’ll be happy to take one of those biscuits now, that you have in the bag!”
I’m like: “Chris, those are old and thrown away now. But… Come on inside, and we’ll get you some breakfast!”
During Breakfast, Chris says: “Guess what? A pastor from the Methodist Church up the street, said if I go to church today, that he will get me a Bus ticket home! Do you think you might be able to give me a ride to the church at 10:30am?”
I told him I would. And I waited it out with him.
Getting Chris to Church
FINALLY! The appointed hour arrived, and we headed off to get Chris to the church on time! 
As we were driving to the Church, it hit me:
“Ahh ha… THIS is why you wanted me to buy that little New Testament Lord… “
So Chris was going into church with his own Bible… even if it was only the New Testament… he wasn’t empty handed!”
I gave the Bible to Chris and he smiled, said “Thank you” and put it in his pocket! I explained it was only the New Testament though!
“That’s alright” Chris said, “I have an Old Testament at home I think!” I just laughed under my breath a little and said: “Well, the Old Testaments tend to come with a New Testament already Chris… unless you’re Jewish!” ha ha!
Beaches United Methodist Church
We pulled up to the Beaches United Methodist Church…
The pastor he had spoken to, wasn’t there, but I explained the situation to another gentleman standing at the door. He agreed to take Chris inside and try and find that Pastor! I left Chris in the church’s hands and hoped for the best!
Beaches United Methodist Church
But, because the pastor had not been waiting for Chris… I went back to McDonald’s and WAITED for church to end, to see if he made it or not. To see whether he got any help or not.
Chris After Church
He explained that they could not figure out who, if anyone,
Chris had spoken to. Doug was doubtful he got the church right since they generally don’t participate in DIRECT ASSISTANCE to the homeless, but instead, re-direct them to various charitable groups that are already experienced in such assistance.
I said to Doug: “Doug, I was in the ministry before, and I am quite sure that, if for instance, there was a Church Play and someone forgot a necessary prop… Someone in the Office could cut a check for it right away!”
Doug said “Actually, it really doesn’t work that way here at this church. For cases such as this, they direct the Homeless to various charitable groups…”
I cut him off, and asked “So what Charitable Instituions did you refer Chris to then? Any? Oh none? I see.”
Doug seemed like he WANTED to help though.
I asked about individual MEMBERS offering to help? “We can book the trip online RIGTH NOW! I already looked the fares up, and… I have my laptop right here! I can wait for you to ask some church members, and we could bo…”
This time, Doug cut me off a little, and said… “How much for the ticket?”
I told him “It’s 70 Bucks but with an $18 dollar surcharge, for Chris NOT being the card holder himself.”
Doug responded: “Alright… Chris, we’re gonna get you home!”
Doug input the information, and voila! Chris had a Bus Ticket to get back home to Dublin, Georgia! I thanked Doug profusely, and told him that I was building a website called “www.HomelessDJ.com” where these STORIES of Faith were gonna be uploaded soon! I said: “Doug, I think you just saved your church’s reputation big time! Thank you for helping Chris.
God will bless YOU and YOUR CHURCH for this!”
I promised Doug that I would PERSONALLY take Chris to the Bus Station and also WAIT with him, to MAKE SURE he got on that bus!
Free Ice Cream Cone
Chris and I then went into McDonalds and let some of the employees know that Beaches United Methodist had come through for Chris, and he was going home!
They had known Chris a little, but.. this news inspired them, that good things REALLY ARE possible sometimes, and some of them offered Chris things…
One gave him the Monopoly Ice Cream Cone winning ticket she had gotten on her own lunch, while on break!
Ice Cream Cone
Chris looked like a little kid again, enjoying that Ice Cream Cone dipped in Chocolate! 
After the cone, Chris humbly asked: “Craig, I know you are homeless too, and I saw your clothes in the van… I don’t suppose… no, never mind.”
“What Chris?” I asked.
“I don’t suppose you have a bathing suit in any of those clothes bags do you?”
I told him that I did.
Chris said: “You know, I shouldn’t have asked… don’t worry about it… It’s just that I hadn’t even been IN the ocean, since I was in Jacksonville. I only had these jeans to wear.”
I told Chris that it just so happened, that I had grabbed TWO PAIR of bathing suits for some inexplicable reason, when I packed them up! “I have TWO bathing suits with me Chris!”
“Really? Two? Does that mean you would go in with me?” Chris asked. “Sure I would” I told him. He said: “Can I tell yo something? I thought you would think I was a baby if I told you, but… I’m scared to go in by myself! I don’t swim really, and I ALWAYS get stung by Jelly Fish when I have gone in the ocean before!”
I assured him I would be right there, if anything happened!
And I would NOT let anything happen to him!
Jacksonville Beach
I gave Chris a bathing suit to put on, and we headed out to the Beach to let him have some fun in the Ocean! I explained about the currents and how to navigate the waves, and before long, Chris was right at home, having the time of his life!
Thumbs Up!
Chris was doing great, but he struggled whenever he had to kneel down or put his head down to pick something up. He would get dizzy. He said he had problems ever since growing up with an adopted family. There was abuse, and his adoptive parents weren’t very good parents at all!
Jacksonville Beach
He said that when he was 16 they moved. Not him. These “parents” moved, and had left him a note on the door that read: “You need to find your own place to live now, and make your own way.”
He lived with friends on the streets for a short while, but couldn’t really take care of himself well, at 16 years old!
But his Grandmother stepped in and stepped up. She let him move in with her, and she took care of him until he grew up, and then… They kind of took care of each other, until he was 30 and she had to go to a nursing home.
Being alone again, had him running the streets and doing drugs.
I asked him what his grandmother thought about the abuse her own daughter and son-in-law had inflicted on him. He said she had disowned them as a result, and no longer had anything to do with them!
Jacksonville Beach
The abuse must have been pretty severe I told him, for his grandmother to disown her own daughter and son-in-law! He then said to me: “Can I show you something?”
“Sure Chris” I replied.
He showed me two scars… one on each hand, and signs of damage to his head as well. Chris said: “My father took two knives and ran them through my hands into the table… then he did this… (pointing to his head) and he hit me with a Baseball Bat!
I asked Chris: “What? Why would he do such a thing?”
Chris said: “Because I was 16, and I had told him ‘No!’ for the first time in my life!”
When he said this, I KNEW, he wasn’t referring to simple disobedience! I asked: “He sexually abused you?”
Chris said: “Yes sir”
“How long? When did it start?”
Chris said: “It was very early on, because… I don’t have a memory of a time it WASN’T happening!”
I just buried my face, into my hands, and began crying profusely, at the horror and sadness of it all. I told God: “Now I understand why you put me in this man’s life Lord.”
I remembered hearing someone yell at Chris: “You’ve been harrassing people all day here haven’t you?” he ignored the comment, and was following some people into McDonalds… But even the people he was following, let the door close in his face, as if he was worthless!
I thought: “If only they KNEW what this man had been through in his life… That horror of a childhood! Adopted into it. No choice, but to ENDURE it!”
Jacksonville Beach
I sat down in the water, beside him, and said: “Chris, is that when you stopped having faith in God? Did you blame God for what had happened?”
He said: “Yes. I did blame God for what happened!”
I said: “But Chris… As horrible as that was, God cannot be blamed for what PEOPLE CHOOSE TO DO in this world! He provided us with FREE WILL, and by it’s very nature, FREE WILL means that SOME PEOPLE will “CHOOSE” to do Good, while OTHERS choose to do EVIL! God cannot be BLAMED for “OUR” choices! He does NOT intervene in our Free Will Chris! If He did… He would be REMOVING our Free Will… we would then be ROBOTS, and sure… Doing Evil would NO LONGER be a possibility, but… Neither would being able to LOVE, be a possibility! God would not just be removing EVIL from our lives, but He would by default, also be removing LOVE from our lives, since LOVE can only exist by FREE CHOICE! — Can robots love anyone Chris?”
He said: “No way. They are robots. They don’t make their own choices.”
“Right” I told him! “Robots ONLY DO what they are PROGRAMMED to do, and as a result… They CANNOT love! They are not free and autonomous beings! They have PROGRAMMING but not CHOICE… not DESIRES and DECISIONS made of free will.”
So I told Chris: “Hard as it is to understand sometimes… The existence of WRONG or EVIL is actually PROOF that God has not given up on us! He has not ROBBED us, of our free will… He is STILL leaving the door open… leaving FREE WILL in tact, so that we can, IF WE CHOOSE, be able to have a loving relationship with God!”
This answer seemed to sit well with Chris. And he agreed, that God should not be blamed for the CHOICES that people DECIDE to make, of their own accord!
Jacksonville Beach
He answered: “That He is a God of Love, and that He answers prayers!”
I said: “Right He is… woah… what? How do you KNOW that God answers prayers Chris? Have you been praying to Him?”
He responded: “Yes, I prayed to Him this morning in fact!”
“What did you pray for?” I asked.
“I was just very hungry, and I prayed: ‘Dear God, I’m so hungry… Please feed me.”
I said: “Wow. Then what?”
Chris said: “I walked to McDonalds and… You pulled up right when I got there!”
Well, I cried all over again, because… I had only had 2 HOURS SLEEP that night… I didn’t want to drive all the way back down to the Beach, but… I just couldn’t sleep, and something pulled me to go back to the Beach where my new friends were.
We just sleepwalk through this life sometimes, when… God would REALLY LIKE to be able to USE US more often, to make a difference, sometimes… just to be in the RIGHT PLACE at the RIGHT TIME! Maybe the world would be a far better place, if we just learned to: LISTEN and to OBEY!
Jacksonville Beach
I told him: “I love you Chris!”
And Chris said: “I love you too brother!” and he added: “Hey, I didn’t even hesitate when I said that!” and he had such a big sincere smile on his face, as he said it!
Bus Station
We finished our time at the Beach, and dried off, and headed out to the Bus Station, to be there early, and make sure he caught that Bus home. His grandmother is in a nursing home, and I asked how often he sees her. “Every day” he said. “Every single day”. I asked: “Are you able to talk normally with her?”
“Most days” he said. “She has alzheimers, but… only a touch.”
Well, when you get home, are you gonna try to clean up, and be there for your grandmother… and make something better of your life? Will you get some help, so you can beat the drugs?”
He said that he would. That he truly wanted to, and felt sure that God wanted to give him a new life, and that I was a big part of helping him see that. He said: “I know I won’t blame God anymore for what happened to me. He sent you to me. I am grateful to Him.”
He took his thick army jacket off, and said: “Would you give this to someone who NEEDS it, when you go to McDonalds next? I have another jacket at home, and… Those guys are still living on the streets… It will be getting cold again now… Someone else needs it more than me!”
I told him that I would MAKE SURE that someone who needed it, got it. He smiled, and kept thanking me over and over! I told him to thank God, because it was GOD that kept putting me in the right place to be of service to him, and others.
Bus Ticket
He filled out his Bus Pass and I went outside with him, so he could have a smoke, before the Bus boarded!
New Friend
Chris smiled and said: “Oh… yes… I see… It’s God! God is my real parent!” and he reached into his pocket, and gave some of the money he had for food, to Mrs. “C” and told her: “I think God wants you to have this! Remember… He loves you!”
Bus Driver
Chris and the Bus Driver hit it off immediately! Ha ha!
Bus Driver
As you can see!
I know Chris is safe at home by now, and grateful for all the experiences he had! And to be honest… So was I.
GOD IS GOOD! He is ALWAYS good!
We just have to learn how to: LISTEN & OBEY!
Musicfest!
My friends Jeff Wade and Deborah, had invited me to the Gator Creek Music Festival in Middleburg the day before… I didn’t know that I would be spending 5 HOURS with Chris though! LOL
But they understood, and… I still made it there in time to catch a couple rockin’ tunes! And of course, once again, Jeff added: “You know brother… You can always stay with us if you need to!”
GOD IS GOOD!
Musicfest!
It was really one big JamFest! Everyone was switching instruments, rockin’ out… Brought back memories! ha ha!
Jeff and Debra
Me, Jeff and Debra!
Oh yeah… YOU KNOW, that afterwards… I drove ALL THE WAY BACK to the Beach, with that Jacket of Chris’s firmly in hand!
Jacket
And it was only minutes, before Rick showed up… As he walked over to me, I held out a Cigarette for him (from those I had left over) and… He accepted with a smile, cause he hadn’t even ASKED yet! LOL
But he did add: “Thank you for the cigarette friend, but… Actually, I noticed you had clothes hanging up in your van, and I didn’t know whether you had brought them to pass out or not?”
I asked: “What were you needing bro?”
Rick said: “It’s starting to get cold again…”
“So… you need a Jacket?” I asked.
“A jacket would be amazing!” he said. “I just have this t-Shirt right now!”
“Well Rick… Guess what I just happen to have right here? A special friend of mine gave this jacket up, for someone to use, and… I think he would probably like YOU to have it, but… It’s gonna cost you a PICTURE!” LOL
“Not a problem” Rick said! Ha ha!
And as you can see above… He was pretty happy with his score for the night! I know he’ll be more ready for that cold at least now!
REMEMBER MY FRIENDS:
God is LOVE. ALWAYS and ALL THE TIME!!
So… Let Him LOVE… THROUGH YOU!!
—– END OF DAY 004 —–
GO TO DAY 005: http://craigmaxim.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/day-005/
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Posted on November 17, 2011, in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. 1 Comment.
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