Had an interesting

visit last night with a self-proclaimed alcoholic. Pop and I visited this guy a few months ago and he came a couple of times. Pop’s been back since and has a real burden for him. So we went again last night to see if there was anything we could help with. His son is in jail in Montgomery county right now, picked up for driving with a suspended license. Been in about 3 weeks now. The interesting part to me was in how he described himself, almost as if in the third person. Typical description of an addict and echoes Pauls words in Romans 7:15 – one of my personal favorite Bible passages. He says, one day I go to church, the next I’m out partying, going home with different women (a bit of a stretch there, I think) and sometimes falling down drunk. God doesn’t want me there. Pop was gentle, never seen him like that. We prayed together and hope to see him soon.

Well, BIL is home resting and recovering. Went home Monday. Very strange, I’m still trying to sort through all that happened and the response towards it. If something like that happened to me, I don’t know how I would respond. I hope that I would have a deep gratitude for a second chance at life but I think it would be like anything else in life, you don’t know until you actually experience it. I found an article on the subject that I included in the newsletter that I mailed yesterday, it talks about how it seems to be easier to experience God on the extremes of life and I think that is true. We talk about it often in class, how most of the time you need to bottom out to look up. JM’s experience is interesting because it doesn’t follow that prescription, he found God whilst observing His beauty. I think that is an exception but my view is most likely skewed by my own background and upbringing. At any rate, BIL is home and we hope to see him in class soon. Late.