L came by today. She is out of Timberlawn and the hospital and I think for once sober. I went over to her apartment to see how she was. Her door was open and she was buried under blankets and bottles of Corona. Bleery eyed she awoke and was happy to see me. We hugged and I brought her over to my apartment to hang out.
L is defined by her surroundings. Her circumstances and false notions prevailing. Her brilliant mind and out-of-the-box perspective, give this woman, whose mother is a southern Baptist and father is Pentecostal, the exposure and knowledge that a lot of Christians are given at an early age. Condemnation escapes her, but what about God? Where does this biblical search for truth take place? For L, my wonderful friend, it is not a biblical search, but rather a search for what is really true. The intellect she has is clearly pushing her towards a deeper understanding of the truth. Questions such as did Jesus really exist-are not the problem. She knows he was real. But how could someone-God-inspire so many men to write all of this information, and accurately at that? She is fascinated by Job, and the suffering he went through, just to simply prove his love and devotion to God.
Sitting in my living room at my apartment, I think about this young woman, and what is running through her mind. T, my new friend whom I brought home with me from Florida, is reading from the Bible. He came to live with me after we spontaneously met at the Spring Break 2009 Beach Reach in Panama City. He was struggling and needed help. God used a bunch of us in PCB to give him a little nudge out of the water. In the week that he has been here, he has already done the bar scene, brought the California girl home, taken things that weren’t his, nearly OD’d on Oxy cotton and somehow managed to land a job playing the piano for a cigar club in Downtown Dallas. Although he is a brilliant pianist, this man, this 23 year old kid, has so much to learn, and I can see him going through growing pains. He is propped up in the black leather chair across from me as we, along with some friends, listen to L talk about her thoughts and struggles. He opens up, and finally hears. Grabbing a Bible he reads from Ecclesiastes 7. He does the classic randomly open the bible ove and see what God has for e technique. L listens. His past gives him the opportunity to relate to her. I have already described her to you my friends, but this is new side to L. I can’t connect with her like T is connecting with her at this moment. She is sober and thinking-formulating thoughts that I can understand. His voice has power, perspective. She heard him.
Prayer. Continue to pray for my friend L, and my new friend T. Pray for revelation and understanding. I looked into her eyes this afternoon, in the midst of her and T’ banter, and saw a light that I have not seen in a long time. Her words weren’t slurred and her speech was normal. Today she heard- pray that she will listen and pray that we have more days like this where we are able to continue sharing the love and hope of God’s grace!