1950 LORD OF THE RINGS
These past few weeks have been
somewhat of a whirlwind.
Every so often in life you hit a
stage when multiple things come together.
Over time- as you get older- you
learn to take these times with a grain of salt.
That is- you don’t get overly
excited about them.
Yet- you see ‘oh yea- this is one
of those times’.
There are usually lots of signs
that accompany these moments in life.
Let’s name a few.
A couple of months back I went to
a part of town that I usually don’t go to.
I wrote a few posts on it- met a
few homeless guys- and felt like we needed to do some type of ministry in this
area.
Then within a few days one of my
good friends wound up in the hospital for triple bypass surgery.
I have known John David and both
of his brothers for years- Andy and Huey- they are all street guys where I
live.
So- we went to see John David in
the hospital- come to find out they thought he was going to die after the
surgery.
They had to resuscitate him once.
So- John David has asked me- a
few years back- if I would help him do a halfway house.
Now- over all the years of
ministry- I have worked with ministries like this.
And I was interested- but really
did not know if it would fly.
John David is a very smart guy-
he once owned one of the biggest concrete businesses in the area.
Made tons of money over the
years.
He lost it all when he became a
hardcore addict.
So- I knew he had the smarts for
the business aspect- but John is sort of new to the faith.
It’s been a couple of years and
he has that new excitement that young Christians have.
So- I just tried to encourage
him- and when he gets too many ideas I realize he’s like a lot of us- we
sometimes over do it.
But since he had the surgery- he
called me the other day and that was the first day of the new halfway house
ministry.
Okay- some signs.
I did not realize that the first
house [there are now 2] was only a few blocks from my original foray into that
part of town.
I met the homeless guys on Morgan
and Cross-town [you locals know the spot] and John David opened up the first
room at Mary and 20th st.
Walking distance from the spot.
I only realized it later [you
take different routes to get there- it never dawned on me that the day I spent
with the homeless guys was right there- when we left John David’s house the
other day- I realized that was the same spot where I hung out].
That was the first ‘sign’.
I have been praying for years here in my yard-
it’s really like a prayer garden- I walk the yard and have all types of prayer
markers.
Facing certain ways- praying for
the nations that are in that direction- recognizing the star clusters each time
of the year.
When you pray early like this-
you see lots of shooting stars and come to familiarize yourself with the
‘heavens and earth’.
Anyway- I have this gazebo with hundreds
of painted names of prisoners I have collected over the years.
These are cases where people got
sent to prison for long periods of time.
So- being I work with street
guys- they are sort of my collection- I might run into them some day on the
street.
So- this gazebo is like a prayer
spot- it represents a community of people.
I also have lots of verses on it.
Over the years I have collected
street signs.
Yeah- you’re not supposed to pick
them up- but I have.
These are various signs that I
found along the road [on the ground or in the trash]- my daughter came home one
year with one- she’s like ‘hey dad- we found you one’.
So- I have about 3 or 4 like
this.
I have them hanging on this
gazebo thing.
Yesterday as I was walking and
praying- praying about the halfway house- seeing how the location was
‘prophetic’.
As I’m walking past this gazebo-
early in the morning- I must have walked it 30 thousand times before.
I look up- right there- one of
the signs says ‘STAPLES AND MARY’.
That’s the actual street that the
halfway house is on.
That street is also the
connecting street to the second house [on Laredo].
Yeah- Staples and Mary is the
main connection for the homes.
Now- Corpus is big- to ‘accidently’
have that sign- that crosses right there- well that’s a bit much.
Last but not least.
Right when I got back from my Jersey
trip- the first chapter I read/studied was Luke 15.
For some reason the story about
the father putting a ring on the son- it got me to thinking about getting a
ring.
Now- I am not a jewelry type of
guy.
I have lost multiple wedding rings
over the years.
And at the fire house we would
take them off.
Yeah- they are a hazard.
There are many stories about guys
getting their fingers pulled off when the ring catches something.
So- I haven’t had a ring in
years.
But- it’s in my head- so I’m on
the hunt.
I stopped at the local pawn shop-
I had a homeless friend who died years ago- Bill.
One day I was in there with Bill-
and he spotted this ring that he liked a lot.
It had a horse on it.
Personally- I didn’t like it that
much- but I thought ‘hey- if that ring is there- I’ll get it’.
Sort of like a reminder of my friend.
It was long gone.
So I hit Wal Mart [yeah- the last
resort spot].
They had 2 nice gold rings- with
Crosses.
But they wanted a couple of hundred
for them- I wasn’t gonna go for that [heck- what if we go over the fiscal
cliff!]
About 2 weeks before I mentioned
to the street guys ‘hey- I’m looking for a ring- with a Cross on it- if you
find one- I’ll buy it’.
Now- I let them know I don’t not
want a ‘hot’ ring.
I have had guys wanting to sell
me stuff at a cheap rate- stolen stuff.
I told them I would never do
that.
So- the next day- after my failed
venture at obtaining the ring.
I am getting ready to go to the
mission.
I’m in the bathroom and my cell
phone rings.
My daughter says ‘dad- your phone
is ringing’.
I ask ‘who is it’?
She says ‘it says Martin’.
Martin is the last name of the 3
amigos- John David- Andy and Huey.
I ask ‘which one’?
She says ‘H martin’.
‘O- That’s Huey- just leave it- I’m
gonna see him in a minute’.
So- I leave the house- don’t check
the message [I never check my messages].
And as I head out I think ‘geez-
maybe I should hit the other pawn shop- right passed the mission’.
I’m kinda praying about it.
Then I feel like the Lord is
saying ‘son- in Luke 15- the father gave the son a ring- wait till I give you
one’.
Right then I make the turn into
the mission.
Huey says ‘hey- did you get my
message’.
I told him no- I figured I’d see
him right now.
He says ‘I got your ring’.
Yeah- I gave 12 bucks for the
thing.
But it’s a nice ring- a copper
stress ring.
It says ‘TRUST GOD’.
It has 2 Crosses on it.
Probably a 35-50 dollar ring.
[It wasn’t stolen- the guy who
owned it was right there- Huey talked him into selling the thing for quick
cash].
Yeah- as I have grown older I try
not to overdo the sign thing.
But- at the same time- I also try
not to ‘under do’ them.
The bible says God is in control
of the affairs of men.
Nothing happens without his
permission.
Yeah- I guess you can even say-
He’s
THE LORD OF THE RINGS.
NOTE- As a side note- the ring
was given to me by Huey- John David’s brother.
Rings denote partnership in
scripture.
It was interesting that John
David’s brother was the one who gave me the ring- I would be ‘partnering’ with
him in just a few more days.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
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