I was reminded yesterday how important friendships are, especially in the
difficult epidemically-produced times of quarantine that so many of us have had
to endure in the last weeks and months.
Yesterday,
I got a call from a "good buddy" of mine to come join him and another
friend for a quick nine holes of golf at his club. Normally, I jump at the
chance to play a round of golf, but with the time I have spent locked indoors,
trying to stay healthy and out of the heat indices of 104 degrees, I must admit
my first instinct told me to say, "No
thanks." But what came out of
my mouth was, "What time should I be
there?" And before I knew it, I was out the door to enjoy some golf,
but more than that....time with two male friends, laughing, joking and ribbing
one another; as though nothing in the world could get us down.
Which
got me thinking back to another time in my life when I had the opportunity to
befriend a very small, and often unlovable group of young men. It was the
summer of my eighteenth birthday and I had raised over a $1000 to take 10 young
men (ages12-16) to a summer camp sponsored by Youth for Christ of Charlotte.
The camp was called Lifeline and it was a camp for delinquent boys who had been
in trouble with the law... and if things did not change in their lives, they
were probably heading for prison sometime down their life's path.
Now
this was a YFC sponsored program that was taking place across the country and
after hearing one of the founders of the program speak and share the testimony
of what his community of believers had done in Miami, I wanted to do likewise
in our community in Charlotte. After speaking with our Executive Director of
YFC Charlotte, and with his blessing, I went to work...and God blessed our efforts
with the monies needed to take our guys to a camp just outside of Raleigh, NC.
The
first day in camp, the oldest of the young men (Glen D. age 16), grabbed me
from behind, like he wanted to tussle and see who was going to be the alpha dog
in our group. After all, he outweighed me by 20 pounds and stood 2 inches
taller.... so he took his cigarette and held it to my arm and gave me quite a
burn...I still have the scar to prove it. But it was in the next second that
God took hold of my heart and taught me what it meant to turn the other cheek.
I wanted to knock him flat; but I knew in that instant in so doing, nothing
else I would say or do in the week that followed would find fertile ground in
his heart if I retaliated and fought back.
So,
I threw him off, shook my fist in his face and let him know in no uncertain
terms, this was not going to EVER HAPPEN AGAIN...or he would be toast !!!! From
that moment on, we settled into an uneasy friendship, but before the week was
over, Glen gave his heart to the Lord and became my brother in Christ. Over the
next eleven weeks of that summer, I spent time with my guys...shooting hoops,
eating pizza, playing Putt-Putt and becoming friends...it was one of the best
times of male bonding I ever experienced in my life.
Why
do I share this story of Glen? Well, Glen was 16 and just heading into the
ninth grade. He lived with his 74 year old grandmother because his mother was a
drug addict and his father had been in prison since he was eight. No one cared
for him and he was ALWAYS in trouble with someone, having broken some law or
involved in a fight or worse. He was headed for prison, probably before the age
of twenty...BUT GOD (my two favorite words) had a better plan. God
brought Glen into my world for two reasons...so his world and his outlook on
life would change and so Glen would change me. For Glen, giving his life to
Christ opened doors of joy that I am sure he never imagined. In school that year,
he became the President of his student body, became a better student and went
from D's to B's...and best of all, had no more altercations with his peers....yes,
Glen had truly changed and was on to a better, more fulfilling life.
For
me, he helped me truly appreciate the family that had raised me and for our
steadfast love that held us together in some pretty rough times. I learned in
watching him that you only stay the way you are because no one has taken the
time to show you a better, more life-giving way in which to live. I had given
Glen that opportunity because God laid it on my heart to make a difference in
the lives of these 10 young men. Scripture says in best in Matthew 25:40,
And the king
will answer them, ‘I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the
least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me.’
I
wish I could tell you what happened to those young men after we parted that
summer. I was off to college and then, within a few years, I enlisted in the
Navy (and that's a bonding story for another day). I do know that 8 out of
the 10 guys did make professions of faith at camp that summer... I know that we
had Bible studies every two weeks during that summer and I was there to watch
as their faith and confidence grew. It has always been my prayer that the
commitments they made that summer had a life-long impact on the men they
became. If it did, then the poem that
follows is one I penned to celebrate them and the courage it took to rise above
their circumstances...so Glen, this one's for you and the boys!!!
Thankful
for each of you...Walking in the Way,
WPQ
YOU
STAND BY ME...
If
you were like the world, you would have long since turned away
And
left me with my struggles as I wrestle with life each day.
You
would have washed your hands and turned your back on me;
Left
me to fight my demons; bound by my destiny.
From broken home to troubled youth, everyone
turned and ran
And
left me with my emptiness that no one could understand.
You
could have been like all the rest and given up on me
But
you, my Lord, had a better plan....one that would set me free.
You
sent your one and only Son to show your tender love
And
when I came to trust in you, you showered me from above.
With
laughter, joy and your sweet peace that filled my life anew....
You
sent your Son to ransom me, so I put my faith in you.
A
faith so ever fragile that I was sure it could not last;
But
down every road that we would travel, I walked further from my past.
I
wasn't sure what I could become; never knew who I could be....
But
in every step we took together, you were there to stand by me.
So
if I live to be a hundred, those years will be too few
To
tell the world what you mean to me and all that we've been through.
My
list of all I owe you is in the life that the world can see...
And
it's all because of who you are and that
YOU
ALWAYS STAND BY ME!
WPQ
© July 2020
No comments:
Post a Comment