the stories of three men

so mark came to the door today and,
as he put it,
he was sorta wrecked

over and over he kept saying
i can't i can't i can't
turn my life around
i'm a hardcore drunk
and i don't care if i die tonight

he said, what's a girl like you
doing in a neighborhood like this?
don't you know that you can't change a thing?
don't you know that you could be -
and deserve to be -
anywhere but here?
the west side, he said,
the west side isn't good

yes, i said, but
there is joy
and i'm happier than
i've ever been
and the difference is
obedience
and why wouldn't i
choose His way?
i said

you're sincere
you're a sweet heart
you're a good girl
he said

he says most people don't
take the time to ask the questions
to care about the plight of
folks like him
but yet here you are
and this seemed to amaze him

so then he came to church
in the prayer garage
with me, tony, michael, chip, kristen, & lily
and it was probably the first time
that man has set foot in a church
so he didn't know the script
and besides that he was drunk
but he stayed through the worship
and part of the discussion on luke 12
when we got to the part about
"fear him who after the killing of the body
can throw you into hell"
he said
we can stop reading right there
i'm going to hell
i'm going south

when we sang he said,
that's almost enough to
make me turn my life around

but for tonight he walked out
as yet unchanged but
he said after he's
gotten drunk and high again tonight
he'll wake up tomorrow thinking about
these conversations we had
and he will think on it

for tonight that will have to be
enough

-----

also today when i stopped by the new laundry/computer ministry called Matthew's House a couple blocks from here, i heard the story of a thieving, cheating, adulterous, alcoholic man who is celebrating his 9th birthday as a child of God. he was born on the day that a gentle breeze passed through his house and enveloped him in a blanket of peace, after a month of sitting glued to the word weeping and crying out to God, which he was doing in the first place because the holy spirit had a word for him through the mouth of an unsuspecting pastor at a church he went to only because he felt too ashamed not to. so i guess Jesus had his number. he was rescued. he is new. i needed to hear that story today.

-----
and also today chip started school. at age 40 he is a freshman at kuyper college, where he will be taking new testament survey, among other things, and is headed toward a degree in social work. we are so proud. of chip and jesus, both.(i should probably mention that i made him put on the backpack, carry the lunch pail, and take a First Day of School picture)