GREEN SHOES

Green Shoes


"Hello Pastor Jeremy! Today is gonna be a good day Pastor Jeremy as long as I keep taking my medication Pastor Jeremy. God is good Pastor Jeremy. I am down to a few cigarrettes per day Pastor Jeremy. I tell ya Pastor Jeremy, God is watchin' out for me Pastor Jeremy. This HIV is killing me Pastor Jeremy. I just need to keep takin' my medication, right Pastor Jeremy?" "That's right Billy, you just keep taking that medication and rejoice in the Lord always." "That's right Pastor Jeremy."

I would like to introduce you to my friend Billy. Billy is a 55 year old black man who lives across the street from our church building in a "retirement center" for the mentally ill. Billy is a believer in Jesus and understands Jesus as his Lord. He always has a positive word to say, but struggles within the same conversations he has with himself on a daily basis. Billy includes me in his conversations and I am always happy he does. I am not sure what Billy's future holds for him, but I can tell you this, I will miss him when he finally goes home to be with the Lord. I see him around the city riding his 3 wheel bicycle. I get a little nervous for him, but he always seems to make it home.

Anyway, recently he made friends with a married couple at the Church of Hollywood Downtown who were only with us for a short time before they moved to California. He somehow managed to get their address and has been writing them now for over 6 months. Billy's basic needs are taken care of like food, shelter and clothing. I believe he receives $54.00 a month for spending money. He asked them if they would mind helping him with a new outfit. They agreed to send $50.00 and I agreed to take him shopping. Today was the day of our shopping spree.

I can only imagine the prayer. Lord, I know I am HIV positive. I know I am mentally ill and need to take my medication. I know I have a cigarrette addicition. I know my life could be better. I know You love me. I know I am a child of Yours. I would really like some green converse.........and God said yes.

Hmmmmmm.......

Isn't it amazing that God journeys with us? He takes delight in every detail of our lives. I am sure He enjoyed the smile on Billy's face when he put on those new green shoes. I don't think this is necessary to state, but I believe Billy is a reminder to us all that God takes pleasure in blessing His children. Have you thanked Him lately?

Thank you Billy for believing!

IT'S ABOUT TIME

It has been about a month since my last blog. I have been blog free for 30 days now and am experiencing some blog withdraw. The symtoms include bottled emotions, silent frustration, internal rejoicing, and uninfluenced lives.

Several people have said (well at least 3) "you haven't blogged in awhile, why not?" Quite frankly I haven't made the time. I say the "made" the time because the excuse of not "having" time is only a lie we tell ourselves to make excuses to others as to why we haven't done something. The reality is that we all make time to do the things that we want to do and somehow ignore the things that we know we need to do. I am not sure if I need to blog, but it apparently has been something that I have not wanted to do lately. So.......

This reality has caused me to evaluate my life in terms of wanting and needing. I would say that lately my life has been consumed by my wants and not necessary my needs. I suppose the goal is to make my wants my needs and my needs my wants so there is a consistency to my beliefs and behaviors. For instance, do I need to spend time in prayer. Yes, do I want to spend time in prayer? Do I need to spend more time with my family? Yes, do I want to spend more time with my family? Do I need to share Jesus with people? Yes, do I want to share Jesus with people? Do I need to love my neighbors? Yes, do I want to love my neighbors? The list goes on and on and on and on and on and on.

Time is a precious gift from God and every person is the universe is given the same amount of it. What is the difference between people who use their time vs. people who allow time to use them. It is time to take control of my time so I am more effective in my personal life and my public life. To that end, is blogging worth my time? I suppose you can answer that question for me by commenting on this blog. Of course, you will have to answer whether it is worth your time.