So after church today I came home for a bit to check on the dogs. Patty was still at church helping with the rootbeer float fund raiser. There was a message on my answering machine from my friend. I had invited him to church but he said he slept in. Anyhow, I called him back right when I got home and he asked if he could come over for a bit. I said sure, or that I could go to his house. He said he would ride his bike over.

He came right over, and I have to be honest, the last time I saw him he was coming off of that bender and he looked really bad. well today he looked much better and the shakes had toned way down and his face and eyes looked much improved. He had talked to his ex-wife earlier while I was at church and they had a not so nice conversation from what he told me. He was just needing someone to talk to as he felt like heading out and getting ripped. I told him that he did the right thing by calling me. It is good that he is able to recognize the triggers that set him off.

We spent about an hour in my house just shooting the breeze and sharing with each other. I learned a lot more about him just through our conversation. I asked him if I could pray with him and he said sure. I told him that prayer is a powerful thing. He says he does read his bible and prays. He has a Catholic background, but hey who cares? God is God. He doesn't care if you're Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, or whatever. As long as you have a relationship with Him, that is what matters.

I am so glad the Lord has brought me into this guys life. He really is a nice guy when he's sober. He has not had a drink in 8 days and that is great. If he continues to abstain, it will get easier for him. I remember trying to convince myself that I could drink and control it. However, it never worked for me. Every time I tried to drink, it turned into another bender and they were usually worse than the binge before.

He has lost most of his friends and family due to his drinking. I have the opportunity now to be his friend. I have a chance to bring the Kingdom to him and show him Christ's love.

Another very cool thing that happened today was with Patty. She was talking to Bonnie at church this morning. Bonnie is such a sweet lady. She is Pastor Mark's wife and works in Hospice. She knows about Patty's mom's situation and Patty was telling her that she was struggling with whether or not to go on this Ireland Mission trip. Bonnie told her to go ahead and ask her mom what she thought, so she did. Her mom told her that she wanted her to go to Ireland. Patty took that as a confirmation and now feels better about going. Should her mom pass while she was in Ireland, she would just have to come back. Her and Shannon are planning to go see her right when school is out for a visit.

We are also thinking and praying about moving out to Higley near where the Amadeo Church plant will be. We're going to talk to Ben who has his Realtor's License now and he should be able to hook us up with a deal. We're going on the church plant regardless, but it really would be very cool and appropriate I think to live in the community you're trying to minister to. Plus, we'd be much closer to Ben and Mandy and would be able to get together more often.

Godspeed to all of you. Peace Out!