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(January 9, 2006) Old Test Article Here (January 2, 2006) So Much to Say...That Others Have Already Said (December 23, 2005) Narnia - at last! (December 8, 2005) Lewis on our Eating Disorder (December 1, 2005) North Korea - Revealing the Darkness (November 20, 2005) Shining - Like You've Never Seen it Before (November 15, 2005) Are You Emerging? (November 3, 2005) emotion in China (May 25, 2008) what 1 Euro could buy you if you came to visit (May 11, 2008) on visa-runs and escaping hotel fires (May 4, 2008) recent observations & discoveries (April 30, 2008) on ordering water and near tricycle collisions (April 16, 2008) on learning Chinese and on how to catch a bad flu at the park (April 10, 2008) highlights (April 9, 2008) Foreign media must have Facebook access during Olympics, IOC tells China (April 2, 2008) Home Sweet Home (March 26, 2008) Then and Now (March 26, 2008) stranded bags! (March 8, 2008) on visas, weddings, how to get free food & funny hair dos (March 4, 2008) Warm greetings! (February 12, 2008) A Whole New World (February 5, 2008) Newness in the New Year (January 6, 2008) The Feast of Life (November 23, 2007) Our Paris (November 11, 2007) A Freezing Wilderness Retreat (October 22, 2007) Reflections from a Recovering Bride (October 8, 2007) Mr. and Mrs. Brumme (September 29, 2007) One Month and Counting (August 22, 2007) Everything French (July 19, 2007) Open Wide Your Mouths! (July 9, 2007) Learning from Trees (July 3, 2007) A City of Lights - The Paris of Central Europe (June 25, 2007) Brumme's Descend on Europe (June 8, 2007) I Said Yes! (May 13, 2007) Liaisons and Goodness Abound (April 22, 2007) Gourmet Cuisine Catastrophe (March 21, 2007) It Really Has Been Too Long This Time (March 15, 2007) The French Postal System, V-Day, and Other Tidbits (February 21, 2007) Celebrating in Paris, Working in Oxford & Relaxing in the Alps (January 29, 2007) With Ma Petite Amie at Last! (January 11, 2007) Hanging on for the Ride (December 31, 2006) A New Life (December 18, 2006) I've Gotta Go See About a Girl (November 23, 2006) On France (November 10, 2006) Liberating Love, an Awkward Transition and Christmas Candy (November 1, 2006) The Western Bible (October 20, 2006) The Whole Church Gathered (October 3, 2006) On Steve Irwin (September 7, 2006) Lewis on Happiness (August 10, 2006) The Tragic "Unthinkable Crisis" (July 27, 2006) Not My Life (July 6, 2006) The Two Year Reunion (June 10, 2006) A Fishy Story Set Right (May 26, 2006) Response to "The Wedding Planner" by Sagers (April 30, 2006) White Bunnies and Bloody Lambs (April 14, 2006) Flexing Our Political Muscle (March 22, 2006) For Your Viewing Pleasure (March 7, 2006) Come to Our Church! (February 21, 2006) Peanuts and Airplanes (February 15, 2006) Confessing My Ignorance (January 30, 2006) The Jewish Kid Jesus (January 16, 2006) Friends...A Dime a Dozen? (January 9, 2006) Old Test Article Here (January 2, 2006) So Much to Say...That Others Have Already Said (December 23, 2005) Narnia - at last! (December 8, 2005) Lewis on our Eating Disorder (December 1, 2005) North Korea - Revealing the Darkness (November 20, 2005) Shining - Like You've Never Seen it Before (November 15, 2005) Are You Emerging? (November 3, 2005) A Life of Profound Significance (October 26, 2005) The Earth at Your Fingertips (October 18, 2005) A Surprise Appointment (October 15, 2005) Wars and Rumors of Wars (October 3, 2005) Laughing in the Rain (September 20, 2005) Random Tid-Bits and Happenings (September 15, 2005) Life and Death and Terrorists (August 30, 2005) Girls and Boys and God (August 25, 2005) Feasting and Worship (August 17, 2005) Blogger's Block (August 6, 2005) The Harvest in China (August 2, 2005) Counting the Cost (July 24, 2005) Absolutely Outstanding Bit of Writing (July 18, 2005) Burning Alive (July 14, 2005) Jesus and the Glory Golf Balls (July 10, 2005) Those Things We Hold On To (July 7, 2005) Grape Juice, Poured Out for the Forgiveness of Sin (June 30, 2005) He Will Ruin Your Life (June 28, 2005) A Bit of Perspective (June 25, 2005) The Wedding Planner (June 22, 2005) A Lesson in Patience Amidst Absurdity (June 16, 2005) Fans of Hitler (June 15, 2005) Crash and Stories (June 12, 2005) Pastors and Leaders - Different Views (June 10, 2005) Senior Pastors (June 5, 2005) Ask and You Shall Receive (June 2, 2005) What If (May 27, 2005) The "Bible Study" (May 24, 2005) The Future of Pixar (May 19, 2005) The Mess We Christians Have Made (May 14, 2005) Narnia Coming to the Big Screen (May 10, 2005) Europe - Through the Lens of My Camera (May 7, 2005) Same Sex Families (May 6, 2005) Photos of Mercy (May 3, 2005) Across an Ocean... (April 21, 2005) The Picture, The Pope, and The Past Few Days (April 12, 2005) In the Car with My (air) Guitar (April 6, 2005) The Pope (April 4, 2005) Resurrection Day (March 27, 2005) Killing People (March 23, 2005) Weekend of Surprises (March 22, 2005) The Fray - Listen to this (March 12, 2005) Akiane....This is Amazing (March 11, 2005) Jesus Christ (March 8, 2005) Worthy Thoughts on The Passion (March 7, 2005) Dream Days at Church (March 3, 2005) Peace Amidst Ambiguity (March 1, 2005) A Verse I Hadn't Noticed Before (February 25, 2005) McLaren and Hotel Rwanda...another perspective (February 19, 2005) Brother Andrew is on to something (February 16, 2005) My Valentine (February 14, 2005) Homecoming...strange (February 13, 2005) Hotel Rwanda (February 10, 2005) The Update (February 6, 2005) Malibu...Thailand...Palm Desert (January 1, 2005) Get Ready Thailand...I'm Coming! (September 25, 2004) God Speaks? Really? (May 29, 2004) Life Beyond Graduation (May 1, 2004) God's Faithfulness in Morocco (October 8, 2002)
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Our Thoughts
| December 18, 2006 | | A New Life |
The Beginning
Nearly two years ago, I met Shawn and his mother for the first time. Even though I had been praying that God might connect me with those in most desperate need of His love and grace, I was not expecting 13-year-old Shawn and his mother.
Shortly after meeting Shawn’s mom, I had Shawn and her over for dinner. It was then I first heard their story. They had fled across the country years ago from an abusive father/husband, literally fleeing in the middle of the night. And simply put, they had struggled ever since. They’d moved around often as Shawn’s mom tried to make ends meet. Shawn didn’t make things any easier. The anger, pain and trauma caused by his abusive father resulted in Shawn acting up in school and getting into all kinds of trouble.
When I met them, they were living in the same apartment complex as me, sub-leasing illegally from an active drug user, sleeping on his couch. Shawn had been in one too many fights, and the school administration was recommending he be expelled.
I stepped in, helping to tutor him in the hopes that if he could get his grades up it might reflect well at his expulsion hearing. I saw so clearly in those interactions that Shawn was smart, gifted and capable. He was a natural born leader, but the enemy had it out for Shawn from a young age. He never had the chance to grow up in a healthy environment.
I joined Shawn and his mother at the expulsion hearing, advocating briefly for the school system to give him another chance. But as far as they were concerned, Shawn had already been given plenty of chances. He was expelled a few days later, just weeks before completing his 8th grade year.
Shawn grew angrier and his mother grew more desperate. Kicked out of school, he had nowhere to be during the day. Add in the fact that his mother was gone at work day and night just to pay their (illegally-arranged) rent, and you had a recipe for disaster.
Sure enough, Shawn got in with the wrong crowd and began using drugs and alcohol. Although she cared about him deeply, his mother never had any parental control over him. Obscenities abounded from his mouth, and at times, he even threatened his mother physically. He was literally out of control. It wasn’t long before Shawn was picked up by the police and spent his first time in Juvenile Hall.
My church community heard of their plight and rallied to the cause. Furniture was donated and money provided to get Shawn and his mom into an apartment of their own. We even found a ministry for troubled teens that offered to get Shawn on track with his studies in a boot camp type of environment.
The End?
They had been handed a golden ticket out of the mess, but they tore the ticket up and walked away from all that was offered to them. I was astounded, but later came to realize they just weren’t ready for the real change that needed to happen in both of their lives. They walked away. And so, as hard as it was, I backed out of the picture and stopped answering his mother’s calls.
It was perplexing. I had so clearly seen God’s hand in my interactions with them, and His amazing provision was apparent in so many ways. How could the story end like this?
Although I didn’t know it at the time, the story was far from over.
Round Two
Fast-forward almost a year later. I’d heard only bits and pieces from Shawn’s mother, but knew things were not well. Juvenile Hall became more and more familiar to Shawn as he went in and out. He had even disappeared for a couple of months, leaving his mother no idea where he was.
In April this year, I was driving home when I heard the Lord say clearly, “Call Shawn’s mother.” I brushed the thought off quickly, thinking it absurd. Why would I call her? But I couldn’t shake the strong impression that it was the Lord’s voice that had spoken, not my own. So an hour later, I relented and called her. To my surprise, the first words out of her mouth were “I’ve been meaning to call you.” She then filled me in. Shawn had been dumped unconscious at the hospital. He had cocaine in his system and his blood alcohol level was off the charts, especially for a guy his size. As a result, he was in Juvenile Hall with an impeding court date. He was in deep this time. Months in Juvenile Hall or placement in a group home were the only likely outcomes.
Shawn’s mother had no idea what to do, and only a week to figure something out before the court date. It was clear to me the time was ripe to get involved again. But it was different this time. God had called me back into the fray, so I was trusting He had something in mind. I knew the only hope for Shawn was to get into a place where he could learn who God is, learn about God’s love for him, and receive true healing from the wounds of his past.
I put a few calls in to some Teen Challenge programs around the country, being vaguely familiar with their reputation as an intensive rehab program for teens with a strong biblical focus. I found an opening in a few programs, but the costs were well beyond what Shawn’s mother could afford. So I put out a cry for help once again to my church community. Many generous folks rallied to the cause again, but it wasn’t enough.
It was near the end of the day on Friday. I was going out of town the next day. Shawn’s court date was at the start of the week. There was no hope in sight, and we were down to a few hours for that to change.
And it did. A woman from my church called me with the name of a guy to call. “He might be able to help.” So at 4:50pm on Friday afternoon, I called him. And he gave me the name of another guy, who gave me the name of a pastor starting a new Teen Challenge program in Nevada. I called and left him a message, and an hour later he called back. Within minutes, he had agreed to accept Shawn, sight unseen, whether or not his mother could afford the program. I conferenced his mother in on a 3-day call with the pastor, and moments later it was decided. On my way to the airport the next day, I picked up a faxed letter of acceptance to show the court and dropped it off with Shawn’s mother.
While I was out of town, Shawn went through several times in court. The judge had concerns about the Teen Challenge program being “enough” for Shawn’s needs. But it all changed when the pastor from Nevada drove 6 hours to join Shawn in court and speak to the judge himself. The pastor had brought 2 kids from the program, allowing them to speak to the nature of the program. The judge was sold, and that day Shawn got in the car with the pastor and headed to Nevada for the start of the 10-month program.
A Changed Life
Shawn’s anger flared up often at the Teen Challenge program. But for the first time in his life, he was in a place where he could really receive the help he needed. Every now and then I would get an update on Shawn. There were, as you might expect, the occasional setbacks. But it seemed that overall some progress was being made.
Last week I was in Nevada for work. The timing was such that I had a free afternoon, and decided to visit Shawn at the Teen Challenge program. I hadn’t actually seen him for about 18 months, and I was not at all prepared for what I found.
When I pulled up to the program, Shawn was waiting outside to meet me and greeted me with a genuine handshake. He showed me around, and I knew something significant had changed. This was not the same Shawn. We sat down with the pastor and talked about the past months of his life. I couldn’t believe the Shawn I was talking to. He is a new person. He was fasting and praying that day. I heard him singing the praise song “I Could Sing of Your Love Forever” as he walked down the hall. I saw him smile and laugh – this was a first. I took him to dinner, and he prayed for our meal with a wisdom and maturity that baffled me. Shawn loves Jesus! And he really gets it. I think for the first time in his life, he has hope.
There is more work to be done in Shawn’s life. But without question, Shawn is a new person. I was so blessed an amazed by my brief visit with him. What a faithful God we serve!
I don’t know what God has in store for Shawn. But it’s so clear that Abba Father’s love for Shawn is overwhelming. More than once, I heard Shawn say with great sincerity, “God is so gracious.” What a true statement! We serve a good, gracious and loving Father. What a joy it is to be called sons and daughters of God!
As we parted, Shawn said “thank you” and reached up and gave me a hug. I stood there stunned, never having imagined that such a transformation would take place in Shawn’s life. Thank you Lord!
Some names and details have been changed for privacy reasons.
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