I Never Rode With Jose Cuervo Again

Our friend Justin led the Friday morning conversation at the Free Store.  To get the discussion rolling he asked the question, "Who has ever been lost?"  After a bit of silence Rick told us about a time he got drunk on Tequila while hunting.  Rather than drive home he decided to walk through the woods but after a while realized "the house was further than I thought" which made us laugh.  He eventually came to a street with a church on the left and a bar named "Bill's Place" on the right.  Rick did what anyone drunk on Tequila would do and chose the bar from where he called his ex-girlfriend to come get him.  He decided that while waiting he needed another drink which apparently didn't go over very well when his friend arrived and found him drinking at the bar.  He told us in a deadpan voice, "She was the only woman that ever slapped me."  Someone added that she probably wasn't the only woman that ever wanted to slap him, which made us laugh.  He finished the story by saying, "I never rode with Jose Cuervo again."

At this point our new friend Brad joined the conversation and talked about his experience of being spritually lost.  He said, "No matter which way I turned I was still lost."  But he said that when he humbled himself and asked for God's help that his life took a turn for the better.  Justin told us about taking a trip to Tennessee with his wife recently and how they were relying on a GPS electronic map but ultimately found themselves with no service and no map.  He said that sometimes we have to rely on other people to help us when we get stuck.  Justin said he had been thinking about Acts 2:42 and Luke 8:1 recently which talked about how Jesus and the early church learned to rely on others for the help and support needed in their lives.  He said that even Jesus relied on his friends to support his ministry out of their own resources.

We talked a bit about how difficult it can be to ask other people for help and to depend on others.  Someone said that his mom would often tell the story about when he was learning to tie his shoes and she would try to help him but he would say, "I do it myself" which made us laugh.  Our friend Brad said that he had learned that "you don't have to sell drugs" because "God will provide."  He also told us about a time when everything he owned was in storage but was going to auction unless he could come up with the rent money.  He said that he went to one church where the man held out his hand and offered to pray.  Brad asked the question, "What good is that?"  He said that he went to another church that after checking into his story helped him with his problem for which he was grateful.

As the conversation moved to a conclusion we talked about the importance of looking out for each other and learning to ask for help when we need it and give help when we can.  Rick said, "Sheila told me I needed to give some of my stuff up."  He went on to say, "I found 20 pairs of shoes I got from the free store" which made us laugh.  He said that since he didn't think he needed that many shoes he brought most of them back for someone that might need them.  Rick also said that "30 years ago things would set me off on instinct but now I let things go."  At this our friend Terrence said, "when you been on the bottom so long the only alternative is up."