God Sightings at the Lamb Center

 God Works Through Facebook

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26 NIV

I am convinced that there is no such thing as a coincidence: that a coincidence is God acting anonymously. One of our guests, Ronald (real names are not used), is in his early 30s and has been struggling with addiction since he was a teenager and has never been able to string together any period of sobriety. Almost two months ago, Ronald was sitting at our morning Bible Study when he felt very sick. He decided to find a place outside to lie down, and as he was crossing the street, he passed out and his face hit the pavement. The bleeding from his face seemed bad but the real problem was the bleeding in his esophagus. Had Ronald made it into the woods to lie down, he most likely would have bled to death. Ronald discovered later that they had to resuscitate him while he was in the hospital.

When Ronald’s mother in New Jersey learned about her son’s health, she was naturally concerned. She contacted the Lamb Center asking about his condition and before long, I was contacted by his sister and aunt as well. Ronald stayed in Fairfax Hospital for a week and was then transferred to a medical respite bed at the Embry Rucker Shelter in Reston. Ronald had been at Embry Rucker slightly over a month when he came to the Lamb Center to show us his “30 day” chip since he was celebrating one month of sobriety. He stated this was the longest he had been sober on his own. About two weeks later, Ronald called me to tell me of an unbelievable call he had received.

Ronald last had contact with his father when he was three years old so he had no memory of him. When Ronald was in the hospital, his mother contacted Ronald’s uncle to let him know about Ronald’s condition. Ronald was contacted by his uncle through Facebook and this led to his father connecting with him as well. Ronald discovered he had inherited his alcoholic genes from his father and that his father had been sober for five years. After a long conversation, Ronald’s father invited him to move to South Carolina with him. Ronald called me to ask for my advice regarding this invitation but I could tell that Ronald had a heart of forgiveness and understanding for his father. Ronald’s father told him that he was also working on making amends to his mother.

Last Friday and Saturday mornings, we had special going away Bible Studies for Ronald, who had spent many hours at the table learning, questioning and growing. His father was going to pick him up after closing on Saturday, and Ronald admitted to having a stomach full of butterflies. I assured him that his father probably felt the same way as he made his way north to Virginia. On Wednesday morning, Ronald called me from South Carolina. He was attending Bible Study reading 1 John and he had a question. That morning, our Bible Study also happened to be on 1 John. Was this all a coincidence?

Your brother in Christ,

Dave




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