Last week I was helping out with a dinner and fellowship at my church. There were a few kids there, so of course I ended up playing with them. However, one thing about getting older that I’ve learned is that I have a certain amount of energy readily available; anything past that I have to take a break and recharge. Well, with some well-timed assistance from one of the younger guys in the men’s group I was able to affect my escape. I went out into the area where the dinner was happening and found a place to sit down. While sitting there I struck up a conversation with the guy sitting beside me, James.

James and I started talking, and he was talking about the time he had spent living in North Carolina. “It was wonderful. I had my own place, there was a park across the street, I had two good jobs, and the church was right down the road. I could walk everywhere I needed to go.” You see, James is currently homeless, and we are a long way from North Carolina.

“Then my Mom got sick, and we didn’t think she was going to make it. So, I moved back up here to take care of her. But, the Lord is amazing! She’s in better shape now than I am.” He took care of her for a while, and then when his little sister moved back she took over taking care of their mom, so he was able to move out.

His life took a few unexpected turns over the course of the next few years culminating on when he got sick, and had to go into the hospital for treatment. “I was sick, so I couldn’t work. Because, I couldn’t work, I lost my apartment.” That was when he dropped the real bomb. “I’m stage four, man. That’s as far as it goes. I got the treatments, the chemo, and last July, right after my birthday, I went into remission. Our God can do it all.”

“I got my saving built back up. Within a couple of months I should be out of here [the shelter system].” Overall, we talked for close to 90 minutes. For the most part I just let him talk, and listened. Though his circumstances had run the gamut from comfortably settled to terminal cancer homeless, his faith hadn’t wavered. His one constant was his faith in Christ and his belief that God would take care of him.

As I sat there listening, I couldn’t help but to think about my own life. I have a comfortable house, a career that keeps me and my family fed and clothed, and a series of “problems” that I deal with. If some the same things happened to me, if I lost all that I had, and was taken to the point that even my health was lost; would I have that kind of faith?

I would like to believe I would, but I can’t say without a doubt that that would be the case. Faith led me to start this blog, but I fought it for weeks and still I struggle to pick up this laptop and write as often as I should. I want to thank God for introducing me to James, and for showing me I still have a lot of growing to do. I hope James’ and my path cross again on this plane so I can thank him for showing me what true faith means.