Post here if you want to increase your post count

[rev-arb]

Story for the week.

Wed before our Children's program this strange guy comes in the church and into my office. He is distrought and not overly cohearant. Now, I do not scare very easy, but this guy freaked me out. He was looking for help. He hit a deer with his car, got fired because of it (no phone), and now has no money. We always have supper at church after the program so I invite him to stay and he does. He tells his story and even takes a bowl soup home. I tell him to come back in the morning and we will see what we can do to help. I call one of the elders to be there when he get there and I also c/carry that day. Talking to our deacons we figure that we can give some money for food and the elder and I even take him to the grocery store. What he did not use went to a gift certificate. (he bought well, no junk) As well, we took him to a place or two where we thought there might have been a job possibility. Take him home to his apt with the groceries and leave him there. (there was NO food in the fridge!) Anyway he shows up again on Fri. (3 days now) wants to use the phone to call a couple leads for jobs. Then he goes into a rant. My secretary was there and was very uneasy. Anyway, I call another deacon and we figure that we could buy him a tracphone so he could at least recieve a call from a possible employer. I take him to the RadioShack, get him the phone and take him home as well.
Here is the one bit of good news, he shows up in church today. Yet he comes in late and sneaks out early. I did not even get a chance to talk to him. However here is my dilema: How much more should I help him? I can not get a job for him. I can not as well drive him all over to look for one. I have given some leads, but becuse he is a general laborer in a skilled labor environment, it is gonna be tough. Untill spring there are not even going to be any construction jobs. Am I gonna just be the guy with the tough love and say that's it. I do not know. He is out of options. I am out of options to help. Any ideas?

(I do not beleive that he is just trying to work the system. One of the things we do it if people are asking for help, if we do not know them we will sometimes do a backgroud check. He came up clean but that does not always mean anything.)

[So Flo]

Good story, Rev.

I think you and your church have served this person well. It's sort of like the "give a man a fish...teach a man to fish" parable.

It must have lifted you up to have seen him in church today. Maybe he will continue to come and through some relationships built among the congregation, find gainful employment.

Each contact from here on will have to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis...encourage him but as you noted, maybe the time will have to come for some tough love.

[oklawall]

Rev,

That is a hard call, one one hand we are called to be good stewarts of God's gifts. But on the other we are to care for the lest of us. I think that I will go along with So Flo and say that you will have to judge on a case by case. My be ask the church if the have something a handy man could do? I hope the gifts that you/church have given him will bring in the doors and get him to stay in church.

[dave_in_delaware]

Greetings everyone. I'm sort of shocked to see little posting today. I figured I'd have to sift through 30+ pages, but I was actually happily surprised.

got up later than usual this morning. Felt good to get 2 extra hours of sleep. Took a shower, got dressed, then piddled around on the computer a while before my fiancee came over. We watched 3 movies, then spent some much-needed quality time together (yeah, you know..). She left about an hour ago to head over to her friend's house for coffee/chit-chat. So, I made some fried rice and a beef-n-chinese-veggies stir-fry for dinner tonight. I'm munching on that right now. It's ok, but would have been better if I had someone to share it with....

As far as the guy getting help at your church rev, I'd give it a little time and see what happens. Encouraging him is a good thing. Helping him out for a little while is a good thing. But enabling him to become dependent on your generosity is NOT a good thing. Granted, it's a shame what happened to him (though being fired for hitting a deer doesn't seem quite right). Believe me, I've been where he was: rock-bottom where life just seems to cruel to "try" sometimes. But we all have to pick ourselves up and move on, and take care of what we NEED to do. Luckily, my fiancee was there when I was at my lowest. And I thank God for her.... You've been there for this guy. I'm sure he appreciates your generosity and energy you've put into helping him out. But there's a limit, a fine line if you will, between helping and hurting someone. His self-esteem is damaged, and his "worth" as a man for providing for himself is also (yes, I speak from experience). Be there for him, not necessarily for money, but as a fellow human being. He needs people right now, so he doesn't stay in his damaged mode. I don't have the magic answer for you as far as what you should do or for how long, but you've been more help to him than you may realize. Good luck with it!

for those who read about the frozen waterfall pictures a while back, feel free to visit my thread on my trail ride from yesterday.
Trail Ride #3

Time to finish my dinner, and get some side work in tonight. Take care everyone. Hope your weekends were enjoyable.

[tec]

Originally Posted by Krackels

Wow, haven't seen you in a while. How you doing tec?

How's your hand?

Bone has healed. Still tender, still overly cautious with it. The finger nail is one ugly mother, black, white, red and raised up higher then the rest of the nail, and more importantly, it's still on the finger, at least for now.

Thanks for askin'.

[tec]

Originally Posted by Modoc Undertaker

Wow, my very first post on this forum...... While my post count isn't an issue with me...Losing my XD virginity at such an old age is (sigh!) Better late than never.......
Greetings all from the middle of now-where in Northern California...
So be gentle (at first) and help me understand the operations of this forum before someone scares me away!
Thanks.

Nothing to it.

Welcome to the site.

Post useless information here. Tell us story's/jokes etc. No politics, religion here. Its just a bunch of friends hanging out at So Flo's pool drinking whatever suites ya and shooting the bull.

[DanTheEldest]

Uh, sorry....I just haven't visited this thread in a while and it kind of tripped me out a bit to see the post count in five digits. Carry on, all.

And rev, I think you're doing exactly the right thing.

[So Flo]

Originally Posted by tec

Nothing to it.

Welcome to the site.

Post useless information here. Tell us story's/jokes etc. No politics, religion here. Its just a bunch of friends hanging out at So Flo's pool drinking whatever suites ya and shooting the bull.

tec, we are doing some religion here lately, but in a good way!

To clarify...no arguements over religion!

[llllllllll]

this is great!

[rev-arb]

stir-crazy

1. (idiomatic) Of a prisoner, mentally unbalanced due to prolonged incarceration.
2. By extension, restless, uncomfortable, or impatient due to inactivity.

   After so many days of rain, the kids started to get a bit stir-crazy.

3. TOTP Crazy!