I was in ROSS tonight picking up a belt. (I love it; I got it at ROSS — the commercial describes a lot of my wardrobe) I was not paying much attention to anyone else around me because, being a guy I don’t really shop, I go like a man on a mission straight to the item I seek, walk to the nearest cashier, and pride myself on how quickly the mission was accomplished. But, I digress…
A guy stopped me dead in my tracks in the aisle… “Gary Langley!” He looked surprised and really happy to see me. I recognized him immediately, though it has been years since I last saw him. I met him when I was teaching a class at the Waiawa Correctional Center, a minimum security prison for offenders on the end of their sentences. He was incarcerated and was in my class. After his release he briefly attended my church but violated his probation by using some recreational narcotics. I lost track of him until tonight in ROSS.
He told me that he was four years, 3 months, 2 weeks and 3 days clean and sober. He has also been employed for seven years at the same company, is now married with kids and owns a condo. It made my night. Okay, it made my week.
He expressed thanks for the small part I paid in helping him turn his life around. It reminded me, once again, of the power of Christ to transform a life filled with bad decisions, deliver people from addictions and redeem those we sometimes discard as lost causes. It also reminded me why we do what we do.
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” – Galatians 6:9 NIV