Guiding Light!
Answered Prayer!
He answered their prayers, because they trusted in him. 1 Chronicles 5:20b
For the past couple of months I have been visiting a young man in the Juvenile Detention Center whom his family has abandoned. He was incarcerated for being an habitual runaway. I don't know all the details of why he continued to runaway or why his family won't visit him or accept his telephone calls. It is not my concern of the "whys," it is only my concern that God used an employee of the center to contact me to come and visit him. He needed to know somebody cares about him.
We spend time sharing in God's word, and the importance of making right decisions in life to keep out of trouble. He is a good kid seeking love and acceptance. He has made some poor choices in the past that landed him in the juvenile detention center and now he has to pay the price for those poor choices. He understands this now and wants to get his act together, but he is unsure and somewhat afraid of the future.
He turned 18 on January 1st and was transferred across the street to the County jail. He was scared about this move, a child going in with the big boys. We have tried to assure him that it is not like what you hear or see on TV, but neither is it a cake walk. He will still be expected to obey the rules and keep his nose clean. It is a time to grow up!
He goes to court on Jan 10th for the judge to decide his fate on whether he stays in or gets out. I have talked to his probation officer and she is going to recommend to the judge that he let him out of jail free and clear without any probation. Her concern is where will he go to live, a valid concern for someone who cares. As it turns out his mother won't let him come home, his friends family won't let him come stay there, his family down south don't want him.
The probation officer called the job corps and they told her it would take at least two months to get him placed in a facility and it would most likely be out of state. I contacted the Army recruiter and he told me he would have to have at a minimum a High School GED, which he doesn't have and the next test isn't for another month so he is looking at least another six weeks to get into the Army. The dilemma! What to do now? She doesn't want to let him out of jail with no where to go, but she doesn't want to keep him in jail. She called me and asked if I had any ideas. We talked for a while and tossed around a few options but none seemed viable. I told her I would pray about this and ask our youth minister to pray also.
I shared with our youth minister all the details and asked him to be in prayer about a solution. We prayed and we left it in God's hands. As I continued to rack my brain for a solution and to lift it up in prayer the answer came last Friday night. I was returning home from the Christian book store and decided to stop and eat dinner. My first thought was to go to the old favorite standby, the Mongolian Bar-B-Q. As I was approaching a favorite Mexican restaurant I thought that sounds better than stir fry tonight but I was in the wrong lane and couldn't get over in time. As I traveled down the boulevard I was approaching another favorite Mexican restaurant, in the right lane to make a turn too. But something kept moving me towards the stir fry place, I didn't think to much about it at the time but kept driving past my favorite Mexican restaurants.
When I went into the restaurant I saw an old friend I haven't seen in years, he was with about a dozen young men. I sit down in a chair next to him to visit and asked him the normal pleasantries we do when we haven't seen one another in a long time. I asked him who all the kids were, he replied it was the kids from his work. I thought this rather peculiar all young kids from work? So I asked him, where are you working now? He replied, "At the job corp, where I have been for 15 years." The light went on in my eyes, God you are so awesome, this is why you led me here.
As I shared the story about the kid in juvie and the dilemma we were facing he assured me that it wouldn't be a problem placing this young man immediately. I asked him, do you have empty beds? Oh yes of course, he said. He then gave me the phone number of the state director and his phone number. He told me if we ran into any problems to give him a call and he would take care of placing him on the 10th. Halleuhia! God is Good!
God cares about us, His children. When we prayed about this, we didn't ask for a specific answer, we just prayed God would intervene and provide a place for this young man. And He did, just in the right time. God is so good and He loves us so much. All He wants us to do is obey, trust and have the faith of a mustard seed. God always provides in His way and in His time. Trust Him!
If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Matthew 21:22
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Mark 11:24
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12
Heavenly Father, we praise and glorify your name above all names. You are truly awesome and beyond compare. We thank You for hearing our requests, we thank You for answering our requests. You are a God of love and we love You. Glory be to the most high God in our Lord Jesus Christ name.......amen
In Christ's Service,
Kenny Millhouse
kenny@guidinglightministry.com
http://guidinglightministry.com
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