I met Larry through the outreach we do every Saturday. He was with others who were looking for assistance with a new tent and sleeping bags. We were able to find them through a good friend, Janet. When she delivered them, she took a photo of Larry and Jen, who stayed with them at a local tent camp. Shortly after the photo, Jen passed away. Larry reached out as he was having a hard time processing her loss. He asked for the picture that was taken of them both. She was like a sister to him.
This turned into many conversations asking for help – help to process grief, help to stop drinking – and help to get back on his feet. It is at this point in his life – when he hit rock bottom, that I got to know and interact with Larry. He was tired of the lifestyle he was living and wanted something different.
He lost his wallet one day, which had all his identification documents. We spent hours the next week driving around from one location to the next and waiting – and talking. I will never forget what he said, “Please help me get out of the woods. I want to stop drinking and I want my life back. I can’t do it there.” That stayed with me for several days. I reached out to several people and places to find somewhere for him to go. I started to realize how really hard it is to find housing for someone who is homeless – but his words stayed in my mind.
I asked my husband if he could come live with us. We did not have any space inside – but we did have a backyard. I offered him to bring his tent and stay with us. It took him a few weeks to take me up on that offer. Larry was very quiet and content staying in his tent. We had a really nice cot donated that he said was more comfortable than sleeping on a bed. The tent had a slot to put an electrical cord through it – so we had to try it out! He enjoyed watching shows on his phone from the comfort of his tent, his sanctuary. We offered him to come inside on many occasions, but he was very happy where he was. I kept a pillow and blanket on the couch next to the door in case he changed his mind.
He became a part of our family. We shared meals together and had a lot of laughs around the table. It was good to see him smile and laugh!
His father would come and pick him up each week in the morning and he would get so excited to go to the farm to help out. He would share how much he cared about his family, and he wanted them to be proud of him. His Dad would bring him back the next day and he would tell me about all he did there and how the dogs on the farm were warming up to him. Before coming back to the house, he would go to camp to check on the guys. They were like family to him. He talked about them constantly as a brother reminiscing of all the good times they had together. If someone was hurt, or needed help, he would ask me to take him there to check on them.
Larry would come to church with some of the others at camp. He enjoyed going to they men’s Bible Study just before church. He received a large print Bible from the group and carried it with him to church on Wednesdays and Sundays.
One day he told me that he used to do bookkeeping for one of his Dad’s businesses. He said he did not know if he could still do it today because everything is online and the only technology he was familiar with was his phone. I offered him a job to help out with bookkeeping clients and he started an online training program. He had what is called “grit.” He was very focused, learned quickly, retained information, and was able to think through things when he got stuck. I was very impressed!
Things were going so well for him! I gave him his first check before I went to the beach last week. I was so excited for him to see the fruits of his labor and to be able to replace the income he made by donating plasma! He went to his Dad’s on Saturday and told me when he got back, he wanted to continue working on his client. He never came back. His life was cut way too short.
I was very angry when I found out he passed. He asked for help and my first thought was that I let him down. He asked for help to get out of an environment where he was a slave to alcohol. Although he was physically away from it in terms of where he was living, it was the environment and one decision that changed the direction of his life – in an instant. I began to question what we are doing with the outreach.
A fire was then lit inside of me, to educate people about leaning on God in the ups and downs of life as opposed to alcohol or drugs. I opened up my phone and found some Bible Plans on addictions and started one. I wanted to understand how to help others who are battling drug and alcohol addictions, and how to point them to scripture when the addiction gets a hold of them. I came across a devotion on day 2 and it hit me that this is what Larry must have been going through last Sunday.
In Matthew 4, Jesus fasted for days and was then tempted by Satan. Because he knew Jesus was hungry, he told him to turn stones into bread. As with Adam and Eve, Satan was trying to get Jesus to do something that wasn’t part of God’s plan for his life.
Jesus replied with scripture “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Satan realized his first plan failed, so he attacked Jesus from a different angle. Same method, new try. Satan quoted the Bible. Jesus again, answered back with scripture.
That didn’t work either, so Satan tried a different way of burrowing his way into Jesus’ thinking. Again, Jesus responded with scripture.
Larry was growing by leaps and bounds at church. A week before he passed, we were talking on one of our drives and he asked me if I believed that Christ died for our sins. He then replied that he believed Christ died for our sins and was resurrected on the 3rd day. I thought it was interesting that he asked me that question out of the blue, but I take comfort in it now, knowing that he had Jesus in his heart before he passed.
I so hate that Satan was able to burrow into Larry’s thinking but take comfort in knowing that although it impacted Larry physically, it did not impact his soul. He is now with his Mom, Jen and Jesus, receiving the most amazing love there is!