Joshua 24:15 -And if it seem evil unto you to serve Jehovah, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah.
Have you wondered about the choices you have made in life. Not the choices of what you will have for dinner or what choice you will make about the color of your clothes, the jewlery you buy and wear but significant choices that had impact. Choices that impact life, like the choice of a life partner, the choice of medical treatments, some of you might even struggle over the choice of what motorcycle to ride or the tires you buy or the gas you put in your vehicle. We make choices every day but do we ever stop to think about the choices we make that impact the life of another person. The picture is of Billy Rhea Woods and Missy Clagg Morrison. I met Billy Rhea in the spring of 2008 on the riverbank in Huntington, WV. My friend, Big Les Milman had asked me to join him and some others in a ministry where we would go down and feed the homeless on Saturday morning. For the next several years, I went down on Saturday morning and helped make biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs and sandwiches. We passed out food, gave away clothes and tents and even treated some wounds on feet and hands that were infected and painful with antibiotic ointment and gauze. Billy Rhea was a person who came regularly to get food and items as he was homeless and living along the river at the time. He bounced around some but always came back to the river to greet us with a smile. We would talk, pray and in general try to help with the addiction that kept him homeless for 20 years. In the spring of 2011, Billy Rhea began to make good choices including accepting Christ as his savior, managing his addiction and giving back to others. He still struggled at times, but he eventually got in to an apartment and became a friend that Missy got to know and love. Missy too came down to help at the river with us and eventually began a ministry with medical teams, food and clothing to the "homeless and needing" in the Huntington area. She took the homeless ministry that a few of us were doing in a rag tag way to new heights reaching thousands of people in the place they lived and struggled.
I left Huntington and went on to other things, moving to Florida and eventually helping to start up Tallahassee Biker Church. My choices have taken me on an interesting journey in life as I look back to that single decision to go one Saturday to feed the homeless with Big Les. A passion developed in me but it became a torrent of love in others like Missy. Billy Rhea died just a few year after he came to know Christ and changed his life, but he was the catalyst in the hearts of many who pushed the ministry in Huntington to become a beacon to those in need. When we look back at the choices we have made in our life, what has been the impact on the lives of others. Do they leave the relationship with us having gained a better understanding of the God we serve and the reason we have learned to love those that sometimes are seen in the world as unloveable.
Much love
Preach
Comments