Part of the mission that God has laid out for me here, is to be able to help people find work. A perfect opportunity came up last fall when a dear friend from Indiana, Lee Ayers, came to put padding up in the practice facility at the new Giants/Jets stadium. I was able to refer a friend to him and it worked out beautifully. They finished the job and Lee and my other friend were both glad that it worked out.
Fast forward to this past week when Lee came up to put padding on the walls at field level in the new stadium. Lee really needed help this time and we got our same friend who is still struggling to find a permanent stream of employment. My friend is a person similar to myself in that he has spent time in jail/addicted/and overall a complete mess at different times in his life. Now he is doing okay, but really struggling to make sense of a God that in his words, “keeps letting me down”. Whether God actually is letting him down or not, the perception is the same in his mind.
For this week he was able to work with Lee and keep his head up as he was assisting in putting pads in the new stadium. He was in good spirits when I went to pick him up on Saturday night. Lee came out and let me see the job that he had just done at the newest NFL stadium. I was amazed!! The last piece of Astroturf had just been laid and I walked onto the field, (I pretended w/o any movements that I was in a game) it was awesome! I took out my camera to snap a couple of pics…I turned it on and a message comes across the screen…the battery is exhausted. Well, so much for proving that I was on the field before the players were, but I will have the memories.
On the way home with my friend I was thrilled that he got to experience and work inside of the new stadium, but even more excited that he can turn the T.V. on in the fall and on any given Sunday he will be able to see his work in the new stadium. As we talked we were able to get into conversations of things that he is dealing with and I was able to offer any insight that I have gained through the years. One of the things that my friend is going through right now is anger management classes. Keep praying for him as he is struggling with being the best Christian he can be. He feels lonely a lot of times and struggles with the death of his brother from 5 months ago, who died in an apparent overdose.
1 comment:
That's great Austin!
God, I pray that his pathway would seem easier as the day goes by. Set up more people in his life who are there to encourage and support him and help him get back on his feet, firmly.
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