bigjohnsblog.com

Once a month or so I try to get out a “Best Friends I ever had” post.  Standing at the end of so many caskets this past 12 months has reminded me to never leave feelings or thoughts unsaid when it comes to thankfulness for friends and family. Excuse the picture..that’s b4 I found out how to trim my red beard correctly…

Tonight Jozef graduates from a 1 year outpatient rehab program.  I took this photo with him on the last day of January, 2008, about a week after he was realeased from jail.

I met Joe back in 2002.  Some of his neighbors brought him to a youth group I was working in.  He was a 6th grader at the time.  He soon became a regular attender and even volunteered to play drums in our church band.  We went to youth camps together, had lock-ins, and played way too much Madden Football games(most of which I won-but when I didn’t, he sure let me know about it).

Jozef was in 8th grade when I met and married Rachel.  He and I had this Epic journey together that Winter in 2004…from Florida to Alabama to go and retrieve all my belongings out of storage from my Decatur days ) .     In 30 hours, we drove to Alabama, got all my furniture, and back.  We talked, laughed, ate lots of Wendy’s Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers, and barely made it back to  FL alive.

Joe barely lived through high school.   He struggled, got into drugs and much more.   After a long process, he ended up in jail.  You can find more about that time for him here. While in jail, I went to see him after he told his mom He’d given his life back to Christ.  I continued to visit him for the next 8 months while he was in and out of jail and rehab during a headspinning legal process.

Tonight, Jozef graduates from the outpatient drug rehab program that’s helped him stay clean the past 22 months.  I can’t begin to express how proud I am of Joe.  He was surrounded by our church family after his release, and I know they’ve played a big part in his journey since.   Tomorrow he’ll wake up free from a drug program- with no mandatory testing.  As proud as I am of him, I know what waits around the corner…the types of people and the strength of the temptations.  It’s my prayer that He finds God’s plan for his life and has the joy I’ve seen in him only grow.

The kid has the biggest heart of anyone I know.  If I could tell him one thing, it’d be this…:  Jozef- thanks for being a friend and brother to me and Rachel.   Your example of faith, total dependence on God, and honesty in expressing your need for a circle of friends to hold you up is a real treasure for so many of us….a measuring stick for our own lives.   Keep the faith brother.  Be the man God has anointed and called you to be.  Yes, he has ministry and opportunity waiting for you that is a direct by-product of your dependency and relationship with him.  Know that we are forever proud of the leaps and bounds you have taken…and your love for us and your family of faith is something that can never be replaced.  There’s a gaping void when you’re not around…in the lives of students, adults, and friends alike.   Be called.  Be present.  Be His.

-big John