I appreciate friends and prayer warriors very much. One of those friends and prayer warriors encouraged me greatly last month. Union Rescue Mission was short on funds – it was weighing on me heavily. At 11 in the morning my friend called and said with confidence, “God knows your needs and won’t desert you or the Mission, Andy.” Due to my friend’s track record, I took his encouragement seriously.
I was on my way to a speaking engagement at a luncheon with a great group of friends in their seventies and eighties, one of my favorite groups. On my way back to Union Rescue Mission, I received a call that a $130,000 bequest had come in that met even more than our needs. I called my faithful friend to let him know what had happened. “Andy, that is good news,” he said. “I would like you to consider joining me at the fitness center 3 times a week. It is going to be important for you to stay healthy and strong for God to use you in the days and years ahead.” Again, because of my friend’s track record, I listened and joined him 3 times to work out. Then my wife and I joined the 24 Hour Fitness Center near our home.
I have been lifting weights regularly 3 days a week for 1 month, and am feeling so strong and healthy that I have set a goal to reach my peak bench press weight when I turn 50 this October -315 lbs. This means I will lift the same weight that I lifted at 25 years old!
That weight goal would not be remarkable, except that I have had Type 1 diabetes for 36 years, had a heart attack and surgery 12 years ago, and have been battling kidney (renal) insufficiency (25-30%) function for the last 9 years or so. These are only some of the health challenges I face, but you get the picture.
My body has always responded well to working out, but this time, for my advancing age, I am responding exceedingly well and feeling very good.
It is a good thing I listened to my friend. Last night I tried to get to sleep. A man who is homeless had written me earlier in the week from the library via email, “The nights I was able to use the bed in the Seed of Hope area at URM were nights that I was able to rest. I am hoping I can be placed in this area again.
Mr Bales between you and I, my spirit is shattered in a major way. Not being able to rest only makes it worse. It isn’t broken, but it is shattered.
I hope to hear from you soon.”
This man’s life resembles the life of Job – everything that could possibly go wrong has gone wrong. He later shared with me that all he has left is his faith. Well, last night he called me at 11 PM to say that he was having difficulty getting a bed at Union Rescue Mission. He was low on patience, and by the time I sorted things out and made sure he had a bed, he had left angrily. I knew that I would not sleep unless I made sure that he was safe and not on the mean streets. So, I tried through a series of phone calls and text messages to track him down, and convince him to let me drive out, pick him up, and return him to the Mission to a bed for some much needed rest. While texting and calling this friend who is homeless, another close good friend, a wealthy friend of mine and a donor to URM, was also texting me very late at night, struggling with his own life, asking for prayer. So, here I am near midnight, pretty tired, texting two friends, worlds apart, but both experiencing shattered spirits.
As I laid there, fretting over both of these friends, feeling my concern and blood pressure rise, I remembered my faithful friend’s words, “It is important for you to stay healthy and strong, so God can use you in the days and years ahead.” I was then reminded, “This is why you need to stay strong, why God put you here, and why you need to keep it together, because shattered friends need help in putting the pieces back together.”
I drug myself out of bed, changed my clothes, and drove out to find my friend who is homeless, all the while praying for my other friend. I found my friend near the UCLA campus, delivered him back to URM, and secured a bed and safety for him so he could get some much needed rest. It is nice to know what my purpose is and to be healthy and strong enough to carry it out. Blessings, Andy B.