As I sit at my desk I hear a train whistle in the distance and as I always do when I hear a train, I think of Josh. On a recent message on my answering machine is Josh’s excited voice saying over the loudness of a train “it’s so cool Mom, it’s so beautiful and right now there are fire flies everywhere!!!” Josh is off on a quest of sorts. He has long wanted to simply pack up his camping gear and leave. He’s wanted to go across country, see the U.S. and see how others live. In a way Josh has been on a journey for 5 years now, trying to figure out his faith. He’s strayed, very far at times, and been mixed up in some extremely dangerous things. Yet he’s always come home, when I say come home, I mean he’s always come back to his roots, his upbringing.
I have spoken to numerous friends who’ve raised their children the same way Ken and I raised ours, in a loving Christian home, and yet their kids have strayed. We made sure our children knew the bible and celebrated with them when they accepted Christ into their hearts and watched them grow in their relationship with God and saw God using them to touch others. And yet, when Josh turned 18 he took a U-turn and decided to go in a different direction. He struggled and floundered and as parents it broke our hearts. I can honestly say that I am proud of the way we raised both of our children. Just as I cannot take the credit for good decisions my adult children make, I also cannot take the blame for bad decisions my adult children make. They are adults. The decision making is all theirs. Above all Ken and I deeply love both of our children, we deeply UNCONDTIONALLY love them.
Back to Josh, he met up with a group of people from the Auburn/Roseville area. The 6 of them decided to travel to the east coast, via hopping trains, you know, like hoboes. Most of these kids, including Josh, have no money. As a parent I was terrified, but again, Josh is 23 ½ and old enough to make these decisions, and live with the consequences of those decisions. I realized how brave it was for him to do this trip. I could never ever do anything like this.
On June 2, 2008 the day that Josh packed up to leave he was in his old room a very long time searching for something. I went in to see what he was looking for and he said he needed to find his bible. He said he had to take it with him. This was amazing to me.
Josh has been gone for 4 weeks now, every 3-5 days I will get a phone call from him. The phone calls are short, since he’s borrowing someone else’s phone, but they contain so much information. Here’s what I’ve learned so far. Josh has encouraged the group to find a church to go to every Sunday, in whatever town they happen to be in. The first Sunday there was an older couple that took all of them to breakfast, the second Sunday the pastor took all of them to lunch and wrote down all of their names so he could pray for them the third Sunday the pastor asked them to leave and said they didn’t want people like “them” in their church. As you can imagine Josh was greatly bothered by this but I reminded him that there are all kinds of churches out in the world, and to not be discouraged. I wonder though, how would most churches handle 6 smelling dirty young people who quietly came in and sat in the back row of the church? What would I do? What would you do?
Josh had a run-in of sorts with two large African Americans. They kept trying to talk to him and one of the others in the group, Josh and John kept walking and tried to ignore them but they kept trying to talk to them so Josh turned around and said “Hey what’s up man, can we help you?” and the guys simply wanted to know where they were from so Josh told them, Josh said they ended up buying he and John a beer and they had a great visit with them. In Idaho they were walking outside a Wal Mart one morning and the manager of the store started talking to them. He said they’d just had a big meeting and had tons of muffins and danish’s and coffee left over and told them to come in and get as much as they wanted. They got enough for all of them to eat breakfast and then found some homeless people to give the rest of the food to. In Montana they met a couple who let them camp on their property. They drove them to town and bought them water and some canned goods. At one point Josh made a sign that said “traveling through, would appreciate any supplies” someone bought them 5 gallons of water, others gave them food, they got a tarp and some other camping supplies. Someone gave them money, which Josh took and bought donuts for another group of homeless people that lived under a bridge.
Josh told us he’d been reading his bible regularly and has rested in Romans 4. He said he was greatly encouraged by this passage. He called us last night from North Dakota. He said it’s been so awesome, he’s had so many opportunities to “just love on people” he has loved talking to the homeless people and getting food for them and visiting with others. He said he simply loves helping people. Carrying an older woman’s groceries, helping someone fix their car on the side of the road, it’s just the way Josh is, its how he’s made. Right now Josh is on his way to Minneapolis. He has a couple of good friends, Levi and Noah, who work at a homeless shelter in the heart of the city. They work through Youth with a Mission and have made Minneapolis their home. Josh is planning on spending several weeks with them and then hooking up with the rest of the group sometime later.
Josh told us that whenever anyone is hurting or if they have a concern they come to him and ask him to pray for them. One of the girls traveling with them found out her friend was in a coma. The first thing she did was go to Josh and she asked him to pray with her. Josh told us that he’s been telling them that his pastor back home, Nate, has been praying for them and that he’d let Nate know about Jamie’s friend. Jamie’s friend is Zach and he is in a coma from a drug overdose. Please pray for Zach.
Also, please pray for Josh, he’s pretty sure he has a broken rib. He wouldn’t elaborate on how exactly it happened, but he says it hurts. He’s had a broken rib before so he does know what it feels like. He thanked me for making him take the giant bottle of Motrin I gave him.
All of these phone calls have simply amazed me. Josh is reading his bible and people are asking him to pray. He considers our church “his church” and our pastor “his pastor”. He is living by praying for food, sometimes they catch fish in a creek, sometimes people stop (like the couple in their 80’s who stopped in Washington) and take all of them to lunch. He has said for over a year that he was sickened by everyone around him needing “stuff” he said that wasn’t what he wanted to live for. I honestly don’t know where Josh is in his walk with God. But I do know he has a huge heart and I do know that when he says he “is loving on people”, that is what he’s doing. I know every time he’s called us he is so excited and has amazing stories. I know that God uses different people in different ways. I know that he’s often felt like a “round peg trying to fit in a square hole” in terms of how to serve God. I know that God can take care of him and God can reach his heart and touch his life and above all I KNOW God can use him.
Do me a favor, every time you hear a train, take a few moments and say a little prayer for Josh.
I have spoken to numerous friends who’ve raised their children the same way Ken and I raised ours, in a loving Christian home, and yet their kids have strayed. We made sure our children knew the bible and celebrated with them when they accepted Christ into their hearts and watched them grow in their relationship with God and saw God using them to touch others. And yet, when Josh turned 18 he took a U-turn and decided to go in a different direction. He struggled and floundered and as parents it broke our hearts. I can honestly say that I am proud of the way we raised both of our children. Just as I cannot take the credit for good decisions my adult children make, I also cannot take the blame for bad decisions my adult children make. They are adults. The decision making is all theirs. Above all Ken and I deeply love both of our children, we deeply UNCONDTIONALLY love them.
Back to Josh, he met up with a group of people from the Auburn/Roseville area. The 6 of them decided to travel to the east coast, via hopping trains, you know, like hoboes. Most of these kids, including Josh, have no money. As a parent I was terrified, but again, Josh is 23 ½ and old enough to make these decisions, and live with the consequences of those decisions. I realized how brave it was for him to do this trip. I could never ever do anything like this.
On June 2, 2008 the day that Josh packed up to leave he was in his old room a very long time searching for something. I went in to see what he was looking for and he said he needed to find his bible. He said he had to take it with him. This was amazing to me.
Josh has been gone for 4 weeks now, every 3-5 days I will get a phone call from him. The phone calls are short, since he’s borrowing someone else’s phone, but they contain so much information. Here’s what I’ve learned so far. Josh has encouraged the group to find a church to go to every Sunday, in whatever town they happen to be in. The first Sunday there was an older couple that took all of them to breakfast, the second Sunday the pastor took all of them to lunch and wrote down all of their names so he could pray for them the third Sunday the pastor asked them to leave and said they didn’t want people like “them” in their church. As you can imagine Josh was greatly bothered by this but I reminded him that there are all kinds of churches out in the world, and to not be discouraged. I wonder though, how would most churches handle 6 smelling dirty young people who quietly came in and sat in the back row of the church? What would I do? What would you do?
Josh had a run-in of sorts with two large African Americans. They kept trying to talk to him and one of the others in the group, Josh and John kept walking and tried to ignore them but they kept trying to talk to them so Josh turned around and said “Hey what’s up man, can we help you?” and the guys simply wanted to know where they were from so Josh told them, Josh said they ended up buying he and John a beer and they had a great visit with them. In Idaho they were walking outside a Wal Mart one morning and the manager of the store started talking to them. He said they’d just had a big meeting and had tons of muffins and danish’s and coffee left over and told them to come in and get as much as they wanted. They got enough for all of them to eat breakfast and then found some homeless people to give the rest of the food to. In Montana they met a couple who let them camp on their property. They drove them to town and bought them water and some canned goods. At one point Josh made a sign that said “traveling through, would appreciate any supplies” someone bought them 5 gallons of water, others gave them food, they got a tarp and some other camping supplies. Someone gave them money, which Josh took and bought donuts for another group of homeless people that lived under a bridge.
Josh told us he’d been reading his bible regularly and has rested in Romans 4. He said he was greatly encouraged by this passage. He called us last night from North Dakota. He said it’s been so awesome, he’s had so many opportunities to “just love on people” he has loved talking to the homeless people and getting food for them and visiting with others. He said he simply loves helping people. Carrying an older woman’s groceries, helping someone fix their car on the side of the road, it’s just the way Josh is, its how he’s made. Right now Josh is on his way to Minneapolis. He has a couple of good friends, Levi and Noah, who work at a homeless shelter in the heart of the city. They work through Youth with a Mission and have made Minneapolis their home. Josh is planning on spending several weeks with them and then hooking up with the rest of the group sometime later.
Josh told us that whenever anyone is hurting or if they have a concern they come to him and ask him to pray for them. One of the girls traveling with them found out her friend was in a coma. The first thing she did was go to Josh and she asked him to pray with her. Josh told us that he’s been telling them that his pastor back home, Nate, has been praying for them and that he’d let Nate know about Jamie’s friend. Jamie’s friend is Zach and he is in a coma from a drug overdose. Please pray for Zach.
Also, please pray for Josh, he’s pretty sure he has a broken rib. He wouldn’t elaborate on how exactly it happened, but he says it hurts. He’s had a broken rib before so he does know what it feels like. He thanked me for making him take the giant bottle of Motrin I gave him.
All of these phone calls have simply amazed me. Josh is reading his bible and people are asking him to pray. He considers our church “his church” and our pastor “his pastor”. He is living by praying for food, sometimes they catch fish in a creek, sometimes people stop (like the couple in their 80’s who stopped in Washington) and take all of them to lunch. He has said for over a year that he was sickened by everyone around him needing “stuff” he said that wasn’t what he wanted to live for. I honestly don’t know where Josh is in his walk with God. But I do know he has a huge heart and I do know that when he says he “is loving on people”, that is what he’s doing. I know every time he’s called us he is so excited and has amazing stories. I know that God uses different people in different ways. I know that he’s often felt like a “round peg trying to fit in a square hole” in terms of how to serve God. I know that God can take care of him and God can reach his heart and touch his life and above all I KNOW God can use him.
Do me a favor, every time you hear a train, take a few moments and say a little prayer for Josh.
