Around the time of my last post, my granddaughter, who I speak of quite often, came into program as a partial agreement to deferred prosecution. Twenty years old, 80 lbs soaking wet, 4 foot 11 with the beauty of an angel. Her heart, to me, was always scarred and broken but open and desperate for love. Her drug of choice is fentanyl, though not her only one. She has been homeless and addicted for a few years now.
After a 45
minute fiasco in the airport looking for her, we found her on the still secured
side of the airport, not knowing that she was supposed to come over to our
side. She was high as a kite and just listening to her music.
It was Heaven
spending time with her on the hour-long drive to Watsonville. True to form, she
sat in the back with her nana (that would be me) and laid up against me… so
happy to be with us again. I held her boney frame as we talked about anything
but her life as an addict. Though, surprisingly, she was quite candid about how 'bad it is now compared to years before' when we tried to help her.
The rules
are that when the ‘student’ is in crisis, they are in blackout. That means no
contact with anyone outside of crisis, including family. Her tiny frame slept mostly,
getting up to eat and bath and sleep again for about five days. The staff
watched her, lovingly putting extra blankets on her as she slept on her tummy
with her feet in the air over her back… how did she ever sleep like that? They
loved on her and said all the right things. But, by the fifth day, fentanyl
true to form, she lost her battle of withdrawal and left early that morning. No
id, no phone or clothes, she wandered as a complete stranger, out into
California, completely unprepared.
My dear
friend Maria said it best. She said, “the devil waits outside the door of [adult &] teen
challenge and looks like whatever they need him to be.” I don’t know what he
looked like that day. He surely took several forms.
1 Peter 5:8: “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
She called
from several different cell phones, not her own. She landed two hours away in
San Francisco. One of the times she texted her mom she told her that ‘more bad ****
had happened to her in California in two weeks than happened to her back home
in Arizona in five months.’ Mind you, in Arizona she had been raped, beaten,
strangled, stolen from, mixed up with all the wrong people and just as
homeless. God only knows how many times that happened in CA.
Once she
texted, she would ghost us again and not answer our texts. Then a few days ago,
she said some guy took her to a town called Hanford. He had promised to take
her back, more than 3 hours away, but as most of the men in her life, he got
what he wanted and abandoned her there. Last we heard, some friends from AZ got
her a greyhound ticket back home. That was the 25th. We haven’t heard from her since. We have no idea if she even got on the bus.
People, the evil
one is real. He and his minions can be your best friend. They can be that free
ride to another town, another high or another world, if you aren’t careful. They
can be that ‘Christian’ friend who means well but talks you out of doing what is
right, what God has compelled you to do. They can be the pastor who steps over
the line, shakes your faith and causes you to stumble or run from God. They can
be the parent who fails to raise their child to know Him. Or worse, the one who
violates a child’s innocence.
He may not
really drive a sports car. He may just send you someone who has great drugs for
the price of your soul. Or will teach you the ‘tricks of the trade’ to keep you
in debt and in drugs. He will promise you a life of fame for your vanity, or
position for your ego or power for your submission. One way or the other, he
will do his best to get you to sell your soul for the thing that you can’t live
without. But I guarantee you that he won’t be leading you to eternal salvation
and redemption or that life of peace we all crave.
If you want
to know all about how to recognize evil when you see it, I have this book. It’s
free.
What I can
tell you is this:
1 Cor
10:13: “No temptation
has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not
let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also
provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
Often in
times of struggle, we are so busy looking at the open door that we fail to see
the window. Get to know all about the good and evil in the world so that you
can recognize when you see it. Open the Good book. Use the weapons that He has
made a way for you to overcome evil with good. Look for it.
Listen, you
have the answers right there in front of you.
