“John D”

By: Billy Foster

So, to give you an idea about what our LOT friends are going through, let me tell you a short story about our friend “John D” (upper 40’s, maybe 50’s)…He tells me that he loves the Lord, and HATES that he can’t get off crack…He prays all the time…he fell back again 2 days ago, but not because he wanted to do it again, but because his body starts to feel bad and weak (withdrawals), which makes him fall back…After we pray, “John D” wants me to take his phone, because it has his drug dealers number in it and he doesn’t want to be tempted to call him during the withdrawals…So, I take it…later he comes to me and reminds me that his phone is his only alarm clock that wakes him up for his job he just got 2 weeks ago…(He asks for an alarm clock with batteries, because he doesn’t have electricity, but I don’t have one with me) So “John D” asks me to take his SIM card out…I do…I then tell him to go and get another phone with a DIFFERENT number…He tells me that he needs to be without a phone until his withdrawals are done and over so he can’t call his drug dealer…”John D” hugs me so tight, I thought I was going to stop breathing…He asks me to pray for him again…All he wants is to follow the Lord without falling back to where he never wants to be again…but this time, he is taking PROACTIVE steps to do it…