Hey
Gang: I am often asked the question,
"Why did you start Eagle Village?"
We had a nice home; I had a good job with many chances of advancement- a
new facility was in the building stage and I was on the short list to be its
new director. Most folks in my shoes
would say they ‘have the world by the tail’.
Some months
ago I wrote several morning messages title "Don't Get Too Comfortable." In those messages I listed the steps God had
taken me through to reach the plateau I was comfortably enjoying. But, as an old country preacher once said, “When
we reach a point in our life when we are resting comfortably on that plateau,
God comes along with His chainsaw and cuts the limb out from under us.
With the
help of the boys I was caring for, I had honed my skills well. I felt I was just where God wanted me and I
was ready to dig my well and settle in for the rest of my working days. But that was my plan not God's plan. How many know when God wants to move us He
uses many tactics to get our attention?
Although I
had worked with several thousand boys who were going hurting deep inside, He sent
two that penetrated to the depths of my heart; I have often said they were the
real motivators of Eagle Village. They
are as real and close to me today, fifty years later as they were the day they
booked into my Section at Juvy and into my life.
This morning,
when I awoke, the story of Jesus on the cross between the two criminals came to
my mind and I thought that the story of my two boys was very much like that
story. Both had reached a plateau in
their lives where their decisions caught up to them, and they were going to ‘Pay-the-Piper’-
for their devious ways. I had no doubt
that Ted,
the super chief of the "Bloods Gang", had either killed or
severely
injured one or more rival gang members. That was his life.
And then
there was Dennis, who was from all outward appearances was a quiet sort of lad
that one might think was afraid of his own shadow. But, due to his weaknesses, he was unable to
keep from doing those nasty things that gets one locked up and sent off to one
of the State’s finer (just a pun folks) finishing schools.
Two totally
and completely opposite boys, but both sharing the pain and agony of knowing
their lives were slipping away and they had not found the pot of gold at the
end of the rainbow. Question three on my
questionnaire was, "If you could have one thing, what would it
be". The answers were always the
same, my mom and dad together in a home filled with love.
Soooo, this
is going to take longer than I anticipated; let me cut it off here (more next
time) and share the prophetic Bible verse that I pray will become a compulsion
in the heart of every daddy in the world.
It is found in the last book of the Old Testament in one of my favorite
books, Malachi. "Behold I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the
coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to
their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will
not come and smite the land with a curse." (Mal. 4:5-6).
Hey, all you daddies, take a minute and ‘hug’
your kids.
Blessings,
Gramps
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