Chapter 4 ~ Receiving the New Bible and Get Well Card

It was on July 10 that Joe called about 10pm and told me his brother JW checked himself into the state hospital to get help.

I went to town on the 12th to get some guttering for the front of my house and I also bought two new bibles. One for Joe to replace the one his sister took and one for JW.

The Lord also moved me to purchase a get well card for JW.


With card and bibles in hand I stopped at their house to drop them off on my way home. Jerry was still away getting help. Joe was asleep, so I decided to return at a later time. This allowed me to write something to JW in his get well soon card. I felt the Lord guiding my writing. I had no idea what adding this simple gesture of a card to the gift of the bible, but I would soon find out.

I returned later that evening to drop off the bibles and the card. I was hoping they would be able to get JW's new bible and card to him in the facility where he was getting help. I gave JW's bible to his mother and showed her the card. It certainly touched his mother's heart. JW's father died at the young age of 41 when JW was only 15, 16, or 17, so he did not have the benefit of a father at a crucial time in his life. His mother did the best she could with her children, but a healthy two parent home with both a father and a mother has been proven to be the ideal environment to raise children. Of course there are examples of failures where two parents raised children, but I believe there are many, many more examples of failures where one parent is missing for whatever reason; divorce, death, promiscuity and never being married, etc.

The facility released JW sooner than I thought they would. I got a call from him on the 17th of July. He sounded good on the phone and he asked me if I could come and get him so we could visit awhile and talk.

The facility released him before he wanted to be released. When he got home his attitude was pretty negative. His mom told him that ROBAR had bought him a bible. He could of cared less and made some derogatory comment about bible thumpers. Then his mom told him that there was a card with the bible and he needed to read it.

That card that I felt led to purchase for some reason made all the difference in the world. JW read the words the Lord had me write. His whole demeanor and attitude toward me changed. He felt that I was really genuine just because of the card.

I traveled to his home to get him. The man I saw was not the same man I remember from the numerous times I had shared with his younger brother when he was present. He had lost a ton of weight and was much, much more outspoken. It took me a moment to confirm that he was in fact the same man.

I took him to my house and the sharing was real good. Sharing with his brother had always been luke warm, but JW soaked up everything I shared with him. He was hungry to learn and by all appearances was a good student and was serious about trying to change his life.

We left his house about 5pm. He wanted to go to an AA meeting that night, so I took him and stayed at the meeting with him. The meeting was good. JW saw one of his old sponsors from long before. It was almost like old home week. I took JW home after the meeting and stayed visiting until about 11pm.

That night in my diary I wrote:

"In bed. ThankYou Lord Jesus for the day. Thank You for JW. Please continue to help him on his journey and protect him. Do a miracle in his life Lord and truly help him pass through the narrow gate and train his sword well. Inspire him to listen to the little red radio and feed him necessary nourishment. ThankYou Lord Jesus for hearing my prayer."

Chapter 3 - JW seeks help

Some of this is second hand, but I think it was sometime in May 2011 JW was really hating himself and his life so he tried to drink himself to death. He ended up in our local hospital and when he came out he went totally off the bottle. He lasted 60 to 70 days.

During this time he experienced a radical personality change and an extreme loss of weight. Weight wise he went from 200 plus to 140 something. JW suffers from bipolar disorder that presents mostly as extreme mania where he goes for days without sleeping.

Somewhere near the tail end of this time of being dry I was told by his brother or mother that he had checked himself into the hospital wanting help. This man was wanting and seeking help. I really did not know him well, but I was moved to buy him a bible and also get him a get well card.

Chapter 2 Meeting JW

It had been a long, long time since I had seen Joe last when a hidden motive brought me to his mom's house once again after several years of no contact. Time had not been kind to him. He was a shadow of his old self and looked many, many years older than his mere 42.

I discerned a little bit of a difference in him. Perhaps he was hunkered down from his years of wasting away from wrong living. Anyhow something motivated me to ask him if he would read a bible if I bought it for him. He acknowledged that he would. I bought him a real nice NASB study bible with his name embossed on the cover. I started stopping by a little more often. I'd ask him if he had been reading his bible and if the Lord had been showing him anything interesting. I'd also share stories that related to scripture. Joe's brother JW was often present. JW was primarily quiet and said very little never initiating any spoken words on his own. I'd mention him a time or two and look at him and check his eyes and try to limit my sharing to where he wouldn't think I was over doing it and beating him over the head too much with the bible. He just thought I was another bible thumper and didn't know if I was genuine or just another hypocrite like so many.

While JW was a very quiet and subdued man who hardly spoke during all this time, his brother Joe on the other hand was still pretty much the same as the old Joe. He didn't use expletives as readily as he used too. He didn't venture off into topics I'd rather not hear about like he used too. He did tell me he read the bible I had given him sometimes. But, he would never come up with anything he had seen in his reading. It was like that if he did really read it, there was no understanding. I took him to a couple of bible studies and I took him to play pool a few times with the men from my bible study group. But all indications showed me that Joe was pretty much still full of his old foolishness, and regarding the parable of the sower found in the 13th chapter of Matthew; Joe was obviously beside the road without much real interest in learning.

I knew Joe, but I didn't really know JW. Joe could be considered my friend depending on how you look at it, but JW was just someone who quietly sat and politely tolerated me as long as I didn't get too carried away with my bible thumping.

Chapter 1 Interconnections

It is an interesting answer to the question: How could I find myself a friend of a man like JW?

The chain of connection began years ago before I was married, but after I had been born again and gone through my personal fig tree experience. I had taken a job as a contract instrument flight instructor for IQD at the home of Army Aviation at Fort Rucker, Alabama. The instrument portion of Army Flight School is the toughest part to successfully complete. I came close to flunking out of flight school during instruments, and now I was going to become an instrument instructor. That experience, no doubt, saved my life years later when I went IIMC x2 as an EMS pilot in my latter flying career.

Soon after getting settled in my new residence I met Kenneth Ownby who is Dolly Parton's first cousin. I saw a picture of Dolly's dad once in a magazine and my new friend Kenneth Ownby was a splitting image of him. Because of Kenneth I met DeWayne and Penny Langham who were at that time a young married couple and they love the Lord. Kenneth had led DeWayne to the Lord when they served together in the Army.

Sometime soon after getting acquainted and becoming friends with these three I saw for the first time Buddy Morgan. Although I now consider Buddy a brother in the Lord, he is far, far, far from being anything that would delight the eyes. My flesh said, "Yuck! Stay far away from that!" when my eyes were first laid on him. I was guilty in my heart of the sin of partiality discussed in the beginning of the 2nd chapter of James. Later that afternoon I went over to DeWayne and Penny's house to visit. Who did they have in their living room witnessing to? Buddy Morgan!!! Buddy and I then became friends. You can't tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor.

Years later, after I had gone to work flying EMS, Buddy moved to the same town and started a roofing company. He hired JW's baby brother, "Joe". Buddy liked bragging that he had a friend that flew for the EMS company I worked for. When Buddy bragged about me, Joe said, "Well, my sister flies for them as a flight nurse. You need to bring me over there to meet him." So, I became acquainted with Joe. This acquaintanceship with Joe has its own set of stories, but to cut to the chase on how I got acquainted with Jerry I'll skip most of those.

I have always believed that there is still hope for a man as long as they are still alive. I have seen God tackle some pretty hard cases close to my own life specifically my best high school buddy and my favorite cousin on my Dad's side of the family. Plus I know the work that God has done in my own life. I also enjoy listening to the many stories thatUnshackled tells of changed lives. Anyhow when the time prior to this most recent involvement with Joe came to an end, I looked at his mom and told her, "Ms. Rose, I have always thought that there was hope for a man as long as they are still alive, but Joe makes me wonder."

The events that caused me to reestablish contact with Joe is a story all its own that I'll save for another time. Regardless, here I am having involvement with a family most normal people would shudder to consider and probably judge as very foolish for those who do possibly even questioning the motives. Yet Jesus said, "Wisdom is vindicated by her deeds." Matthew 11:19 NASB

blindSide prologue: 7/29/11 Albert -> JW

The JW part of this story began on the 12th of July 2011 when I was inspired to buy a new bible and a card for JW the older brother of a miscreant friend of mine whose sister was a flight nurse I had worked with in the early nineties.

Perhaps I should supply a little background information about myself with a story from my past to get everyone oriented with where I am coming from in all of this. Then there is much to write to get caught up with the current moment and continuing saga of JW and Robar.

I was born again in 1978 near the tail end of my six years of active duty military service as an Army Aviator. My whole life changed because of that born again event which set the stage for my personal fig tree experience.

In 1981 I did my first semester in college at LSU in Baton Rouge. I rented an apartment within walking distance to campus. The property was really more like a project than an apartment complex since it was 80% black and only 20% white. It was during this period of time the Lord put me through my personal "fig tree experience":

And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. “And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ “And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’” Luke 13:6-9

As part of the fertilizing process for my fig tree experience I went to David Diamond's church in Baton Rouge and I attended a bible study of true believers and diligent seekers of our Lord Jesus.

One evening upon returning to my apartment after church and bible study I felt the Lord tell me to tuck my bible under my arm and head out into the project's parking lot to see what I might find. I found a group of black men surrounding what appeared to be an old man who was the cynosure of their attention, and it seemed they were antagonizing the old man for some unknown reason. I felt the Lord tell me that I needed to talk to this old man, so I told him, "I need to talk to you." Then I felt the Lord tell me that I needed to take him to my apartment where we could speak quietly, so I told him, "You need to follow me." I then turned and headed back to my apartment. He followed me like an obedient child.

I would come to find out that his name was Albert, and at the age of 18 he was a scrapping bad big black buck always getting into fights and trouble, so they took him and placed him into the State Psychiatric Hospital in Jackson Louisiana for 10 years and broke him down with drugs.

Albert sat quietly looking around my apartment with amazement that a white boy would let him into his apartment. Then Albert said with a slow stutter, "You mean I can have something to drink?"

I said, "Yeah, if you're thirsty? I have lemonade or tea, what would you like?"

Albert said, "lemonade". He took the glass after I filled it with lemonade and slowly sipped it as he continued to look around in amazement. As Albert drank the glass down to half empty he asked me the next question, "you mean I can have something to eat?"

I said, "Yeah, if you're hungary." I cooked him up some eggs and grits.

As Albert cleaned his plate he then laid THE BIG QUESTION on me, "you mean I can stay here?"

I said not out loud, but in my mind: "Wait a minute Lord! You told me to talk to the man; not give him a place to live!"

Then I clearly felt the Lord bring to mind James 2:15&16: "If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? " I believe the Lord was using Albert to test my heart and see if I was serious about being useful to the Lord and ready for every good work.

I looked at Albert and said, "Well I guess if you really need a place to stay, you can stay on my couch." So Albert stayed with me for the next two weeks. I took him to David Diamond's church and bible study. I watched Albert improve during the two weeks he stayed with me and I also accumulated some interesting stories.

There are some more stories during that time, but one I’ll share now is when Smitty (my best high school buddy) showed up to spend the night.

Albert realized Smitty was going to stay the night. Previously he respected the space of my bedroom and never went back there, but this time he immediately went into my bedroom where I was.

He asked, “Da, Dav, David, that white boy gonna stay here tonight.”

I looked at Albert and said, “Yeah.”

He thought about that a moment and then continued, “W…well, he’s not gonna sleep on my couch! Is he?”

Man, I didn’t want to get in the middle of that. Smitty was like the king dog. He required the best that was reasonably available. He had to have the best chair… etc. He did respect my bedroom. I didn’t have to give that up for him, cause that could have been something necessary to fight over in order to save face. Anyhow, I looked at Albert and said, “If you don’t want him to have your couch, just tell him.”

He thought about that a bit. Then he said, “Okay, I will”.

He then left my bedroom to go and accost Smitty.

He began, “Hey white boy, y…you gonna stay here tonight?”

Smitty looked at Albert with extreme skepticism. Albert’s story was that when he was eighteen he was a fighting bad buck; always getting into fights. They took him and locked him up into Jackson the Louisiana mental hospital for ten years and broke him down with drugs. Albert hadn’t been released for too long when I found him. He looked older than he was.

Smitty looked at Albert and said, “Yeah.”

Albert said, “W…well, you’re not gonna sleep on MY couch, are you?”

Smitty looked at the couch, then he looked at Albert and said, “No.”

Smitty slept on the floor. I was amazed. Later Smitty told me, “RowBear! You’re crazy. That man will kill you in your sleep.”

I just smiled. The Lord had already told me all I needed to know about Albert. In all honesty I had more to fear from Smitty who was on the tail end of an 8 year cocaine dealing career.

Don't let any of these stories scare you from seeking Jesus with all your heart. He is a perfect gentleman and will not give you more than you can handle. Nor will He force you to do anything you don't want to do. Along with the Father, He also is the potter while we are the clay. Each of us are unique and are shaped by our personal life experiences to be useful in the manner our Lord desires when we present ourselves available for His use. It seems I'm privileged to "ATTEMPT" to attack some hard cases. I say "ATTEMPT" because I don't know what the final outcome will be, but I am excited and, as much as I hate "expectations", I am expecting good things to follow as the Lord does the work and I present myself obedient and ready.

JW's story is far from over. He is on baby legs as far as seeking the Lord to assist him with the help he genuinely needs. I will work on catching us up to the current moment and will try to keep you informed as JW's Saga continue's to unfold.