By: Curt Williams, Founder & Executive Director
I am constantly amazed by the Father. He is doing so many things today that are meant to bring fruit, answer prayers, and change the course of lives way into the future. It is like He is always playing chess; moving each piece into place to set up for another move possibly years later.
For several summers I was blessed to be able to lead a family camp at Redcloud, a fabulous retreat center in the San Juan Mountains just outside of Lake City, Colorado. In attendance one year was a couple from Mississippi who brought their kids, and it was a joy for me and Shelley to meet them and share some meals with them. Being the more social of the two of us, Shelley stayed connected with them for years after we met them.
Many years ago, I was asked to come to minister at a small church in east Texas. The pastor there was then, and is today, a dear friend. While there at his church I met a young couple who had two little boys, Micah and Marcus. In just the short time that I was there it was clear that these two young guys were incredibly active and strong-willed. I visited the church several times and each time I connected with this couple I got to see their two amazing nitrous-fueled boys.
Fast forward over ten years and my wife Shelley comes to me with the news that she has just heard from Kathy Bentley, the mom of the kids we met at the family camp in Colorado. Her son Jackson is hospitalized in a detox facility, and they are looking for help. It turns out that Jackson wanted help, but not bad enough, and the addiction cycle spiraled downward. Then in February of 2015 Jackson was ready; he was willing to do whatever it would take. He was then too old for our Houston campus, so he entered Youth-Reach Gulf Coast, where he took full advantage of every element of the program. He graduated successfully, worked in Dallas for a season, and returned to Alabama to intern at our campus there. Today, Jackson Bentley serves as our Operations Coordinator at Youth-Reach Gulf Coast and a year ago I was honored to officiate his wedding to his wonderful wife Faith.
You just never know.
Then a few years ago the couple from east Texas contacted me. Their son Micah was in the deadly hold of a vicious addiction. Young people were dying in the same addiction that he was fighting. They were desperate. We were able to get Micah a bed at our campus in Alabama. The team at Youth-Reach Gulf Coast poured into Micah and while he was there, we also received his brother Marcus. Micah completed the program and is now employed in Pensacola, and I was with Marcus and his family in San Antonio last week to celebrate his completion of United State Air Force basic training.
You just never know.
What circumstance today, if you are willing to be led of the Lord, is He placing you in that years from now will bear fruit? We see things in such a short-term way, but for a God who has no beginning, He is playing the long game.
Be vigilant, because you just never know.
