Christ_empowered
Member
the small town rumor mill keeps churning, with talk of "warrants," "he's going to JAIL!," etc. Ugh. Truth is...after the existence I had, before Jesus, I really shouldn't be alive, at least not...the way things usually go, anyway. Like any other wretch, my situation was a mix of: sin, satan, self, death, and the world. Thankfully, I came to genuinely, truly believe upon Jesus 5 years ago, and now...
I'm healthy, surprisingly intelligent, even...gasp..."normal," a lot of meaningful ways. I'm thankful. I don't know what all rumors are going on around me, because I'm -definitely- not a member of this community. I got into legal trouble before getting saved. I was charged w/a felony, ended up with a very serious misdemeanor, and I've been off probation (early, because of good behavior) for over 1 year. The only trouble I"ve been in since then was a seat belt violation.
I'm far less fearful, thanks to Christ. "perfect love casteth out all fear." There's a lot of stigma attached to me--Rx drug addiction, HIV, various psych labels--so that complicates the situation, especially the HIV in The Bible Belt. At this point, I've never been treated for HIV, and I probably got infected about 15+/- years ago. Like I've written about so many times before, The Lord has willed to make me remarkably, surprisingly healthy. I even now have good skin, so I look a bit younger than my age (soon to be 34, look 30). I"m thankful, I really am, but...
there's real animosity towards me and my family, too. We once lived in a little old house a couple blocks from here. My parents sold it to an intellectual gay dude. He ended up dying of AIDS. Surprise, surprise; that house burned down.
Then there's social class issues. I'm blessed, my parents are blessed....they started working class, then they were middle-middle class, now they're more on the "comfortable" end of things, but...people have tried to ruin their careers at different times. Mama's now retired (Praise God!), and dad's job is high enough up that he's good to go, but...whoa.
So...yeah. The Lord has blessed me (and His other children, too) with a spirit of power, a spirit of love, and a spirit of a sound mind. I am thankful, and I've been praying to stand on that and live it out, and He's been good to bless me through some things, already. Its just...
whoa. the rumor mill has it that I have felonies and all that jazz, and sometimes I fear for my safety. Low status, stigmatized people who "don't know their place" don't have an easy time of things. 10 years ago, when I probably had late stage HIV (kind of hard to believe, I know, but...trust me...sick like that probably=AIDS....), I was bashed on the head with a pipe, while walking down a street in another part of the state. Ugh. I'm not paranoid or fearful, but...lesson learned, I guess. Its a rough world we all live in.
OK. Thanks, yet again.
I'm healthy, surprisingly intelligent, even...gasp..."normal," a lot of meaningful ways. I'm thankful. I don't know what all rumors are going on around me, because I'm -definitely- not a member of this community. I got into legal trouble before getting saved. I was charged w/a felony, ended up with a very serious misdemeanor, and I've been off probation (early, because of good behavior) for over 1 year. The only trouble I"ve been in since then was a seat belt violation.
I'm far less fearful, thanks to Christ. "perfect love casteth out all fear." There's a lot of stigma attached to me--Rx drug addiction, HIV, various psych labels--so that complicates the situation, especially the HIV in The Bible Belt. At this point, I've never been treated for HIV, and I probably got infected about 15+/- years ago. Like I've written about so many times before, The Lord has willed to make me remarkably, surprisingly healthy. I even now have good skin, so I look a bit younger than my age (soon to be 34, look 30). I"m thankful, I really am, but...
there's real animosity towards me and my family, too. We once lived in a little old house a couple blocks from here. My parents sold it to an intellectual gay dude. He ended up dying of AIDS. Surprise, surprise; that house burned down.
Then there's social class issues. I'm blessed, my parents are blessed....they started working class, then they were middle-middle class, now they're more on the "comfortable" end of things, but...people have tried to ruin their careers at different times. Mama's now retired (Praise God!), and dad's job is high enough up that he's good to go, but...whoa.
So...yeah. The Lord has blessed me (and His other children, too) with a spirit of power, a spirit of love, and a spirit of a sound mind. I am thankful, and I've been praying to stand on that and live it out, and He's been good to bless me through some things, already. Its just...
whoa. the rumor mill has it that I have felonies and all that jazz, and sometimes I fear for my safety. Low status, stigmatized people who "don't know their place" don't have an easy time of things. 10 years ago, when I probably had late stage HIV (kind of hard to believe, I know, but...trust me...sick like that probably=AIDS....), I was bashed on the head with a pipe, while walking down a street in another part of the state. Ugh. I'm not paranoid or fearful, but...lesson learned, I guess. Its a rough world we all live in.
OK. Thanks, yet again.
