The beginning of this story is a summary of what you already know, and then I lead into what he is up to now.
He left home six months ago, heading out to a hotel in Banff, looking for a job, based upon my memories. Well, a few days in that town and he didn't get a job. He has still not had any calls on his resumes that he sent out. Obviously, it wasn't meant to be. Later, we found out that Banff was a town full of drugs; not a good place to hang around. Actually, a pastor I talked to in Banff, told me his best advice for Colt was to 'get out of town'.
After his short stint of tenting it in his car in Banff, Alberta, he headed out to Yak, BC, to visit his girlfriend. While there he tried very hard to get a job in Cranbrook, BC. He put out so many resumes, but noone was hiring. He found some odd jobs, such as picking apples, and doing some yard work for his girlfriend's family. I, of course, was sitting over here thinking, "Picking apples?" But he was enjoying life. School was done - finished with a B+ average, he was spending time with his girlfriend, and he was seeing a bit of the world. Mr. Independence.
One day, he stopped over to visit a good friend of mine and she invited him to stay with her while he was looking for work. It was getting colder and he had been rather homeless for a while. During his time looking for work he had been commended by the woman at the employment centre as being the most industrious young man she had ever met. She was so impressed with his efforts to find a job.
In time, a job did surface. My friend's husband was able to secure him a job at McDonald's. Life was rather good. He had a job, a place to stay, and he was having fun. Then he received a notice that his license was being suspended because he had received his first and only speeding ticket. But due to the fact that he was a new driver and it was considered excessive speed they were taking his license.
In a panic, Colt wrote an appeal to the licensing office and sent it off hoping they would change their decision. He called me and told me he was going to try to find an apartment closer to his work. If he lost his license he would not be able to drive the 10 km to work. I suggested he wait on that decision, until he had heard back from the licensing department. What if he didn't need to get an apartment? He would then be stuck with a furnitureless home! As it was, my friend was wanting him to stay, as she is a mother with older children and she really welcomed him into her home.
As it was, Colt learned that a fellow employee had an extra room in his house and it was 2 km from his work. Colt willingly, happily took this room. It wasn't much - not much bigger than a bed (truly), but it included a roof, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a television and tv. Colt figured it was great. And he commenced to jog or bus to work.
His paycheques weren't great coming from McDonald's, but he stayed ahead of his rent and all was working out. He got two awards from McDonalds for being a fine employee.
Meanwhile, he was still looking for work elsewhere. Serving customers was not up his alley. He heard about a job in Creston and it was a pretty sure thing, so he mentioned to his roommate that he might be getting a job in there, and he just wanted him to be aware. He did not give his notice, though.
The next thing he knew, the roommate announced to him that he would be giving up his lease on the house and would be moving in with a friend for less rent. Suddenly, Colt was homeless. And he still did not know about the job in Creston.
But he did know that he had no options for renting an apartment in Cranbrook. He hadn't saved enough money for first and last month rent, plus damage deposit, and he couldn't move back to my friend's because he still did not have a driver's license and it was too far from his job.
He was between a rock and a hard place!
Meanwhile, I am sitting over here listening to this story and thinking, Oh, life doesn't have to be this hard. There is a job over here with a nice pay cheque attached to it. There is a roof and food.
But, of course, that wasn't what he wanted. He had tasted 'freedom' and the big, wide world, and he was enjoying it. Plus, his girlfriend was in the same area, and he wasn't about to leave her behind. So there he stayed.
Since he left home, I have enjoyed lengthy phone calls with him on a weekly basis, and so I knew I would get a call keeping me up to speed. Finally, after a week had gone by, he called me to tell me what had taken place.
When I had spoken to him last he told me that his landlord had told him he had to be out of his place by the 25th of February - a few days before the end of the month and Colt had paid for the full month. Colt had found a place in Creston that he could rent for a reasonable amount, but this place wasn't available until the 8th of the month - leaving Colt homeless for 10 or more days!
And there I am listening to him listing off his options: there is a homeless shelter.....
HOMELESS SHELTER???? Do you know the kind of people that can be in there?
Oh, but I didn't shriek. No, I gently mentioned it, all the while praying he wouldn't get to that point. Yes, he could come home. But no he wasn't intending to. He had to figure this out, and I knew he would, but in the meantime, I was thinking, "Was I this stubborn? This determined to see the world?"
No, I was much more planned out. I had a game plan all set out before I headed for Europe. I knew what train to get off and that there was a hotel. I knew I had *money* before I left and I knew how long it would last. And if I had run out of money, I probably would have gone home.
But he is a man. He is an explorer, and he is doing his own conquering of the world.
And I must say, it has been interesting to see his growth. Through the whole thing he has kept his integrity, his respectful attitude, his kindness, and his faith. Yes, his faith has been a little smothered at times by his overwhelming situations, but through it all he has remained faithful and known that God is out there.
I would talk to him every few days and bit by bit he worked out his problems. It was rather humorous at times to hear what hoops he was leaping through, but each time he managed. And when you think about it, just six months ago, he was here at home and had no problems, no life issues to really deal with, and now, here he is out there in the world handling all kinds of issues!
For instance, his landlord had left him homeless. Well, as it turned out the apartment was left empty, and the big landlord had not come to clean it yet, as planned, so Colt ended up sleeping there while waiting for his other place to come available. All the while, he has given his notice at McDonald's because he knows that he can't stay in Cranbrook - no place to live, as he can't get enough money quick enough to prepare for an apartment. He knows there are no other jobs to be had in Cranbrook, so he heads to Creston, hoping he can get the job at the mill.
Well, that turns out to be a dud. They *would* hire him, but they are not in a place to do so right now, so maybe later. So now he is in Creston, his car is in Cranbrook, he has no license, and he has to solve that one. He did.
The next thing I know he is calling me to tell me of the only place he could get that he could afford. An 'apartment' type motel. Read: fleabag flophouse. *smile* Bring your own furniture, television, dishes, and phone. No kidding! There wasn't even a bed.
But again, God is good! When Colt was leaving his other place, his landlord said, "Does your new place have a bed?" And Colt told him no. So the landlord let him take the bed. Then the new landlord scrounged around and found him a few more things to put in his 'place'.
But when he told me that this guy had been decent over the phone and told him he could check it out before he settled on it, I suggested that maybe Colt could do some painting or work for the guy to help pay for his $400 a month rent. Rent that would have to come from somewhere, since he no longer had a job.
By now, Colt's reaching out to God for comfort and guidance was a little on the quiet side. I think he was beginning to feel overwhelmed. He was determined to not come home, but yet, he was trying so hard to keep afloat with finding a job and a new place to live. Each time I talked to him on the phone he began to sound more and more depressed. I kept reaching out and sharing my faith with him, and encouraging him to turn to God for help and guidance. And he would say, Yeah. And that would be all. And I would leave it. But every day, each and every one of us would pray that God would guide Colt and that he would turn to God for help. We prayed that God would give Colt clear direction as to where he was to be and what he was to be doing. We also prayed for protection for him.
Throughout his whole time away from home he had been coming and going on the idea of joining the military. Finally, one day, he told me that he was going to join. Tyler, his girlfriend, was supportive. She knew this was important to him. He had come to a place where he would leave her knowing that it would be three years before he could be with her again, and so he was determined to stay in her town, until she shipped off to cadet camp for the summer. At this time, he would probably come home to our town for the two months before heading off to school for the fall.
Then one day, during a long conversation filled with lots of pauses and silences, as he was too down to talk, I asked him about a principle he has been raised by: Are you tithing?
He replied that he had been when he was working for McDonalds but then he had stopped. In all of his working days Colt has never not tithed. Our children have seen us give 10% back to God each and every payday, since they were tiny, so it is a natural thing for them to do the same thing. They don't even blink at it. To our family, it is a Biblical thing to do, and we have reaped the blessing by living by this principle.
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,"
Says the Lord of hosts,
"If I will not open for you the windows of heaven
And pour out for you such blessings
That there will not be room enough to receive it."
Malachi 3:10
Honor the Lord with your possessions,
And with the first-fruits of all your increase;
So your barns will be filled with plenty,
And your vats will overflow with new wine.
Proverbs 3:10
So I said to him, "How much money do you have in your pocket?" He said about $5. He was slowly running out of money, and had no clue what to do. He was constantly looking for work and trying so very hard, but things weren't panning out. So he really was down to his last bit of work, but I knew he had a roof, and I knew God wouldn't let him down. If he just had *faith* and acted upon it.
Previously, Colt had told me that just a two minute walk from his 'house' was a church. He had gone there and they had free internet, so he had taken them up on it and checked out the college course he wanted to take. He knew it was a $60 application fee and he just didn't feel safe sending out that last bit of money, so he didn't apply.
I told Colt I wanted him to do me a favour. I knew he didn't have the faith to do what I was asking, so I asked him to do it for me. I asked him to go into the sanctuary of the church and get a tithe envelope and put his last bit of change into it. I then said I wanted him to spend time pouring out his heart to God, telling Him that he was giving this money in faith; faith that God would honour his faith, and provide for him and help him in his time of need.
Colt agreed to do this, and I asked him to call me the next day for just twenty minutes and tell me how God had met him on this.
He didn't call me the following day, but he did call
As it turned out, four people had told him that day that they were praying for him. The pastor had seen him wandering through and had told him that he wanted to go out for coffee with Colt. I found this very encouraging. To Colt this still wasn't a job, but to me, I could see God providing Colt with support.
Meanwhile, Colt informed me that the landlord of the apartment had hired him to do some painting. Sadly, again, he failed to see the blessing. He was so caught up in his huge over whelming feeling of not being able to pull it all together: get a job, a decent place to live, and feed himself. And I do understand. My faith is that of someone who has learned and lived and experienced and had a chance to trust God on my own. He has always had a safety net, and now it is just him and God. And he is still relying on the 'him' part! *smile*
Yesterday, when Colt and I were discussing his phone bill and how he was intending on paying that, or was he going to have to disconnect his cell phone, he told me the landlord had said he would lend him some money.
He's a LOAN SHARK!!!!!
This time I did go up a few decibels! I could just see my son all beaten to a pulp over a $100 bill! lol!
He then informed me he was joking. Yes, the guy had offered him money as loan, but he didn't intend to take it. The guy also suggested he take welfare and Colt had no intention on taking that. Good for you, my boy! Give God a chance!
So I told Colt that I wanted him to do something. I wanted him to take note through the day and send me a text telling me all the ways that God had blessed him that day. I knew that if Colt would begin looking he would begin seeing that he was not alone; that God was with him in everything.
About 11:00 A.M. this morning my cell phone rang and went to receive the text. I had totally forgotten what I had told Colt yesterday, but it was like God rose to my challenge! *smile*
I just smiled when I read the text:
God blessed me today with:
- free postage stamps
- no fee on my money order
- yard work from a guy at my church
- a ride to his house from his son
I could just read the upbeatness and joy in his spirit. I just grinned and read it off to the children. We were all so thrilled to see Colt's blessings!
Later that evening, Colt called me for our '20 minute' chat, which turned into a 2 hour talk. *smile* He asked me if I wanted to hear about his day from the beginning. Of course, I did!
His day had begun by going down to the employment office. The same one where the lady was so impressed with him. He had wanted to fill in an application form for the college course he wants to take. He has decided to be an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer for the Military. (Denise, notice one more similarity that our lives take? The same job your Michael trained and did!)
I am guessing that overnight, since our last conversation about having faith and trusting that it would be okay to send that $60 application fee in the mail, he had decided to do so. I had said to him to trust God will provide for your rent and your food. Step out for your future and let God take care of your now.
So this morning, after he filled in the forms on the computer, he asked the lady what the postage would be for the envelope, as it was a 8x11 one. She had the ability to weigh them and told him it would be $2.00. (At this point I had no clue how 'no money' he really had!) She put on the stamps, and he reached for his wallet to pull out two dollars to pay her. He attempted to hand it to her, and she said he didn't need to pay. Blessing #1.
The next part is funny. He finds it embarrassing. *grin* Colt is my child (besides Raine) who has the most beautiful printing. I put the most effort into him. He tells me it has gone downhill. So as he was chatting with the lady he told her he couldn't run it through the printer at
Once he had left
When faced with the knowledge that he didn't have enough money to send the money order and pay the fee, Colt told the lady that he needed to send the money order for the whole $60, and he didn't have enough for the fee. The ever so kind bank teller told him that she would waive the fee and he could have the money order! Blessing #3!
After Colt went home for a few minutes to do a few things, he headed over to his girlfriend's highschool. He stopped in for a few minutes chat with her during lunchbreak, and while there his phone rang. Just the day before he had told me he needed to keep his phone because it was the only way for people to contact him regarding work.
In the previous few weeks, Tyler and Colt had gone door to door offering themselves as available for yardwork. Noone had taken them up on the offer. Colt figured they would just think he wanted work to pay for alcohol and such garbage. He knew he wanted work to pay for his food and rent, but they didn't. Well, one door he went to paid off. This was the man calling. He said he had heard from his son that Colt was looking for work. Would he be interested? Blessing #4
Colt headed over to the church, because the son worked there, and asked the man if so and so was his father? The man said yes, and Colt said, Thanks for the work referral! The son then said, Would you like a ride over?
It was a fifteen minute drive to the man's house. Colt would have managed on his own, but God provided him with a ride! Blessing #5
When he got to the job, the man of the house told him he would be going away for a week soon, and would have work if Colt wanted it when he came back. Could he do some pruning of trees for now?
I had a laugh and said, You know how to prune trees? Colt informed me it was easy. As it turned out a couple days earlier when he was looking for work he had run into this guy that was building a house. The man had asked Colt what he knew about housebuilding. Of course, Colt had an extensive list and ran through it all. When he came to 'landscaping', the guy stopped him and asked him what he knew. He then took Colt to the front of the house and asked him what he would do?
Colt was brilliant and suggested a retaining wall, rock around trees, lava rock etc. And then when taken to the back yard he said he would match the back to the front. The other employees all agree with him. The man said he would be giving Colt a call. We shall see.
Anyhow, the man who gave Colt work today, asked Colt if he had had lunch. Colt replied that he had. I asked Colt, Did you? The day before he had told me his fridge was empty, and that he didn't have money to get groceries, but he was 'getting through'. I knew from what he was saying that he was eating no more than meal a day. A can of the cheap spaghetti or things like that. Plus, his sweet girlfriend would bring him things when she could.
To interject here: as a mother you don't like to hear this, but also as a mother you can't rescue your son and bring him home when he wants to be out there. Yes, when I heard how badly he was (not) eating, I mentally made a plan to send him a care package from home with food in it by bus.
Anyhow, Colt replied with a laugh, that he had had a bite of Tyler's sandwich, while he visited her at school. So he went to work, and when I asked him how he felt, he said his stomach hurt.
Later, the lady of the house, asked Colt if he had really had lunch, and this time he couldn't lie. He said, "No, and my stomach's killing me." He sheepishly grinned. This kind angel (I think they both were!) asked him if he would like a bun. She made him a meat and cheese sandwich with the fixings. He said he could have eaten five of them. But Thank You, Lord for meeting his needs! Blessing #6
When he had done his work for the day he was taken back to the little town and dropped off. The man told him he could work the next day, and if he couldn't get a ride he would pick him up.
Then Colt told me a story about the night before. We had been talking and he had headed out to his girlfriend's house. She lives 20 minutes away by car. He had done something I don't want him doing, but in a way, he had no alternative. He hitched a ride.
He said there were so few cars going that way. He had gotten a ride from one lady, and she had driven him a distance and then dropped him. She had told him how respectful and polite he was. And I know that. *grin* It would be true. He then walked about 10 km before he was picked up again. This lady had seen him around town. I am guessing being this is a small town that people notice you! That is why people were praying for him when they didn't know him other than to see him dropping in at the church on days that were not church days.
This lady drove him aways and then told him that if he ever needed a ride to give her a call. She told him she wished she could drive him further. As he got out of the car, she asked him if he had eaten that day, and he said he hadn't. She then proceeded to give him a 2lb bag of chips. He said it was as big as a bag of flour! laugh. Blessing # 7
As he continued to walk it was now dark, and he knew he wouldn't get a ride the final distance. He said about 30 cars passed him and so many minutes went past between each car. He was out in the middle of nowhere, and he was sure he would never get to Tyler's house, when he decided to pray. And so he did.
He said, "That is when the miracle happened. The next moment lights came and pulled over and stopped for me. It was a man." He drove Colt the rest of the way. Blessing #8
The previous day, when I was speaking to Colt on the phone, I had told him I would be blogging his story. He laughed and told me he wish he could get some Manna from Heaven. This is the what we call it when God provides food. The next morning, Ray called up to me before he left for work, and told me that a friend who had moved was cleaning out her pantry. She had a box of things. I didn't think anything of it. God always provides for us, and it has been a tight year.
A little later, when I came downstairs, I saw this box, and I knew it was for Colt. It was full of lightweight things: Kraft Dinner, Ramen Noodles, Hamburger Helper, packages of soup etc, plus I added all this to canned goods of my own, salt, milk powder, sugar, spices, garlic. Anything to make it possible for my boy to eat again! smile
Colt's Care Package From Home
I took it up to the bus station and all the children wrote love notes on the outside of the box. It was 68lb and packed full. We waited with great anticipation for Colt to get the package. Two days later, at 1:30 in the afternoon, he called me to tell me he was unpacking this box, and it was like Christmas. I had packed him a good book to read, plus four seasons of The Walton's. smile. We love that series and given he doesn't have TV, I figured it would be relaxing entertainment after a long day of job searching and odd jobs.
I know that he will continue to get work, just in the knick of time. He has his rent due by the first of the month and he is about $150 short, but I know God will provide. In the meantime, he continues to grow in character, life-skills, and experience!
I did forget to mention, that he did not receive any good news from his appeal regarding his license. They will give it back to him in the beginning of June, thus his life is a little more complicated. But he continues to work it all out.
God is so good. And I am so glad to see my son is being taken care of. I always knew he was, but what broke my heart was seeing that he couldn't see it. My prayer is that Colt will always be able to
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2 comments:
Wow, I can't decide who is braver Colt or his Momma. I just want to hug him and bring him home. You are one strong Lady being able to let go like that and allow him to find his way. My heart is out there with both of you.
What a beautiful testimony! God is good and you've done a wonderful job raising a son who is so Faithful! I will add you and your family to my prayer list and look forward to hearing more about his adventures in adulthood! God bless!
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