Today, I received another call from someone mistaking Teen Haven for a detox center or drug and alcohol rehab facility (we get these calls occasionally, sometimes because people mix up Teen Haven with Teen Challenge – an excellent Christ-centered rehab program).
Honestly the way I handle these calls can depend on how my day is going and how busy I am. Sometimes, I will fumble through my files and provide phone numbers to the person in need (usually a parent or friend of the person with the substance abuse issue), other times when I’m really busy, I may only provide the name of a program or just politely let them know that Teen Haven isn’t a rehab program.
For some reason, today I lingered for a while and talked with the mother of Michael, a 20-year-old who is using cocaine and slowly destroying his life and his relationships with those who love him most. While directing her to some ministries that hopefully can provide her and her son some help, I realized that God had a small role for me to play at this moment in this woman’s life whom I had never met.
As she shared her brokenness and fear and tears and lack of faith, I was able to reassure her that the God she knows and who loves her and her son more than she ever could, is still present even when things are dark. And that He is more than able to deliver her son, if Michael is willing. It may happen instantly (the way she was delivered from her alcohol addiction) or it may be a long, exhausting struggle. But either way, God will be with both her and her son as they walk through this. (Isaiah 43:1-3)
As we prayed together before saying good-bye, I thanked God for causing me to pause and listen rather than rushing off the phone and back to the task I had been working on when she called. Occasionally, I get so busy doing “ministry” work that I miss the ministry opportunities that God puts before me, today He allowed me to recognize and respond to one. “Thanks God.”
-Jack Crowley, Teen Haven Director
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