Stories from the Mission... bit 33

9/29/11
   I saw Guytano playing the piano again and earlier I saw a man playing Juan's guitar. Amazing how in my hands those things are just lumps of wood and metal, but in theirs they come alive.
   I got my first upper bunk mate, a long haired, strawberry blonde guy named Timothy. He is not the only Timothy here, so we call him Second Timothy, (kind of a Bible pun). He seems really laid back, like he is from California, but is really from Pittsburgh.
   Last Friday they changed the rules on the computers here from 6 months to 60 days. It's nice to be able to e-mail family again but in a way it only reminds me of how few of those voices I have heard since I messed up.
10/1/11
   I've been doing artwork with my pens of scrolls and curly cues like what you'd see on a fancy wrought iron fence. A few days ago I began to use that technique to make crosses that fit on a sheet of paper, and I give them away to the first person that see's them and likes them. For instance, I just spent an hour on a blue, flared ended one and just as soon as I got done with it, Eddy Appleton walked by my bunk, pointed at it and said,"I like that", in his own style. He smiled and walked away into the bathroom, so I got up and set it on his bunk as a surprise. It will be interesting to see his reaction. Not long after I wrote that he came over to my bunk with it in his hand and asked what was going on. I didn't understand at first, but in the world he was from, things didn't happen like that for no reason. He wanted to make sure he wasn't being set up, lol. I explained to him how I appreciated what he said and he told me again how he really likes it.
   I often spend time looking at the huge buildings in the Chicago skyline and being that I am a big fan of science fiction, I got the idea that would make for an interesting story. What if those big towers where really spaceships? Imagine the Sears, 311s Wacker, The Aeon, the Hancock, and the Trump launching to repel and alien force... lol.
   There is a kindly, very old gentleman that plays the Yamaha organ and a nice little gray haired lady that plays the piano for our Praise and testimony events on Saturday nights and I just found out that they are married. They both dress very formal, he of bent back and she is upright, prim and proper, always a smile to shine out. He has been playing for the Mission of over 60 years now! I can't imagine how wonderful a life them must have had, playing together in so many places. I can just see them having a pair of pianos at home even, lol. What a wonderful gift they are!
   I was thinking back last night to the day I came here. After a year of no sun, standing in the cold glare of light on that exposed L platform for the Blue line at Montrose, cars screaming by on ether side, I know I was being carried by Jesus because I know I didn't want to stand. If it had been up to me I would have fallen out. I wanted to quit, but some small, dim part of me way deep inside still trusted. You know that poster with the footprints in the sand? This was that time when I was being carried.
10/3/11
   Did my 5th pen cross today for Earl and am doing another for Yaseem so he can take a picture of it and then I can post it to my Facebook page. Earl is a cool guy and a really great artist! He does cartoon characters that are so professional it's astounding! The dude has tons of enthusiasm that is contagious and at times even looks like one of his drawings, lol.
   Chris just came by my bunk and we where talking about the book of Galatians when the subject of circumcisions came up. I was like "Wow, they talk about it a lot." Chris is like, "Yeah, it's all over in there." I'm like, "Can you imagine? They didn't have anesthesia to knock you out, they just..." and with that Chris put up his hand as if to say, NO more and walked away. A few seconds later he came back and said, "It makes me appreciate Jesus even more!" LOL
10/4/11
   I felt tired down to my soul today, even felt like giving up again. I slept in parts of both classes and now at 6:30 PM I can't sleep.
10/6/11
   Just got done reading 1st peter and it helped me a lot. 1 Pete 2:19-21 and 1 Pete 3:13 specifically. I'm realizing there where some certain things that led to my depression. On is that when I go over 30 minutes on the treadmill I have a real hard time recovering. I'm going back down to 2o minutes and slowly build back up. The second problem I have is with the guy whose Bible I accidentally took. 'MD" is unstable... heck, most of the guys say he is straight up nuts. Two times he has made veiled threats towards me, and when he does, it is spooky scarey. I decided to go see Pastor Green on it. He said he would have a talk with him, that everybody should feel safe in here and that nothing should get inn the way of getting closer to Jesus. I know part of my problem is not in trusting in the Lord enough to protect me, so I have been praying on it a lot, but when a muscle bound street thug glares at you... heh. Up at the farm with the big cats there was an old tiger named Sammy that was so well behaved that we would let him out in the barn for tour groups to pet him. I was on hand a dozen times for these special moments and Sammy knew me well. All the volunteers would get a spray bottle of some stuff called Arbatrol, a flea spray that was harmless to them, but they hated the smell and would back away at the sight of it. We would use the spray to control their movements, but on this one day Sammy looked up at me differently. This time his eyes locked in on me and he lined his body up... it suddenly went from happy go lucky Sammy to predator ready to pounce on me the prey. I had to spritz him several times before he shook his head and moved away... very unnerving. THAT was the same feeling I got around that guy, "MD".