Today is payday

That's the kind of morning it is....Hodge Podge.
Not really any one single thing to write about today.
Lot's of little things rolling around in my brain.
Today will be a good day.
Today will be a "pay day" so to speak.
I got a phone call last Saturday night shortly before church.
When I answered the call, a voice said, "Is this Mike Bynum?"
I replied, "Yes."
"Mike Bynum that was pastor out at Rapha?"
"Still am!"
"Hi! This is Jimmy McNabb."
Jimmy........
I was flooded with a million thoughts and images of him.

I won't go into his history.
Most addiction stories are all have the same beginnings. The locale may be different and some of the details may seem strange, but the destination is all the same.
What makes Jimmy so special is the struggle he went through to overcome his addiction.
Jimmy is from Los Angeles. Yep! They have drugs out there too.
He found his way to Rapha for treatment, via his mother's house in Troy, Alabama.
Jimmy's sobriety-birthday just happens to coincide with the very first House of Blue Recovery Meeting we held at Gadsden Vineyard........August 21, 1999. 

Jimmy is coming back to Alabama for a family hoo-ha gathering of clan McNabb, and wanted to come by to see me. So today, I will go to the church and await his arrival. 
Some of you may remember Jimmy for his saxophone .
He would play with the worship team when he came to House of Blue, usually bringing down the house with his version of "Amazing Grace". Because of his history and his gratefulness of what God had done in his own life, when Jimmy played Amazing Grace, the song took on a whole other feel of gratitude and thankfulness. You could feel the pleasure and love of God in that room. Jimmy's life is a message of hope and evidence of God's love available to all who seek it.

I wrote at the beginning of this post that today would be payday.
Anytime  hear from someone who went through the program at Rapha and is doing well, it let's me know that the seed that we planted is good seed. That life that was taken from darkness, and is now thriving in the light of God, well....that is payday for me.
Over the past 16 years, I have gotten a lot of payday's.
Still do.
I live for the payday's. When someone walks up and hugs your neck and says, "Thank you for all you did for me."
To hear the stories of how they are now working in recovery...be it at Celebrate Recovery, or just one on  one as they meet hopeless souls lost in the darkness of addiction.

Maybe that is what separates those who have overcome their addiction from the rest of society. They carry around a heart of tremendous gratitude for what God has done for them.
Every little thing.....from a cup of coffee to a morning sunrise, is a celebration of life. You don't find much apathy and complacency in those who are clean and sober, and living for God. They have been to hell. Now, because of God's great love, they are living each day...one day at a time....as a grateful overcomer.

Thanks for letting me share....
God on you....
mb