redemption... the story of ron part 3

so....... ron and cheryl got out of new orleans ahead of katrina and made their way to missouri, and although i spoke to him on the phone while he was there, i didnt hear from him again until i called him at victory home. we talked a couple of times by phone during his stay there, and he filled me in on what had transpired since he and cheryl had left new orleans as the hurricane bore down on the coast...

after landing in missouri, they went to visit ron's mom, and right after they got there, the church called and said he was needed back in new orleans as soon as possible. williams blvd. was housing law enforcement and military personnel, and many of them were in need of pastoral care and counseling. remember hearing all the horror stories on the news? and then as the weeks unfolded, various government officials were spinning and doing damage control... saying that the vast majority of the initial reports of roving gangs of armed thugs, snipers and rape and murder in the dome and convention center were exaggerated or just plain fiction? well, the stories that the special ops guys would tell after returning to the church from patrolling the city all night not only bear out the truth of those initial reports we heard on TV, but they paint a picture far worse than what anyone was telling. ron was pretty fired up about the ministry possibilities, and was anxious to get back; however, cheryl wasnt sharing his enthusiasm, and she opted to stay with her family in ohio. ron would call cheryl from new orleans and tell her about everything that was going on, but the more he talked to her, the more he sensed that she was in no hurry to join him there.

when she finally decided to return to new orleans, it wasnt for keeps. cheryl packed her things, and before she left town, she told several friends the secret that had been kept quiet for more than a decade... that ron, her husband, the minister, was an alcoholic. in one fell swoop, a life was seemingly laid to waste. there was only one course of action to take now... confess and resign. beyond that, however, ron saw nothing else worth living for, and with marriage and ministry seemingly finished, life may as well be over with too. after confessing his hidden sin to the pastor, the plan was to go home and commit suicide. the quintessential lie from the pit of hell itself... that all is lost and there is no hope. but when you are a son of the King, there is always a way of escape. the eye-opener for ron came when the pastor asked him to consider what kind of effect his suicide would have on all those that he led to the Lord and discipled down through the years. after careful consideration of such a sobering thought, he placed his immediate future into the hands of his pastor, and arrangements were made for ron to admit himself to victory home, a Christian drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility in the north georgia mountains.

ron related to me in our conversations that, even though he knew he would reject the taking of his own life as the answer to his problems, at the beginning of his stay at victory home, he still felt great shame and a sense of worthlessness. with his ministry, his marriage and his very life seemingly left at the bottom of some long-ago discarded whiskey bottle, there wasnt much to feel very positive about. but God sometimes has to break us all the way down before He can begin to build us back up. in addition to the staff at victory home, there are a number of churches in the area that are very active in the ministry there. the residents attend the different area churches on a rotating basis, and there are a number of members of these churches that have made outreach to these men their personal ministry. even though he was in his own healing process, ron was also able to minister to many of the men that were residents at victory home with him, and amazingly... or maybe not so amazingly (for ron had never lost the heart or the ability to minister during his years of addiction)... ron had a number of opportunities to preach at area churches.

when his stay was complete and he graduated from victory home's rehab program, ron returned to new orleans briefly. i received a call from him, and he told me he was leaving new orleans, and would be tracing a route that would take him back to significant places and people in his life. his aim was two-fold: first, he wanted to re-connect with those people and places that were so much a part of his life. many from williams boulevard were now scattered, and ron wished to visit and tell his story to as many as possible. his second purpose especially piqued my interest... to gather stones to build an ebenezer.....