Nick at Night

We are not a recovery house. We are learning, but it is painful. Two and half months ago, we scooped up Nick getting out of prison after 3 1/2 years. Several men took him away to a mountain cabin and prayed with him and showered him with the Father's love and adoption. Nick came back to stay in our building and be in our community. Though the possibility of relapse was there, Nick was getting back in touch with his 8 year old son. He was deciding what he wanted with his life.

But he was also struggling - Romans 7 struggling. I do not do what I want to do; in fact, the very thing I do not want to do, that is what I do...

One night he decided to visit his old girlfriend and relapsed. When he called the next day, he just wanted his money, so he could get high, but we wouldn't give it to him. He came by and said he didn't want us to pray for him or get spiritual. When he tried to leave, Chris kept stepping in his way and praying. We worshipped and prayed and eventually Nick calmed down and stayed.

But we are not a recovery house and keeping a constant eye on Nick took its toll on the four other men living in the building. Nick relapsed several more times. Each time he would return, repentant. At one point, I took him to a doctor's appointment. He told her he was tired of people keeping an eye on him all the time, treating him like a child. She was a straight shooter; she said, "You're right. We are keeping an eye on you. You are acting like a child." As she was leaving she stopped and said, "You have a lot of people putting themselves out there for you. Take advantage of it."

But heroin and meth play a mean fiddle and Nick dances. Relapse, detox, etc. He is now in a treatment facility for 90 days. We are not a recovery house, but we are learning what we can do and what we can't.