Chris grew up in a rough old cajun home. His father was an abusive alcoholic and his two older brothers used to beat the tar out of him for the fun of it. He loved his mother with all his heart and self admits to being a momma's boy.
When it came to dinner time, he had to fight off his older brothers to get any food at all. Being the smallest, he usually ended up with just the scraps. This left him in a perpetual state of hunger.
Money was always tight and food often scarce. So the days his dad would pull into Kentucky Fried Chicken to get a bucket of chicken for dinner was usually bitter sweet. He knew he was going to have to fight his brothers tooth and toenail just for a piece of chicken.
One day Chris and his brothers were running errands with their dad. While driving around town, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the KFC sign. He instantly started feeling hunger pains. As they got closer, the car slowed down and to his delight turned into the KFC drive-thru. Right then Chris determined he would have some chicken and wasn't going to settle for the bones like so many times before.
As soon as they left the drive-thru and were back on the road, Chris' dad mumbled about needing to stop for gas. He pulled into a service station and told the boys to start filling up the gas tank as he went into pay and get some beer.
This was Chris's big chance! As soon as his brothers jumped out of the truck to be the first to the gas pump, he rolled up the windows and locked both doors. The keys were in the ignition and Chris was all alone with a whole bucket of chicken. He knew what he was about to do was going to have dire consequences.
The fear of ultimate pain was no deterrent, Chris opened the bucket of chicken and devoured it like the starving kid he was. He remembers with a smile that while his brothers and dad were outside pounding on the windows screaming profanities and threats, he was inside smiling while he enjoyed eating the entire bucket of chicken.
Chris's experience with the chicken is similar to the struggle that all addicts have. They have a hunger that must be satisfied no matter the price. He knew there would be pain, yet was willing to accept it for the satisfaction of his hunger. This event molded a big portion of Chris's life as he struggles with alcoholism today.
The amazing thing is that Chris is becoming addicted to love. Not like the Huey Lewis song, but, like the unconditional love of Jesus. Time after time Jesus is there in one form or another loving Chris. At first he didn't realize it, but, now is becoming aware that Jesus is after him.
God loves Chris so much that he is in pursuit of him every minute of every day. He loves him so much he would send a family from mid Missouri just to show him he loves him.
Please pray for Chris and please pray that we can continue to show God's love to the homeless in Hollywood, FL.
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