I remember. It was 47 years ago that I came to Atlanta from Washington DC where I was born. Struggling with addiction, pending divorce from someone who really loved me, leaving three beautiful children behind,  and full of PTSD, addiction, anger and uncertainty I arrived lost and alone.

This Friday I embark on a journey to return to visit my two remaining sons, one of whom is struggling with recovery from cancer. The 9 hour trip in my truck will certainly bring back many memories and allow time for thought and reflection. In the years since coming to the ATL miraculous things have happened and I am praying that would also happen to my son in his recovery.

What I know is that God uses every situation, every tragedy, every triumph to school us on who he is and what he wants us to do. Micah 6:8 relates that feeling directly to us:

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God!

These instructions seem so simple but they take cultivating to put into action. 47 years of a roller coaster ride that pulled into God's station of life seemed like a second lifetime for me and it has taught me what is important, and it most certainly isn't my accomplishments, my possessions or my intelligence.

Family, Children, Grandchildren, Great Grandchildren, Friends, all these fall just below a relationship with the Lord but right into the wheelhouse of his will, they mean everything, they are to be treasured and nurtured so that future generations reflect those words in Micah that we should try to live.

I haven't always lived up to that standard but every day I have left on planet earth is another opportunity to get it right. Thank God he has never given up on me and that the redemption of Christ paid the price for our own redemption no matter how many times we have missed the mark.

Every day alive we have one more day to do the right thing, and to right the wrong thing from our past.  I am so ready for it because now I am in the stretch run of The Long Way Home!

Nothing is more destructive to our growth and sobriety than hypocrisy, the wearing of masks - particularly masks of false piety. Masks keep us from being straight about who we are, prevent others from seeing us, set up barriers and make true fellowship impossible. (Quote from the Life Recovery Bible)

In the book of Mark it speaks about false piety, and I get that, I see it quite a bit, but I always go back to the scripture about why you see the speck in your brothers eye when you have a plank in your own. In my mind I can't judge others but I can help myself and others see the masks we wear and try to help remove them. I know because I wore one for such a long time.

To be authentic and be really free we need to be real, and choose who we can be really real with. I have a couple of guys that I speak to regularly, one who I have known for more than 25 years. We are truly real with each other there are no holds barred and when I finish talking to them there is a feeling of true freedom.

Knowing that allows me to be better with others, in that when I speak with them also I can be me and say whats on my mind unless it is hurtful to them in a "pious" way. I was that way with someone else recently and I tell you that to this day I feel like it was one of the best series of conversations I have ever had. An expression of faith, love and sincerity poured out from me like a pitcher of sweet tea.

And what I heard back from that person came out the same way, even exposing some of my flaws, but in a sincere and loving way.  The masks came down and the truth came out and it was again, freeing. And I realized that after 41 years of sobriety God has truly transformed my heart. Still got some issues to resolve but now I am me, the one God intended for me to be, the authentic Glenn.

Now, armed with no masks, I can embark on the good ship reality, tossing aside the waves of fantasy, and the storms of hypocrisy, sailing into the wind of freedom. 

Man that feels good, thank you Lord!

It's been a long time since my last blog, life has just showed up in ways that kept me from writing until I knew I had to right now. Want to talk to you about our dear, departed friend Willie Mae Bush.

In the early 2000's through our ministry which then was at Campus Church in Norcross, we were invited to do meetings with a group of women associated with Mary Hall Freedom House that lived in Gwinnett County.  We had meetings in an apartment led by myself and a group of wonderful women from Campus who wanted to serve. Willie Mae was part of that Mary Hall group.

It was evident from the beginning that there was something special about Willie Mae, and when I heard her story I found out why. In a failed drug deal gone awry her son was shot and killed in front of her, she was actually the drug dealer, which caused her to run away and hide homeless in the woods. The trauma stayed with her and fueled her own addiction which led her to Mary Hall.

There's much more to the story but when she graduated from MH she came to us at Campus where some members housed her and another woman in their own duplex and she became an integral part of our ministry which eventually became ATB in 2009. She had such a giving, loving heart and while I was employed to travel around and buy cars for multiple dealerships she was the glue that held ATB together.

When I came back to ATL in 2017 we began to grow then eventually went out on our own in 2018 her health declined and there was less involvement, but her heart was still with us and remained that way until her passing.  While this blog can't contain more of her story her love and kindness will always be honored by ATB as one of the heroes of our ministry.

May she rest in eternal peace and remain in our thoughts as someone who overcame all odds to be a strong and impacting woman!

Used to be we all knew our neighbors, we enjoyed time with them, talked with them, ate with them and relied on them and shared the ups and downs of life with them. Some places may still do that today, but not many - we have become disconnected from our neighbors by and large.

Back in Luke 10 an expert in the Jewish Law asked him about eternal life and how he interpreted the law? Jesus responded with Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself". Then, that expert asked him "Who is my neighbor"? Strange question since in those days neighbors were known.

But Jesus, knowing the intent of the question then told the story of The Good Samaritan where an enemy helped a man when his own people had walked past him in time of need. Scholars can debate the meaning of this but when I read it I understand that when Jesus asked that expert which of these people was a neighbor to the man in need the expert replied "The one who had mercy on him", he gave us a command.

Our neighbor is one who needs us, whatever that need is. Could be to find faith, to take to the doctors appointment, buy some groceries for or just have a conversation when they are about to fall off the rails. May be someone we know or someone we don't, but when Jesus concluded the conversation with Go and do likewise, he didn't qualify the circumstances. Just have mercy on them.

Think about how he handled folks of all situations during his ministry and ask yourself that same question "Who is my neighbor"?  It might give us a whole new attitude on how we do life!

Last week I went in to Northside Hospital in Lawrenceville (love those people) to have my aortic valve replaced in my heart which had built up calcium deposits and was narrowing. The procedure is known as TAVR Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement which goes through the femoral arteries in the groin to insert a new valve without open heart surgery. My thinking - piece of cake!

Surgery was successful and I was released from the hospital a day later to go home transported by my youngest daughter Briana and grandchildren. Instructions before we left, if you start to bleed from the wounds and can't stop it call 911 or you will bleed out. B and Logan both volunteered to stay with me but being that hard headed Marine I declined saying I was good to go.

About 1:30 AM I awoke to urinate and had that portable urinal with me which I began to use. Then I felt something warm on my leg thinking I may have missed the urinal (lights were out). Instead I realized I was bleeding profusely on the rug, on the bed, and I couldn't stop it. Went into the bathroom, looked in the mirror and saw the area it was bleeding from, called 911 opened the front door and they took me back to Northside.

Making a long story shorter, they could not stop the bleeding for awhile and after finally doing it I spent all day in the ER with Briana by my side. Stable now and at home healing here are a few thoughts:

Jen volunteered to clean up my place before I went home - loyal friends are critical in your life.
Briana stayed with me two days after the ER and changed my bandages - family is everything.
God spoke to me while laying on my bed holding a washcloth on the wound - it's not time he said.

If ever I felt the love of God in a critical moment this was it. For some who have had similar close calls
using has been an option, or it was the option that made your spirit bleed.  But what I felt that night to the present time is what I knew - God is not an option, he is the only option, and he brings what you need in the most difficult of moments in life.

Joshua 1:9 - Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. I felt that.

That includes alone and bleeding out (bad move on my part not letting them stay), calling 911 or in any dark place in your life where you feel alone and lost - God is with you if you let him be. We tell stories like this to let you know he is and will be if you invite him into your life.

And it helps to have incredible individuals like Jen and Briana to help along the way. Be blessed and feel his love! Glenn