CHAPTER TEN

Not all of Ruth’s friends were practising Christians. She had several close friends who were Christians by mouth only. She was busy at work one day when she received a text message from Sam who was a Christian by mouth only and who was the one battling alcoholism.

As was his normal practice, he sent Ruth a text message asking whether he could buy her dinner. Ruth always took up Sam’s dinner offers and made time to spend with him because he made her laugh and he truly was a good natured person. She knew him well and enjoyed his company. When she got his invite this time, she was thrilled because she had been praying for him and she was hopeful that he might have some good news for her.

They met the week after his invite. He took her to a restaurant that had a live band. He enjoyed live bands and went out often to listen to them play and sing. Ruth’s expectations were met when Sam told her that he had finally decided to start going for counselling.

“I am going for counselling Ruth. I know you will be happy to hear that,” declared Sam.

“Oh My Goodness, Sam, seriously? You are going for counselling?” Exclaimed Ruth excitedly.

“Calm down! Yes I am. I have no idea how I got convinced to go. Nobody spoke to me about it. I was at the bar with the usual gang one day and for some weird reason, I was not in the mood of drinking. After a couple of drinks, Patricia (his wife) called and asked me to pass by the chemist and get some medication for Sam Junior. I used that as an excuse to leave and then I went to meet with my boss,” explained Sam.

Sam’s boss had been very accommodating and lenient towards Sam. He knew Sam had a drinking problem and Sam had messed up one too many times to justify losing his job. For some reason however, Sam’s boss never fired him. He did not even take disciplinary action against Sam.

“You know how good Edwin has been to me. So on that day, I decided that it was time for me to get to know why Edwin is like that. What is it that stops him from killing me when I miss work for days after a drinking spree? That day I felt that I just wanted him to tell me what he really thinks of me,” continued Sam.

“When I asked him why he was so good to me, he told me that he knew that my job was taxing and when I was at work I performed well so he cut me some slack. He also explained that he thought about my wife and son and how much they have to deal with from my drinking and he didn’t want to make things worse for them by firing me. He said that if I could find a way to stop drinking, that would be the best decision I could make for myself.”

“Ruth when I heard those words from Edwin, my heart broke,” said Sam. Ruth was listening intently without interruption. She wanted to hear all the details of this miracle from God.

“After talking to Edwin I went and got the medicine for my son and took it home. I stayed home that night with my family. I was not ready to give up drinking and I haven’t actually. But that night I couldn’t sleep. I tossed and turned thinking about my future if I didn’t stop drinking. I had never been so disturbed by such thoughts.”

“These thoughts tormented me for several days until I decided that I needed to get myself a shrink to talk to. So am seeing a psychologist. I met him when he was invited to my son’s school to speak to the parents about good parenting.”

“So far, I have come to learn that my upbringing damaged me. My dad was an absentee dad who worked away from home and our mum took out her frustrations with him on us. She always told us that if it wasn’t for her we would amount to nothing. This kind of talk drained me of my confidence because I thought I was worth nothing and I deserved to be mistreated. My dad’s absence denied me of a role model and made me feel unloved. I think I drink too much as a way of dealing with these issues. That’s basically what I’ve figured out so far. At least am not drinking as much now as I used to.”

Ruth was grinning from ear to ear. “Sam, you know I’ve been praying for you!” She said excitedly. “Everything you have said is to me an answered prayer,” Ruth continued. “I am so thrilled by what God has done; here give me a hug,” and they hugged.

Ephesians 6:4 Amplified Bible (AMP) – 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger [do not exasperate them to the point of resentment with demands that are trivial or unreasonable or humiliating or abusive; nor by showing favoritism or indifference to any of them], but bring them up [tenderly, with lovingkindness] in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.