~♥~
The lady doesn’t get to know Rodney very well because he starts coming to discipleship meetings only a short time before he is released. He has a great sense of humor and lightens up the mood whenever he comes in. Iris would never have known that he had experienced so much neglect and abuse if he had not told her, because he is always so jovial. It is always a delight to see him make the suicidal and emotionally disturbed youth laugh and play.
Like many other young men in the detention center, he has been committing crimes since the death of a family member that he deeply loved. In this case it was his stepfather, the only one who took time with him and taught him anything.
He describes how the family was all gathered at the hospital, and Rodney stepped out to use the restroom. He came back and his “daddy” had died. Rodney says he went crazy in the room, yelling and throwing things, and security had to take him away. He says that he could never forget that moment because if he had known, he would have kissed his daddy on the cheek and told him he loved him first. But he can never go back, and it hurts him deeply.
Yet Rodney is very cheerful and always expresses his gratitude to God.
He said one thing to Iris that she can never forget.
He said, “I believe that if you gave me an empty cup and asked me to drink from it, I would drink it because I know that the Holy Ghost would be in the cup and it would help me.” The lady took out her lavender handkerchief when he said it and dabbed her eyes. She still gets misty-eyed when she thinks of the kind of trust that he had in her.
~♥~
Drifting into the Divine ~♥~ 