Mark and Radeen... What a great story. I was taken into their home last night. A home shared with their 3 daughters and one son, as well as a friend and her 3 children. Some of the most genuine people I’ve met. Mark’s story went from youth pastor, to cop, to drug cartel, to jail, and now to minister. Some of the details of his story nearly brought me to tears. His family was held hostage behind a drug deal gone bad and he didn’t even know if they were alive. When his family was delivered to him alive he hit his knees weeping... that’s when God changed the story of their family, and they are such beautiful people. He was born into a christian home, with parents heavily involved in the church, and being a stubborn rule breaker like me, he carved his own path until he finally broke the barrier to a true relationship with God outside of religion or performance. You can tell just by meeting him that he and God are close. His wife Radeen saw him through all of this... never giving up on him and never leaving his side. Now that’s what I call love in its purist form. The daily choice to stand by someone and love them through the dark times. Isn’t that how God shows his love best to us? Their girls made pumpkin pie, and a discussion of our favorite foods led to homemade tortilla chips and salsa and sloppy joes. Due to a full house, I was on a couch for the night, but I’ve never been so priviliged to sleep on a couch. Angeleah made us hash browns and eggs for breakfast, making sure to send me off on a full stomach.
As for right now, I’m sitting in a coffee shop downtown simply processing the last 24 hours. I didn’t come out on the road with the intent of writing a book, but I have a feeling a book might come out of this... and I’m really starting to wonder where I’m going to end up next. I am definitely going to have to let my future stops know that I have no clue when I will be there... my only deadline right now is to simply make it to Minnesota by the 9th of June. As for what will happen between now and then, your guess is as good as mine. :)
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