God is working!!

I have never seen God more at work than I have the past few weeks. One of the things that I have prayed most for in my life has been for my older brother, A. I have blogged a few times about him and you can read those old entries from here: June 2010 and March 2011. I have received permission from A to post this entry.

My brother has struggled almost his whole life with depression, bipolar disorder and addictions. There has been numerous suicide attempts, many extended hospital stays, and rehab treatments. Nothing has ever worked, or really changed anything. I have always said that I believe God has saved my brother in the miraculous ways he has for a reason. My brother has always been an atheist and wanted NOTHING to do with even a conversation about God.

About a month ago my brother called and asked if he could come down for a visit. We were hesitant at first because we knew he was back into drugs. Tim & I prayed about him coming down and agreed that his life and his salvation was worth much more than anything he could steal or take from us. While down here, Austin expressed how badly he wanted to get clean and into a rehab. I have heard this many times but I still found him a treatment center here in town (2 hours from where he lives). He was able to get in a few days later.

While in rehab my brother seemed very open and excited about treatment. He even stated that he felt that there could even be a Higher Power. This is HUGE for my brother because he has ALWAYS been against the idea. After being in rehab for 3 weeks he got out and had nowhere to go.

The night before he was released, Aaron, Julie, Tim & I had a "family meeting" to discuss the different ministry opportunities we wanted to do over the next year. We had no idea Austin was going to be getting out the next morning, but we discussed when he got out if we would allow him to stay with us. We talked out the logistics, the boundaries we would put into place, and we prayed, hard.

The next morning Austin called and said he was out. I went and picked him up and told him as long as he followed our boundaries and rules he could stay with us until he got on his feet.

The first night was amazing. God showed up in an amazing way. We were able to just sit down with Austin and pour out our hearts to him about how much we love him and how much we love our God. He actually listened and participated in our conversation. At the end we asked to pray for him and he agreed. We began praying and unexpectedly Austin joined us in prayer. He even muttered the words I never thought I would ever hear from him, "I love you God." I was floored by my God's goodness and grace.

A has been with us for two weeks and everyday has been such a blessing to witness God working in his life in such amazing ways. He found a sponsor who is such a blessing. It has been so great to drop him off at a meeting every night and then to come home and be so happy to tell us all about what he has been learning and what God has been doing. Although A is still trying to figure out who God is, God is working. He is working and shaping and changing.

I am so amazed and blessed at how God has orchestrated all of this out in His timing for His Glory. There is SO much more to this story and how God has been working the past few weeks. I will post more and time goes on, but for now please continue to pray for A, his sponsor, and us.