My Prodigal Daughter Serving the Lord

[Sparko]

We could revert to the convention that applied before the invention of the compass, I suppose, and have east as up. Or adopt more generally the railway (and Biblical) convention of having the more important place as up: that would make "going down to Texas" true for just about everyone かもしれない　間違いない

I prefer "hyar" and "yonder"

"Git yer tail over hyar" "I'm gonna visit CP over yonder"

[Cow Poke]

We could revert to the convention that applied before the invention of the compass, I suppose, and have east as up. Or adopt more generally the railway (and Biblical) convention of having the more important place as up: that would make "going down to Texas" true for just about everyone かもしれない　間違いない

But, regardless of from whence you start, you always go "up" to Jerusalem.

[tabibito]

But, regardless of from whence you start, you always go "up" to Jerusalem.

Would you care to guess how many theologians try to locate people in an area of lower elevation by the Bible's reference to them "going up to Jerusalem?"

[Cow Poke]

Would you care to guess how many theologians try to locate people in an area of lower elevation by the Bible's reference to them "going up to Jerusalem?"

Not at this moment, thank you. Just referencing all the times in the Bible that people go "up to Jerusalem". Yes, because of its elevation.

[whag]

Since some of the usual suspects here love to try to make me sound like a bad parent because my daughter went through a tragic period of rebellion, I thought I'd copy/paste here what I wrote elsewhere to JimL.....



My daughter, by her own admission, had a wonderful childhood.
Since you and the Crazy German Cat Lady pretend to be interested in my family, I'll take some time to fill in the blanks....

Not that you care, but when she turned 17, she met a pervert who charmed her into thinking he would provide a much better life for her, and she ran away from home with him.
He got her hooked on drugs, got her pregnant, and kept her pretty much imprisoned in his house to take care of his other 5 children by 3 other mothers whom he left as homeless druggies.
Literally, he would get a woman pregnant, get her hopelessly strung out on drugs, and manage to keep custody of the children because the mother was "unfit".

She got out of that relationship and fell for the guy who was selling him drugs, and was introduced to the occult.
She ended up marrying him, getting a divorce, marrying another guy, and continued her involvement with drugs and satanism.
She had three children by two different men, and she pretty much abandoned them to be raised her oldest daughter, preferring to hang out with people like you.

One night, she had such a bad psychotic episode that she called me begging for help. We had been through several rounds of that, but I never gave up.
I'll never forget - it was a Halloween night with a full moon, and she was barefoot and half naked out in the woods "running from Satan".

With the help of our Sheriff's Department, I found her, picked her up and drove her to a rehab place about an hour from where we lived.
After waiting over 5 hours for her to be seen by an intake officer, somebody came out and told us that all beds were full, they couldn't take anybody else.
They gave us a referral to another rehab facility another hour away.
As it turns out, this other facility was actually a faith-based one, and promised to deal with her whole problem, not just "the drug part".

Amazingly, as we were going through "intake", a nurse walked in and called me by name, surprised to see me.
It was a Nigerian woman who had been a member of my church, but had moved to another city, and was working at this facility.
When she met my daughter, the nurse hugged her and said, "I have great respect for your father - and I will be your charge nurse".

She was only there for about 2 weeks, but already we saw drastic changes in her, and they felt it was time for her to be discharged.
She didn't want to go back to the area where she had been living because of the high degree of druggies and temptation there.
So, she moved in with us.

The first night was an absolute nightmare. She kept hearing voices and yelling that there were men in the attic with machine guns and they were trying to kill her.
I was greatly concerned this was "the new normal".
She kept us awake all night with various screaming and threats of violence and hallucinations.

Then came the morning.
She came to the breakfast table and sat down, more calm and collected than I had seen her since before she ran away.
She said, "there weren't men in the attic, were there?"
We said, "no, there were not".
She said, "nobody was trying to get me, were they"?
We answered, "nobody".
This went on for almost an hour - her doing her own "reality check" of what had happened the previous night.

We were in uncharted waters, and we didn't want to mess up this "self diagnostic", so we just allowed her to talk.

Then she jumped up and lunged at me, hugging me so hard it hurt, and started crying and sobbing uncontrollably telling me she was sorry.
We went through that a while longer, then she dried her tears, wiped her face, and was suddenly "normal".

It is downright miraculous, in my opinion, that her desire for drugs, her satanic thoughts, her crazy notions, her fear, her anxiety... all just vanished.

She asked if she could live with us for a while so she could figure out what to do next, and she stayed with us probably another 3 months.
She was absolutely clearly 100% "cured" of whatever it was she had been into, and wanted to reestablish relationships with her children.
They were skeptical at first, because they had seen several rounds of "I'm getting straight" and "back to the drugs".

We helped her find an apartment, and her then husband came back into the picture, amazed at the change in her.
They got back together, and have an amazing relationship.
He's a great guy, though a bit scary-looking. He's a BIG boy, big long biker-style beard, tattooed over pretty much all of his body, but a really great guy.

So, yeah --- she was raised to be a good Christian girl - departed that for a time in a most heart-breaking manner - then came back to her upbringing with a passion.
Her family is all united, loving, serving the Lord, and downright fun to be around.

What does this say for you, Jim?
You had a Christian mother who prayed for you and cared for you.
There's hope for you.

Perhaps this is why this makes you so angry --- you want very badly to believe this was "bad parenting" on my part, but it really shows a picture of patience, forgiveness, repentance, reunion, joy, happiness....

And, now, my "prodigal daughter" does apologetics podcasts on the internetzweb with just under a half million followers.

Somebody did something right!



By the way - she absolutely refuses to return to her "old neighborhood" because her 5 "best friends" were either murdered or died of overdoses.
She even had a warrant out for her arrest as a suspect in one of those murders.
The ONLY time she returned to that area was to voluntarily appear before the judge to answer the charges in that warrant.

Yet again, we saw the hand of God, as this judge listened to her story, then said "I can see in your eyes that you are telling the truth and that you are not the person you used to be".
He dismissed charges against her, and actually asked if she needed any help in re-establishing her life.

Cow Poke, thanks for posting your daughter’s story. I’m happy that your daughter came back from drug addiction and extreme abuse. My stepson’s father pushed him into a profession that compromised stepson’s sanity, so I know the hell of this. Unfortunately, he threatens suicide a lot to this day because of it.

I know that Mike Licona has had the same troubles with his daughter, so I wouldn’t think to blame this on bad parenting. It’s just the BS of life and living on a hell planet. I’m encouraged to see Jim didn’t engage this thread to make this ugly, and I hope from henceforth you not mention his drug problem anymore to provoke him. It’s not a good look for anyone.

I'm also impressed to hear your daughter has such a popular podcast. Would you mind giving us the link, or would that compromise her identity? I understand the value of being anonymous here.

[Cow Poke]

Cow Poke, thanks for posting your daughter’s story. I’m happy that your daughter came back from drug addiction and extreme abuse. My stepson’s father pushed him into a profession that compromised stepson’s sanity, so I know the hell of this. Unfortunately, he threatens suicide a lot to this day because of it.

I know that Mike Licona has had the same troubles with his daughter, so I wouldn’t think to blame this on bad parenting. It’s just the BS of life and living on a hell planet.

I’m encouraged to see Jim didn’t engage this thread to make this ugly,

He has certainly tried to make an issue of it elsewhere.

and I hope from henceforth you not mention his drug problem anymore to provoke him. It’s not a good look for anyone.

I don't think he sees it so much as a "drug problem", but a personal choice to be involved in recreational marijuana. HOWEVER, you make a good case, so....

I'm also impressed to hear your daughter has such a popular podcast. Would you mind giving us the link, or would that compromise her identity? I understand the value of being anonymous here.

Yeah, as you might be aware, I had one poster here freak out and threaten to call my church cause I'm a big meanie, then subsequently call on somebody else to do it to tattle on me. I can take that, but she doesn't need to.
Thanks for your understanding.

[Sparko]

He has certainly tried to make an issue of it elsewhere.



I don't think he sees it so much as a "drug problem", but a personal choice to be involved in recreational marijuana. HOWEVER, you make a good case, so....



Yeah, as you might be aware, I had one poster here freak out and threaten to call my church cause I'm a big meanie, then subsequently call on somebody else to do it to tattle on me. I can take that, but she doesn't need to.
Thanks for your understanding.

Her name is Cow Pokette right?

[Cow Poke]

Her name is Cow Pokette right?

Calf Pokette. She ain't but a little bitty thang.

[whag]

He has certainly tried to make an issue of it elsewhere.



I don't think he sees it so much as a "drug problem", but a personal choice to be involved in recreational marijuana. HOWEVER, you make a good case, so....



Yeah, as you might be aware, I had one poster here freak out and threaten to call my church cause I'm a big meanie, then subsequently call on somebody else to do it to tattle on me. I can take that, but she doesn't need to.
Thanks for your understanding.

I wasn’t aware of the idiot here who did that to you, but of course I totally understand.

[Cow Poke]

I wasn’t aware of the idiot here who did that to you, but of course I totally understand.

There are some people here who love to dish it out, but have incredibly thin skin and, and can be extremely vindictive.

I'll also note that I have to do a better job at keeping (in my mind) you and stoic separate. I have, at least a couple of times, made that error.

[rogue06]

He has certainly tried to make an issue of it elsewhere.



I don't think he sees it so much as a "drug problem", but a personal choice to be involved in recreational marijuana. HOWEVER, you make a good case, so....



Yeah, as you might be aware, I had one poster here freak out and threaten to call my church cause I'm a big meanie, then subsequently call on somebody else to do it to tattle on me. I can take that, but she doesn't need to.
Thanks for your understanding.

IIRC, he boasted that he was generally high when he posts. And honestly, I think it shows.

[Cow Poke]

IIRC, he boasted that he was generally high when he posts. And honestly, I think it shows.

Yeah, but I don't have to keep on him on that.

[JimL]

[QUOTE=Cow Poke;n1589718]

He has certainly tried to make an issue of it elsewhere.[/CODE

I didn't make your daughter's addiction an issue until you sarcastically attempted to demean me, who btw has never been addicted to anything, by suggesting that I was an addict and that I just got out of rehab.
So, you weren't demeaning me, but in trying to do so you were demeaning addicts like your own daughter who apparently had a terrible addiction and had to go to rehab. You're the one that made your daughter, and demeaned her as an addict and in need of rehab. And then, typical of yourself, you want to whine and lie about it as if I brought up the subject.

[Cow Poke]

....I’m encouraged to see Jim didn’t engage this thread to make this ugly....

Unfortunately, you spoke too soon.

[JimL]

Unfortunately, you spoke too soon.

Unfortunately for you and your false accusations, Pastor.