Frank and the Coin

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=220 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Practical Spirituality"><U>WMEades.com Home Page</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.counseling-waco.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.counseling-waco.com"><U>Counseling-Waco Home Page</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://wacopartnership.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://wacopartnership.org"><U>Waco Partnership for Psychological and Spiritual Care Home Page</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://practicalspirituality.wordpress.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://practicalspirituality.wordpress.c"><U>Practical Spirituality Blog</U></A></div> <div> _________________________</div> <div> <A HREF="aboutme.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Me and My Work"><U>About Me and My Work</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id518.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Making an Appointment"><U>Making an Appointment</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="policies.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Policies"><U>Policies</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="cost.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cost of Counseling"><U>Cost of Counseling</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="helpfularticles.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Helpful Articles"><U>Helpful Articles</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="directions.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Directions to Office"><U>Directions to Office</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="booksummaries.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Book Summaries"><U>Book Summaries</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="counseling.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pastoral Counseling"><U>Pastoral Counseling</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="premarriage.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Premarriage Counseling"><U>Premarriage Counseling</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="enneagram.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Enneagram"><U>The Enneagram</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id494.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Alcoholics Anon. Mtgs."><U>Alcoholics Anon. Mtgs.</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="faith.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="When Faith Doesnt Work"><U>When Faith Doesn't Work</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.theravive.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.theravive.com"><U><IMG SRC="83da03c0.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="60" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#EEEEEE" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Frank used to be one of my counseling clients (he gave me his permission to tell this story, and I’ve changed his name).  He told me about an encounter he had over the holidays in a grocery story check out line.  You need to know a little of Frank’s story to appreciate what happened.  </div> <bR> <div> Frank’s life had been looking anything but up.  He had been wondering if his marriage would survive (it didn’t), and had been involved in more counseling than he cared to think about.  He walked through the Christmas season with heavy steps, feeling tremendously alone.  Frank was understandably anxious about what the new year would bring.</div> <bR> <div> As a part of this therapy Frank made the courageous decision to begin a 12-step recovery process.  You may personally know how difficult this is.  Although it is often a great relief to talk to people who understand your problems, it can also be hard to find a group with which you feel safe.  Frank had been to a few groups, and was beginning to identify the ones that seemed most helpful.  His picked up his first “chip” (a simple coin which indicates commitment to recovery), but none of this made a dent in his sense of isolation.</div> <bR> <div> Back to the check out line...</div> <bR> <div> <I>Frank is standing in line, carrying a few staple items, and his regular load of anxiety.  He is fiddling with the change in his pocket.  Somehow a coin drops to the ground.  Only this is not a regular coin, but is his recovery chip.  As coin-like objects have an uncanny way of doing, the chip lands on its edge, and takes off across the store like a shot.  Frank is scrambling after the coin, which comes to rest against the edge of a man’s foot.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>     “So, how long have you been in the program,” says the man as he recognized the chip.” “Not very long,” says Frank, “How ‘bout you?’  “A few years now...,” explains the stranger as he follows Frank back to the check-out line.  They talk a little longer, and Frank receives some needed encouragement along with some timely advice.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>     When Frank turns his attention forward again, he catches the eye of the woman just ahead of him in the line.  “I’m sorry,” she says, “but I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation....”  She continues, “I’ve got one of those, too.”  With that remark, she quickly pulls a chip from her pocketbook, flashes it quickly at Frank and returns it to its place.</I></div> <bR> <div> There’s a verse in the New Testament that reads,</div> <bR> <div>      <I><B>As for us, we have this large crowd of witnesses around us. So then, let us rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way, and of the sin which holds on to us so tightly, and let us run with determination the race that lies before us (Hebrews 12:1)</B></I></div> <div> <B>     </B></div> <div> Frank’s life took some unexpected turns, both positive and negative, after this event.  But he was bolstered in his journey by an instant in time when he discovered that, indeed, there is a “large crowd of witnesses” who cheers him on.  I still recall how in telling this story he evidenced more peace than I’d seen in him in long time.</div> <bR> <div> Peace,</div> <div> Wes</div> </td> </tr></table></body>