It’s been a long road, but the happy hippie got his housing. The road was so long: I was with Street Sense when I first started, and Street Sense helped me to get my life back together. By God’s grace, I got my housing.
Sometimes we have to wait a long time for the things we want. We have to be patient. I was at 801 East Shelter for two years and three months before Veterans Affairs finally gave me my apartment. When I got discouraged, I still kept my faith and my patience. Sometimes people don’t want to wait for stuff, they want to move on. But if you keep faith in God, He will be your strength to keep on.
Since I moved into my new place, everything seems different. Now I can focus more on school, more on other things I’ve wanted to do. But I got to remember to take it one day at a time. I can’t rush.
On May 27th I will be seven years clean. The AA program did a lot to help keep me focused. I also talked to a lot of people who gave me strength to go on — you can’t do this thing alone. You always got to have someone to give you strength, and I had a friend: she gave me heart, love, and strength too and told me “never give up.” I never did, because I always had the faith.
I ask God why sometimes things are so hard, but I know He does things in His time. So we all have to be patient, even when we don’t want to. At the end of it, I’m blessed for today but I don’t know what tomorrow will bring.
