Garret

Excitement and great expectations filled my life before the hurricane. I had met a beautiful woman from California, who later became my wife. Before we married, she flew out to visit me and help in my work with the homeless. She had no idea what was about to happen and neither did I. I had developed a program where the homeless where encourage to help the homeless. The people I worked with were told to reach out to others on the streets and do what they could to help them find food, shelter, clothes and if they ran into someone who needed help bring to them to the office. The Mental Health Association of Mississippi had opened an out reach office in Biloxi, Mississippi and we did reach out to many homeless in the area.

The morning started out like all the rest. Mary and I were getting ready to go out into the field, Joanne a volunteer helper was sitting at her desk practicing on the computer and suddenly the door slung open and in they came.

One of the homeless men I worked with brought a lady to me for help. Oh me, did she ever need help. I had seen her a few times on the streets but I had never met her.

What the hell is this place? She shouted. She wasnt asking a question she was making a comment. She was in another world, high on crack cocaine and who knows what else. She bounced from one wall to the other babbling insolently about someone she hated. Her eyes bulged, her hair matted and she didnt have on shoes. The putrid smell of alcohol reeked from her pours and floated through the office like a stink bomb.

Joanne jumped from her chair, Mary moved around to the other side of my desk, and I headed for the front room where the lady was yelling. The man who brought her had a grin on his face and said, Bob you told me to bring them to you.

Yeah, I did say that didnt I. The woman was still bouncing around as if her skin was on fire so I turned my attention to her. I tried to calm her down but nothing seemed to work. She seemed to get even angrier when I spoke. Every other word she used was a cuss word. The man who brought her was standing in the background watching, wondering what I was going to do. Finally, much to Marys surprise, I ask her if she would talk to the lady, she agreed. Mary took the woman into the back office, sat down, and talked to her while I ask the homeless man about the woman. He told me she had lived on the streets for a long time. He also told me she was a prostitute at one time she was a prominent member of the community. My friend, I am not sure what I can do to help her. I ask him what he thought I should do. He didnt know. He was doing what I asked him to do and he did want to help her if he could.

After a few minutes, I went back in and found Mary and the lady faced to face in a quite conversation. I was baffled. I sat down and began asking the woman a few questions. She needed hospitalization but was unwilling to go. She told us about being raped many times living on the streets. She was so anger towards her family and all she wanted to talk about was who she hated. Her poor heart was filled with resentment, bitterness, and fear. I felt so sorry for her. I didnt want to call the police, maybe I should have but I didnt. Finally, she was up bouncing again in her bare feet. She didnt have any shoes. Mary took off her shoes and gave them to her. The man who brought her finally took her by the arm and headed for the door. He grinned at me again and told me they had to leave and out the door, they went.

We, Joanne, Mary, and I just looked at each other and shook our heads. Many of the people I met on the streets were just like this woman. They hated everyone and everything. Research and my own experiences hold that resentment is a leading cause of drug and alcohol abuse. In order to live a sober, purposed fill like an addict must deal with these resentments.

In Biloxi, most of the homeless, not all, especially before the storm where addict to alcohol or other drugs. It is sad how we, and I include myself, sell our souls for a chemical. The fact remains, many of the individuals I worked with dealt with major resentments by using chemicals in attempt to alter their feelings.

Before I could move on with life and become productive, again I had to deal with several major resentments, which cropped up because of life. My divorce, the consequences of Katrina, and many more resentments had taken root in my life and served as a poison, which kept me frozen in time. It is remarkable how resentment keeps your attention on the past and never allows you to think of the present. I had to go back and find out why and exactly what I was angry about and then forgive myself and others for the wrong or the perceived wrongs, which happened in the past few years.

In addition to locating these resentments, I also had to become willing to forgive others and myself. This is where it gets hard because we must take action on the resentments which our lodged deeply in our hearts.

If you are having a problem with unresolved resentments I suggest you find help.

Dr Bob Wilkerson is founder of Challenger Christian Ministries, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping others recover from life altering circumstances. Dr. Bob is a motivational speaker with true life story of God's power to change any individuals life. If your Church or organization is looking for a dynamic speaker please email him today. challenger7777@gmail.com