At age 35, Brian’s life had come to a crossroads. If he walked out of the Milwaukee Rescue Mission he would fall back into the life he had come to hate.
Brian grew up in the suburbs of Milwaukee, played semi-professional soccer, had a good job as a Project Manager for an advertising agency and has a son. Sadly, many people today may fall into a life of partying, drinking, and doing things their own way – not wanting anyone to tell you what to do. Brian had done that. For a while he was a soccer player. Doting parents asked him to coach their children to be as skillful as him.
But soccer skills pass and the wild times lose their thrill. Now the bitter taste remained. There was no love in him. No feeling for anything. Just dust. Nothing tasted.
“I didn’t want to feel empty anymore, I wanted to have something. I wanted to have some health. I wanted to not drink anymore. I didn’t want to go through hell anymore.”
He had felt this way before. “There were times I wouldn’t drink for three months. I went through that a lot.”
But this time he knew what he had to do. “I have to get rid of all this stuff inside me. Not just get rid of it and have it empty again. But fill it with the Lord Jesus. I need God in my life. “
That’s what is happening. A worn out young man, with a trail of hurt behind him, is giving his all to Jesus Christ. As promised, Jesus is satisfying his soul and giving him rest.
He plans to be at the Mission for close to two years. You might see him on the front desk if you visit. He will be the man with bright eyes taking in the beautiful world that God shows him each day.
He has work in front of him. One task is to rebuild the relationship with his 9 year old son, who lives with a relative. Up till now Brian had nothing to offer his son and thought it best to leave him alone. But now he has love to give. And every child needs their dad, especially a loving dad.
Brian prays for that. He trusts God to lead him, in his own time. Of course, everything is on God’s time schedule now. Brian has handed everything over to the Lord, and his cup overflows.
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will from flow from within him.” Jesus in John 7:37-38
