Category : Articles

Sub Category : Relationships

Today I went to work in shorts and short me shirt. It was ok early afternoon but by the time evening rolled around I was freezing my ass e. I found myself assigned to the Channelside District and remembered that the Sparkman Wharf has these awesome gas lampstands that when lit produce a ring of flame that heats up a good few feet in a space all the way around it. So I beat feet for the heat and went on over.

As I approached I saw two very beautiful woman huddled around it. Not wanting to intrude I turned away to see if I could find another one. The small blonde said, "Hey, there's room if you want some of this heat. Come on, get in here. My name is Ashley and this is my mom Maggie." 

I said, "Thank you, I'm fricking freezing. I'm totally underdressed for my job today!" And we shook hands around.

They looked me over. My safari hat, yellow uniform shirt and tan khaki pants... "What do you do?"

Seeing my opening I began to run down my duties as a Guide for Tampa's Downtown Partnership and expressed that all day my assignment is basically to help those in the Downtown area with any need that may arise. It is particularly catchy whenever I conclude it with, "Our service is complimentary. There is no charge for any of it."

Ashley said, "Wow! How do i get in touch with you guys? My job puts me in the downtown area often and it would help to know I can call on someone if I get stuck."

Of course I gave both of them our card and encouraged them to do so. In the night by the river the air was moving pretty fast and it was bitingly chill. I shivered a little and Maggie, the other woman beside Ashley stepped a little further around the lampstand and told me to come closer. I hurried up and moved deeper into the heat, holding up my hands.

"I work for the Juvenile Justice Department off of Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. and I will share this with them." Ashley went on to talk about the team of therapists that work under her having to come downtown for court appointments, trials, and all manner of issues related to running a center for troubled youth. "They dont listen and it seems like all my effort is for nothing. They still get in trouble." She concluded it with, "Yeah, my job sucks, big time!"

"No!" I said. "Ashley, listen and forgive me for presuming but what you do is so vital! You guys are awesome!" I couldn't help but become animated. I was almost vibrating with the intensity of what I was feeling. "When I was a teenager I was constantly in and out of trouble. I went through many therapists, couselors, workshops and programs during those years. I couldn't listen to any of it. I ended up going to prison for life, but when I found myself on my back having made a total mess of my life, everything I had learned came into focus.  It may not seem like it now because you can't see the result immediately, but what you do matters. A lot."

We talk for quite a while and when she mentioned that the Juvenile Justice Center is always looking for volunteers to come in and speak, mentor, and help  I began to share a little about the youth outreach program we have in our lifer's program.

With her watching I pulled up the Website for Les Peters Academy and saved it to my homescreen promising to get in touch with her right away.

I believe that everything happens for a reason. The people we meet in chance encounters, the lives we touch by sharing our heart, the souls that we pass from day to day all have a reason and purpose for connecting with us. 

Now I sit over my phone tapping onto this tiny keyboard. The people who helped me never saw the results of their labor. For all intents and purposes all of it was a total waste of time. But to me, at the blackest point in my life, I remembered everything. It all came flooding back to me.

It's all a garden. We cast our seeds into the fields around us. One comes by and waters, another comes around and prunes it, and yet another does something else, but it is God that gives the increase. 
Never doubt whether the good you do makes any difference.

It does