Ronnie

Ronnie called Chris' cell at 11:45 pm last night. He had fallen and couldn't get up. Chris had to go over, unlock his door, and call the fire department to help get Ronnie back up.

Ronnie has been in and out of the hospital at least one other time since I last blogged about him. He had been staying out in Murfreesboro, but this last week returned to his house. Chris says he hasn't really cleaned anything... Just covered the bed with blankets and sprinkled baby powder on the carpet..

He hasn't paid the mortgage and says the bank account is frozen. He thinks his brother's ex had been taking money out of that account, but he doesn't know how to even begin to balance the account. So in light of the fact that the house will be foreclosed on and the apparently frozen bank account (is all this still in Olene's name I wonder?), he is selling anything he can. So far, the only thing he has been able to sell is his fridge. So now Ronnie is living in a house without a fridge. How much sense does that make?

As I laid awake waiting for Chris to come back home, I thought about people who refuse to be truly helped, people who refuse to do what it takes to put themselves in a better situation. I tried to think of a biblical example to help us handle the situation. The only example I could think of was the rich, young ruler. Unfortunately there aren't many (if any) examples of life-suckingly-needy people that Jesus had to deal with.

I was reminded of a girl I met when I first moved to TN. She 'befriended' me, but every time she called, she needed something. I don't remember her every asking me how I was doing or expressing any interest on who I was as a person. She even told me that the reason she befriended me was because she had a crush on a friend of mine. When I finally confronted her on the issue, she told me she couldn't believe how much I misunderstood her and that I had hurt her feelings, and I never heard from her again.

When Chris's phone rang again at 5:15 am, the answer became clear to me. I don't think Jesus would ever turn down a person who was truly in need, but I am sure that he set up clear boundaries. Yes, it is okay to call at any time if you are on the floor and can't get up... but Ronnie called again at 5 to tell Chris that he was okay and wanted to know if Chris wanted to stop in and check on him before Chris went to work. Not okay.