I haven’t always been Pastor Shaun King :-)
As a matter of fact, for a few years of my life I would have probably cussed you out if you told me I was one day going to become Pastor Shaun King. I definitely had other plans for myself that had nothing to do with church. As a matter of fact, my friends and I often made fun of people that wasted a perfectly good Sunday morning playing dress-up @ the local baptist such and such.
At one of my lowest points in life my best friend (and sometimes my only friend) was Rodger.
We met each other at very vulnerable points in life. I was an outcast in my high school (long, but good story…may be a book one day). He was the new guy living with a foster mother. We both had more enemies than friends and it really helped to have somebody that really cared and really had your back. We did some fun stuff together (amusement parks, trips to the mall, talking to the girls at the roller skating rink) and did some crazy stuff together (made drug runs, stayed the night with strangers, dodged literal bullets, carried guns, tried promoting a gangster rapper).
After I spent nearly two years as a hermit recovering from three spinal surgeries and a broken spirit, he moved away somewhere and we lost touch. Several people that knew him told me that he had been shot and killed. After I really found God and my life changed, I tried to confirm for years that he had been killed.
He seemed to be ghost. No death records. No social networking pages. Nothing on the net. I would search at least once a year for the past ten years but was pretty sure he was dead. Yesterday I received this message…from RODGER!
I’ve been looking for you little brother! I hope all is well with you and yours. Please tell your mother that I said hello and God bless. I hope all is well with you as I know that they are. I’m doing wonderfully bro. I’d love to hear from you sometime. Hope the holidays are a blessing for you. Oh, I almost forgot…you were the first true friend I ever had and I have never forgotten that. You were true and loyal and a firm example of the way a friendship should be…loyal and honest. Thank you. BLESS!
Best note I have gotten in years!
Some people from our past we hope will never find us. I’m not saying that reconnecting with Rodger will be easy. We’re in different places in life in different places of the country, but I’m sure gonna give it a try. Most of my best friends from childhood are dead or in jail and it has created a bit of a hole in my past.
Anybody from your past that you would love to reconnect with? Have some people you hope never find you? :-)
{ 9 comments }
Shaun, what an amazing connect. Your transparency is always refreshing. God's timing is always perfect and He allowed Rodger to find you for a reason. Maybe you can fill the hole from his past and vice versa. From his note though, I think God has done some work on him too…don't be afraid to venture there to see. I have an enate feeling that God will meet you there.
I use to have a REALLY good friend in middle school and for various reasons and life choices that I did not agree with, we grew apart. I saw him recently and he gave me a very warm and welcoming greeting. He talked about how he considered me a brother and he was very concerned about my recent health issues. He said he loved me and wanted me to take care of myself. I was quite humbled by his words and thought, "wow, I should reach out and give our friendship another try!" Well…. to my dismay he suddenly looked at me and said, "Man, I'm high as hell!"
Needless to say, our relationship remains estranged!
Sitting here thinking of your story of the Prodigal son yesterday in Church. Seems like you're Rodger's Daddy, Shaun, in a lot of ways. And there you are, open arms, ready to put a robe on him. Way to go!
Haha. I don't know Mike. We are more like brothers and both of us are prodigal sons.
Thanks for sharing Shaun.
Wow Sean. Want to hear something ironic? My husband Roger used to do those things you and your buddy Rodger did. Since we live in Lex I wondered for a second if your Roger and My Roger were the same guy… but couldn't be because my Roger really IS dead and doesn't write letters!
Thanks a ton my friend. I hope you are right!
Yeah Avie! That sounds like a bunch of my old friends man. Makes it tough to reconnect.
Wow Sara. How old are you? What happened to your husband Roger?