Living a Dream

I worked in town today. I set up two interviews for upcoming stories in the paper, and I headed out after I drank my coffee and fed the chickens.
My first interview was with a saint. No, he's not recognized by the church, or any "authority" but I know a saint when I meet one.
Many years ago he was a drunk....not my words, but his. He was a very successful businessman early in his life, but as the old song goes, he began to see his life through the bottom of a glass.
Things began to crumble around him. He lost his business, his money, his house, and his family. Soon, he was homeless. He rambled around the south for some time but wound up in Salem, Oregon. He was working an odd job picking tomatoes to get a little money for more booze when a co-worker suggested that he go to a rescue mission where he could spend the night and get a warm meal.
He balked because of the "God Thang", but then went by the mission. That day changed his life forever. The rescue mission held him accountable for small things at first and then bigger things.
He got a job making great money in Seattle, but he kept going back to volunteer at the rescue mission in Salem.
The mission offered him a job but they couldn't pay what he was making, but he realized his passion, was helping those invisible people -- those who have called in all their favors; those who have lied, and ripped off their loved ones once too often; those who live under the radar of society, sleeping in boxcars, cardboard boxes, and bus station benches.
Since the day he walked into the Union Gospel Mission in Salem, Oregon, he has been helping transform the lives of those invisible people.
To make a long story shorter, he retired, moved back home, then came out of retirement to help a struggling rescue mission in Birmingham.
This doesn't happen to me often, but the hair on my arms tingled as Tom Zobel talked about his plans for Brother Bryan's Mission in Birmingham.
After the interview, I went to 5 Point South in Birmingham which is one of my most favorite places in the city. I had lunch at Jimmy John's Sandwich Shop. As I stood studying the menu, two guys in their early 20's said "Welcome, how's it going?" I told them I was living a dream. The both giggled as if I'd told them a funny joke. When I didn't laugh they looked at each other as if I were on drugs.
I wish I could have told them that I wasn't joking. I really am living a dream. But that's not an accident.
I've known for a very long time that I wanted to write, play music, and fish for a living. It's in my journals, it's on my New Year's resolutions, it's on my action items list, it's in my day planner.
Life throws you curves and sometimes you get off course. You have to make a living, but you should always be moving in the direction of your dreams.
OK, perhaps I've said too much. I've declared tomorrow a fishing day, so I will be unavailable for less important things. I hope you all have a great Thursday, but more importantly, I hope you all find a way to start living a dream.