Iceman
When I was in Grade 8, a new kid showed up to our junior high band class. I went and asked his name to which he replied, “Vanilla Ice”.
From then on, most people called him ‘Ice’, a name suiting to his unique character and ability to stand out in a crowd. Ice started come to church with my family (a requirement for people who wanted to sleep over on Saturdays) and became like a second son to my parents. He never make a commitment to Christ, but was very open to hearing more and loved asking questions about all things pertaining to church, God and Christianity.
After high school I moved away and Ice stayed in Grande Prairie. With an exceptional ability to communicate and relate with people, Ice became very successful in selling cars. We drifted apart over the past 6 years, and I never really heard much more than what Facebook would tell me.
Then one day I got a message from Ice saying, “I’m moving to Langley!”
Since high school, I had been praying for Ice to come to know the Lord. Just as I think we all have those 1 or 2 individuals that we can’t shake from our mind whenever a Pastor asks, “Pray for the lost”. Ice was that person for me and so when I heard he was coming to Langley, I immediately thought God was going to do something great in his life.
He arrived a few months ago, and we went for dinner once. It was fine catching up, but never really went beyond the surface. To be honest, it didn’t seem like anything was going to change.
We would text back and forth the standard, “We should get together more often”, but nothing ever came out of it. Then last Thursday I got a facebook message from Ice that said:
“I really need to talk to you.. about alot.. Random I know.. I think it will be a pretty long chat soooo whenever you have time man..
there is something telling me to do this… something Ive never known…”
We met on Friday for lunch, and as I walked up I saw he already had tears in his eyes. Ice opened up about all the years since high school, and how he got involved with drinking and drugs. No matter what material wealth he accumulated, he continually had an empty void. He said he felt like he was living a fake life and that the amount of drugs he was doing was 4 times the lethal limit. He had gone through NA and AA, but no matter how good the principles they taught were, he finally came to a point of breaking before God. The only time he could remember being truly happy was sitting in that pew at church with our family. He wanted that hope and joy in life.
When he gave up and said, “Help me” to God, his addiction was broken. He knew he had to meet with me as I would be able to help get back on the right path. As I met with him and explained what Jesus did and how the Holy Spirit was promised to come to be a comforter, counselor and guide for his life, he said he felt like a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders and that he believed.
I am still in shock that this whole situation happened. Let this be a huge testimony to those of you who have been praying for the same people year after year to come back to God. God is GOOD. He is long suffering and in His time he draws people close to Him.
