Never Give Up

Life was going well for Sean and wife and four kids .
They managed to get by ok and survive in difficult times .
Sean was always in a job and he always managed to pay the rent and put food on the table for his wife and kids .

They had two cars in the driveway and some comforts in the home .
Sean and his wife were reasonably happy with life and were starting to get on their feet .
About six months before Christmas Sean and his wife always put money aside for a holiday and gifts for the children but then it happened .

A downturn in the economy and then came the lays offs in the factory .
Sean was one of the first to receive the dreaded letter from his supervisor .

When he brought home the bad news to his wife at first there was friction between them which got worse . Under financial pressure and strain arguments started in the normally quiet family home .
The kids were worried and frightened .

Sean tried to pretend it was going to be ok but reality hit hard and the darl gloom over the home wouldn’t go away .

He started to go to the pub and for a while cut his feelings with alcohol but that only lasted a brief while and then reality returned .
He had no job , no joy , no hope .
The Christmas spirit had been made redundant and Sean was drowned between the depths of despair and the bottom of bottle .

Trapped like a morsel in the beak of a stork , he held tightly around the birds neck and wouldn’t let go . He was being eaten alive but kept squeezing the birds neck . Like a fight between the flightless and the righteous Sean was tossed and turned around but not yet swallowed up .

Coming home drunk didn’t help the situation at home and he was not made welcome nor was he loved by his wife or kids .

Things went from bad to worse .

Upset and angry about losing everything he did a smash and grab at a local jewellers . With his car he drove through the front of the shop and grabbed everything he could from the display . The alarm was echoing all over the city streets and he seemed to disregard the noise and the CCT cameras that no doubt had captured the entire operation .

During the next few days Sean went on a Ram Raid Christmas shopping spree . He made excuses for his crimes and pretended it was a pay back or
An evening up the score for losing his job and standing with his family .

He was collecting speeding fines in the post and blatantly ran red lights .
Eventually his wife and kids left the marital family home leaving Sean lost and at the point of destruction .

His grip around the storks neck began to loosen and the stork took bigger and longer chews of Sean . Like a slow death Sean started to give up and hit the skids .

He left the home and became a beggar .

With his grip failing the storks was gaining strength .
He had seen the same grip applied to the stork buy many of the homeless poor on the street .
Like him they had no where to go , no one who cared and nothing to live for .

He felt the hardness of the park bench at night and rarely wanted the dawn to come , but he never let go of the storks neck .

He slipped his hands further up the neck and times , especially when there was somebody who stopped and gave him some money or shared a few kind words with him .

Sean liked to slip away into the centre of the city where he was a different person to those on the pavement . He was no dressed in a suit and did not have agendas or lunch appointments .

Sean was trying to forget why he had become who he was in this situation .

It was Christmas Eve .
He stood with others asking for handouts on the corner at the Good Shepherd Church in town .

He was given a large garbage bag full of clothes and from that he pulled out
Garments of hope and change .

Inside the Burberry jacket was a wallet with a bundle of money and no address or contact of who owned the wallet .
He thought to himself that God had given this as a gift .

Now Sean really started to squeeze the neck so hard that the stork opened up its mouth and let him go . Sean was breathing once more and after a shower in the local swimming pool and a change of clothes he stood there dressed like a king . He had now been given something not many get in life .

A reason to carry on and hope to make it all work out .
He thanked God for this chance and asked God’s to forgive him for all the wrongs he had done before . In that instant Sean was forgiven and something stirr3ed within him . The spirit of goodness had now a hand on his shoulder .
Sean had a grip on his life again .

Christmas came and Sean spent it alone but happy .
He still missed his family but he had been saved from the jaws of despair .
Sean had a peaceful and sobering Christmas . He even went to Church , which for him had been a long time between drinks . He donated some money to charity and felt good about himself and life in general .

With his small fortune he rented a furnished flat and quit the drink .
He had a new attitude and a purpose to life .
In the new year Sean began to look for work .
He checked the positions vacant everyday and applied for anything that he was capable of doing .

At first every attempt he made to find work failed but he knew he was being tested and continued relentlessly until finally it happened .

He walked into a pub .
He went over to the bar and asked the man there ,
“I see you’re having renovations done .”

“That’s right . How do you like it so fra ?”
Came the reply .

“Well to be honest I think I could do a lot better that them you have working for you . I am a painter and carpenter by trade and I know a shoddy job when I see one .”

The bartender called over the foreman .

“Hey Trevor . Can I have a word for a second ?”

A man in spotless overalls approached and after being introduced to Sean they shared a few thoughts .
Sean pointed ut some imperfections to the overhead and partitions on the wall .
Then he added some new thoughts design and colour for the place that had the foreman very interested .

“I’ll tell you what I’ll work for half of what you’re paying these boofheads you have in your crew and I’ll guarantee you a better job done .“

The foreman smiled and said .

“I like you . Can you start in the morning ?”

“I’m there. What time ?”
Sean said

“Seven sharp . Now if you excuse me I have some people to fire “

Sean walked out of the pub on to the street . He wanted to scream and shout to the world that had a new job . He wanted to dance , if only but no there was no one to dance with .
There was only himself that could hear and feel what he did .

He had a job .
He had hope .
The stork had flown away forever .

That night as he went to sleep he felt good about things .

Next morning he was up early and shaved then had a light breakfast before going to work . As he walked along the pavement he saw a homeless man at the corner and Seam stopped and said hello and even gave him some money .

The beggar looked into Sean’s eyes and smiled .

Sean said ,

“Never give up .“
Then he walked away .

As he walked along the street the homeless man called out after him .
Sean looked back .
The beggar gave him a wave .
Sean returned it and continued on his way .

It was a busy day and he worked hard . The foreman made it a lot easier when he said ,

“You can borrow my tools until you get some of your own . “

Yes indeed everything was going to be all right .

“I’ll pay you back some day. Thanks for giving me a go . “
Sean said .

“Yes I know but don’t worry . I’ll get it out of you , there’s a lot more work after this one if you want to stay with me . “
The foreman replied .

Sean nodded ‘
“You’re on “

All that week Sean measured and cut and fixed panels before painting and staining all the oak timber around the bar . It looked a treat and everyone was delighted with the work Sean had done .

Within two weeks the job was finished .

Trevor had not said anything yet but a lady who had come in one day seemed very pleased with Sean and even mentioned the quality of his work .
She passed a card on to Trevor for him to give to Sean .
As yet Sean never gave the card to Sean in case he would loose his best worker but after a lot of though he did .

Sean looked at the card and was proud to see his wifes name and phone number on it .

Just when he had given all hope of ever seeing his wife and kids again just by some chance she had found him .

A very rare event had occurred and once agan Sean thanked God for this miracle in his life .

Trevor wasn’t happy about Sean asking for two weeks off but said he would keep his job open until his return .

Sean promised not to let him down and was completely over the moon with what had happened .
He contacted his wife and yes immediately a reunion was set up .

Sean was soon back with his family .

That Christmas a new spirit was in their marital family home .
It is hard to say why certain things go wrong and why others work out all right but when miracles happen its not just an accident .
Somehow God sees the heart and looks beyond the badness we find in others and between head and heart , the spirit of goodness dwells .

Sean had been accepted back again into life and everything was brand new.

Christmas came and it was only going to get better from here on in .

THE END

By Paul McCann