The Good, The Bad and the WAYYY Ugly!

Yesterday was quite a day; it was emotional, bringing both joy and pain and a tinge of fright.


As I've mentioned many times before here and there, alcoholism is a rampant social problem. Most of you know that the SteppeSister family has been sent to do a job here. One of those tasks is bringing Words of life and hope to those who are lost and hurting.


For many years, I've had a burden for my neighbor. Like us, she is a bit of an "outsider" in our neighborhood, being from a different people group. Other neighbors have warned us to "be very careful of her, she has the evil eye!" I'm sure they think the same of us.


Perhaps this is why our sons are such great friends. Both have few other pals to hang around with, and neither seems to mind that they don't speak the same language. It's a great bonus that Macaroni can have a friend that won't laugh at his, all to obvious to everyone else, speech issues.

Anyway, I'm off-track. I went to visit this dear lady with a friend of mine yesterday, and about 10 minutes into our conversation her VEEEEEEEEEEERY drunk son showed up. Stumbling, stinking, and slurring, he proceeded to plop down and babble at us. His mother implored him, "to go take a shower, you stink", and "this is a ladies time, give us five minutes to chat". The volume was increasing with every heartfelt plea, but to no avail. Instead he, in his near comatose stupor, proceeded to pull the phone out of the wall, slam a few doors, and then wander aimlessly around the yard. This apparently wasn't satisfactory, so he came back in and began to tell us about his liver that was hurting him. He, at one point, reached out for my friend's hand so he could have her feel it, which pretty much freaked all of us out!!!

Again, he left after more screaming on his mother's part, only to have him reappear with a lit cigarette. You must know in this culture, having a lit cig. in the house, and especially around women, is a huge taboo. You just don't do that! When his mother reminded him of this, he simply reached out, took my friend's, not yet empty, tea bowl, and proceeded to use it as an ashtray!! By this time, the vodka was winning; he had no choice but to make his way into his bed and passout.

Thank God! He was out for a while, which gave us a wonderful chance to then share some encouraging things with her regarding the One who made her, and indeed sees her pain and cares. We also shared with her that we know a local man who runs a rehab center in town and not only has had wonderful success getting men clean, but also teaches them furniture making skills so they can start a new life with a hope and a future- both here and forever!

When I shared with her that I was starting a quilting class next week, she was very eager to participate, and acknowledged that it will be nice to have 3 hours a week just to do something for HER! I told her we'd be sharing each other's burdens and she really liked that idea.

Later that night, she had to make the the painful decision about whether or not to call the police to come and get him. The choice, although very difficult, was made easier by knowing that this man's 5 year old daughter (her grandchild) was in danger with him like this (this drunkeness has been going on for months). So, he is now in jail for 15 days according to the law. You can only imagine the hurt and pain and anger that must abound in that family. If you think about it, please remember them :)

Suffering alongside so many like this,

Your SteppeSister