The Story of How Mr. and Mrs. H and I lost contact...

...and Found Each Other Again after Several Years.

Mr. and Mrs. H and I used to attend the same church, the charismatic one I left because of the heresy being taught there. (In fact, I'll name it: Detroit World Outreach. It's under new leadership now, although it still teaches that Prosperity Gospel crap*, see point 10.) They left a year or two before I did. I'm not sure why. I probably should have asked them about that before I started this post. Like me, they were still Evangelicals for a few years after leaving DWO.

The church definitely had its problems with incorrect doctrine, but many of the smaller groups felt like family. For example, Mr. and Mrs. H. and I were involved in the College-and-Career ministry for a few years. And the C-n-C was indeed like a family. We worshipped together, served each other, ministered with each other, loved and discipled each other, and some of us even lived with each other: three other guys from the group and I rented a four bedroom house, and lots of people in the group were roommates in other places.

Mr. H. and I were pretty good friends. He and I are both of an intellectual bent, so it was good for us to be around each other: when we're together, neither one of us can pretend to be smarter than we really are. I was anti-Catholic in your typical Fundamentalist/Evangelical way, and Mr. H. was, too, but a bit more vehement in his anti-Catholicism.

So, after Mr. and Mrs. H. left DWO, we lost contact for several years. We both changed jobs, and went on with life. I left DWO, moved in with a friend from that church, and then lost my job. I was living paycheck-to-paycheck at the time (heck, I'm still doing that!), and so moved back in with my parents. I got a job with SYSCO Food Services of Detroit, and, for a few short weeks, was on the afternoon shift. I'd get up around 10am every day. One day I did so, and went to a Mexican restaurant within walking distance of my parents' for breakfast, (I don't like traditional breakfast foods). Mr. H. just "happened" to be working in that city and driving by the restaurant at the time that I was leaving it to walk home. He followed me there, rang the doorbell, and was I surprised and glad to see him! We only had a few minutes, so we exchanged phone numbers and chatted just a bit. He asked me "So, what's new?" Well, this was a mere two or three weeks since I'd decided to join the Catholic Church, so, although I was nervous to tell him about it (because, as stated above, he was more vehemently anti-Catholic than I), I told him about my decision to join the Catholic Church. He reacted exactly opposite what I expected. Instead of his countenance falling and him giving me a lecture on why Catholic teachings are un-Biblical, he got a big grin on his face and said, "Mrs. H. and I are joining the Church, too!" I could have fallen like a lead balloon! I couldn't believe it! We planned to call each other soon, and have a personal visit. We've been re-connected ever since, and they are much better friends to me than I am to them. And I still can't get over how God brought us together again.

*just so you know exactly how I feel about it!