Asking for prayers!

[GhostHawk]

Not for me, all is well with me.

But my shooting buddy, he is in a bad way.

Heard that he spent the weekend in the hospital, flu and blood clots in his lungs.

He stopped by sunday night after they released him. He looked like he had aged 40 years in 4 days. He needed blood thinners, meds were supposed to be covered. But pharmacy that was open wanted 22$ before they would give them too him.

So I gave him a 50$ and sent him on his way.

2 days later on the phone he sounded worse. Was on his way back to the Hospital.

So I prayed for him.

Yesterday I called around noon, he sounded 80, and we talked a few minutes and I did some Reiki over the phone. I heard after that he was able to eat some lunch and walk a little bit.

This man has had nothing but bad luck and worse luck as long as I have known him.
His 12 and 10 year old step daughters said that he was abusing them. He had to leave his wife, his home, his stuff and walk away. Well his wife came to me first and we pawned his guns, and I made him a rather substantial loan. Then he came to stay for a couple of weeks, then he found a cheap place to live.

I walked through that 2 years of hell with him. He'd never hurt those kids.
But everyone who knew him knew. Ohhh how he suffered.

Acquitted in court eventually he got parts of his life back. His trailer and lot were lost to not being able to make the payments while everything else broke.

Two years later his wife left for someone she met online.

Two years after that he had a kid slam up against his door so hard that it popped open. Kid was so drunk he could not talk. When my buddy Vern told him to leave he cocked a fist and hit him in the head

Vern said "Get out now, or I'll get the shotgun" Kid hit him in the head again.

So he grabbed the shotgun, and the kid grabbed the barrel. At that point he knew it was him or the kid, so he pulled the trigger.

Kid squealled, ran out, down the stairs, into an other apartment he had been in that night and kicked out of, curled up in a corner and died.

And Vern Allen went through hell again.
They took every gun, every loaded round. Left him defenseless. Local TV station showed first a street corner with 2 street signs, then an apartment complex, then the stairs, then the door with Apt 2 on it.

So any idiot could have walked right up to his door.


The PTSD was bad for a while, then he was diagnosed as suffering from Bipolar.

He has been struggling to make ends meet, but his Copenhagen Habit has not been helping. He's living in a 2 bedroom apartment, and the roommate he found is not paying his rent and the back rent he owes him.

He has a good heart but he is downtrodden and has no real faith.

I am afraid that he is full of cancer, and that I will be losing him soon.
I don't have many real friends. I do not tolerate fools or idiots.

I would appreciate any prayer any of you can send up.

His name is Vern Allen, and he is 9 years younger than me, middle 50's.
And he is melting down in front of my eyes. And he won't hear the gospel, won't listen to the Lord. And he is SCARED!

[Boaz]

I will pray for him . Hopefully he can get well and get his life on track .

[Teddy (punchie)]

Praying for you and yours, and your buddy Vern , God Bless!!

[castalott]

Sincere Prayers for Love, Mercy, Faith, Hope, Redemption, and Wisdom... Some People have hard lives, Lord... Mercy and Hope please... Amen

Mercy to you, too, GhostHawk... Doing the right thing is not always easy...

[Pine Baron]

Wow Ghost. That is sure a hand full, indeed. Praying for Vern, for his healing and his redemption. Praying for you too, brother.

[jmort]

Praying
May he accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior and may his health be restored

[jcren]

Prayers sent

[Blackwater]

Sincere prayers up for both of you. You're a real friend. Not many have even one friend like you. I've been very blessed to have a number of them - the kind of guys who'd get out of bed at 3:00 am. to bail you out of jail and never ask what charges they were holding you on - only how you were doing. Vern is a VERY lucky guy! And with the bipolar thing, there's probably not much you can do unless he'll take the meds for it, but of course, I understand and approve that you have to at least try.

And take some solace in the fact that many who are bipolar and some other mental conditions, do NOT always state what's really inside them, and at least sometimes, say what they believe, sometimes incorrectly, will evoke what they want and expect you to do for them. I wish I could tell you how to handle that part of it, but it'll always be a try and see proposition.

But prayer sometimes literally works wonders, and a lot of very real Christians are in this to help, and God always answers prayers. Not always in the way we want them to be answered, of course, but in the way that He knows is best, all things considered. I wish we knew 1% of what God does! But meeting the challenges and opportunities we get in life makes us what we are, and what we become over time. Thanks for being a friend to a man who probably desperately needs a real frind. Things like that truly matter, and they often matter an awful lot. Your kindness and steadfastness will, at the bare minimum, reward you in ways we'd all likely be amazed at one day. Keep the faith, even if he can't come to faith right now, or ever. If nothing else, it'll change you for the better.

[USMC87]

Vern is added to our prayer list.

[w5pv]

Prayers sent

[shoot-n-lead]

Prayer sent for recovery and salvation.

[buckwheatpaul]

Father I come to You asking for grace, comfort, and healing for Vern Allen. He is suffering and his life is going from bad to worse. Please walk with Vern and support him through this really rough patch of his life. Reveal Your love to Vern and carry him in your arms as he is attempting to cure his problems. Amen

[GhostHawk]

Called him today, he was going to be released but he has been violently ill while in the Hospital.
Doc's say a nasty flu bug, and combined with blood clots in his lungs. That one worry's me.

He has had a brush with cancer before, he had his thyroid removed because of it. I warned him then gently that he needed to find a way to taper off the Copenhagen and quit. I fear he has been using more not less.

Anyway after we talked a bit he said he wanted to ask a big favor. He got sick last night on himself, got puke all over his jeans. They would not release him like that. So he needed clean clothing.

I reminded him that A I don't have a key to your place. B while I know what block it is in, I have never been there, nor inside.

But I told him I'd find a way around it.

So at 3 I was there, carrying a grocery bag with a large clean set of sweat suit bottoms, an XL tee shirt, and clean socks and skivvy's.

Did not stay long, checked that he had a way home. Gave him some hell about not taking care of himself. And reminded him that when he gets home he needs to make a GO bag with one clean change of clothing.

I know for a fact that he has panic attacks in the shower, small confined places freak him out.
But the wide open spaces are no better, he is not comfortable outside anymore either.

He is comfortable at his apartment, and my house, maybe his daughters place.

Thank you guys, I knew I could count on you.
Somehow someway somewhere somebody will find a way to reach him.

He has been doing fair on the bipolar meds, but they tend to push them hard on the Lithium which turns them into zombies of a sort. What used to be a rough game of idea catch, throwing things back and forth, figuring out how to overthrow the world or blow something up. Turned into a 3 minute delay before I got an answer back.

Been up and down but it is a little like watching a bug get flushed down the toilet. You see it going around and around and know, one more half of a revolution and that bug is out of sight, gone for good.

Been watching him spiral down for some time now. I'll admit it, I'm scared. If it can happen to him it can happen to anyone.

Thanks again guys, I really have no one else I can talk about this with other than the Big Guy upstairs. Who btw told me by way of my wife that he will be with him when the end comes. That it will be ok. That he won't be lost.

I know he takes care of those unable to take care of themselves.

Hard to see, eyes full of tears. Bless you, each and every one of you. God Bless you and thank you.

[dverna]

GH,
I am more concerned about you.

[codgerville@zianet.com]

GH,
I am more concerned about you.
Amen to that.

[Bzcraig]

Will continue to pray for him and you.

[GhostHawk]

Guys I am ok. True I am hurting some. But I have a loving wife, a forum full of brothers here, and the Lord is with me.

Mostly it is hard to watch him going through all this. I miss my friend and shooting buddy.
But he has been sliding away for over 3 years now. All that is happening now is just bringing it home to me that I am going to be without a good local friend at some point in the future. So I am grieving before he is gone.

Thank you guys for all the love and concern. I tell you truly, It is well with my soul.

It is my heart that is hurting, and I am well used to that. Comes with the territory.

It was Vern and I that managed to update the house electrical system. Pulled out 3 small daughter boxes with screw in fuses and slipped in a single 200 A modern fusebox with breakers. Rewired the whole house pretty much. (was a crazy mixup of new wiring connected to old knob and tube)

It was Vern and I that put the new roof on 14 years ago.

The plumbing was all mine, but if there was electricity involved Vern was in it up to his elbows.

Man had a knack for making sense of spaghetti.

What is, is, man has not died yet, he may be just having a bad bout with the flu.

I'm fine guys, I guess maybe you don't realize how much of an effect you have had on a place until something like this happens and you see those you love and respect rally round to help.

Love you guys!

[Preacher Jim]

Lord you have heard ghost cry for mercy and salvation for Vern send your Holy Spirit to convict and bring vern to Christ and give ghost the words and guidance to be your voice here.
This Lord is one only you can heal and we ask you to reveal the truth to vern.
Amen

[Pine Baron]

Amen, Jim.

[GhostHawk]

Thanks guys. Tried to call today, went to voice mail. Not a good sign IMO.

[conk45]

Prayers for Vern and you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[GhostHawk]

Finally talked to him last night, appears that he is back home and on the mend.

Prayers are working. Thank you all!

[Boaz]

Glad he is improving ! Thanks for reporting .

[Blackwater]

Great news, Ghost. Thanks for letting us know. FWIW, my sister in law was paranoid schizophrenic, and was diagnosed with cancer. Naturally, she pretty well went off the deep end when the doc gave her 2-3 months to live. But that lasted the 2-3 months, and she, I think, just plain got tired of all the histrionics. It seems even PS's don't have the stamina for that! And she simply resolved to take whatever days remained for her, and use them to the fullest extent possible for something good. One of her first steps, was to re-examine her relationship with God, and she re-committed herself to God in a very real way.

The results were literally astounding, and an honest miracle! For the first time in her life, she began arguing with the voices when they came to her, and did NOT just go and do whatever they said, but usually called my wife, her only real confidant, and worked through it all. She even opened up to me a few times, perhaps in desperation because this was NOT her "normal" way. I got to tell her what an inspiration she was in all this, and how proud I was of her, and her courage and commitment. This was like shining a very bright light on her, and gave her even more faith and courage and stiffened her commitment to God and all that was right. Instead of less than 6 months, God gave her 6 more years, and when she passed the veil, it was as peaceful as it could possibly be. I don't know that I'll ever see more real Faith and courage than I saw in her, and I believe she's in Heaven now for sure. Few of us ever have to fight a battle like she did, and fewer still have the very real courage and stick-to-itiveness to do what she did. She'll always be a bright and shining example of what folks who are sorely challenged CAN do, and sometimes do in fact.

So this isn't something that will just go away or disappear in an instant. God be with you in your efforts to help Vern, and with him in his battles. Faith has seen folks through greater challenges that either of you face, and what it can do, if we will just allow it to, is literally miraculous. Hang in there, and keep the Faith.

[Pine Baron]

Cautiously optimistic, prayers will continue. And Ghosthawk, make sure you take care of yourself through this. Go in peace.

[GhostHawk]

Pine Baron I am sir, my wife makes sure of it.

Frankly just getting this whole thing off my chest has helped a lot.
Talking it out on a message forum might not work for most people but it works for me.

I am at peace and accepting that what will be will be. Knowing that there are things I can not change, but also knowing that he is not gone yet does help.

Sometimes I think we do not truly see who our real friends are until the times get hard. Those who stick by you when all others are running away are the ones worth sticking with.

I'll not soon forget you guys. You have written your names large in my book by your actions and prayers. You guys would do to ride the river with.

[Blackwater]

Well, Ghost, it's not like you haven't written YOUR name large in OUR books! I love your simple, direct and painfully honest approach to matters of concern. And the way you put God's will first, before your own wants and desires. You've been a real inspiration to me, and I know others as well. Thanks for all you contribute here, and indeed, inner frustrations DO become more bearable when we just let them air out. It's cathartic, and that's healing. I think that's why we were admonished to gather ourselves together and support each other when anyone's in a tight. God has given us the best instruction and advice we could possibly ever ask for, and He did it without our even asking. We probably wouldn't have really known what to ask for anyway. He always leads us to something better, if we just let Him do so.

Hang in there. A friend like you is a true rarity these days. When someone in Vern's position has problems like he's having, he learns who his REAL friends are, and the true value they bring to his life. You're a real trooper for God. God bless you for that.