Miracles can have roots buried deep in the dirt of the streets of Kensington.

Melanie has known addiction and homelessness for at least two of her 3.5 decades on this earth.  She's known being parentless due to addiction on their part for longer than that. 

The following true story picks up within a day of where my novel styled blog left off…

                                                                                                                                   

Melanie was arrested and now sits in a local prison.  The specifics of her arrest are irrelevant to this true story.

I visited Melanie today.  As I write this account, I will be alternating between the emotional father/daughter relationship that is developing between us and the reality of our factual relationship.

In reality, I've never known Melanie free of the demon of addiction.  I've never known her real and somewhat dimpled smile nor the glow of life beaming from her deep blue eyes framed by a head of red hair.  These new to me aspects of Melanie were evident as I saw her sitting in the prison visiting room and as I struggled to open the second of two security doors that separate residents from the demon living in the outside world. 

As I opened the door and went through one last security checkpoint, Melanie spontaneously called out, "Thank you for visiting, Dad!  It means so much to know that somebody cares."

For the next 30 minutes, we small talked and Faith talked and movie talked.  We talked about family and how she has none of her factual own.  We talked about court and her determination to be done with her former ways.  We talked about the power of prayer and the Bible and other worthwhile books.  We talked about that day, perhaps two or three months away when I will pick her up late at night on her day of discharge.

So where is the miracle in this story? 

The miracle is in the breaking of the stronghold of the power of the demon.  Where the medical establishment was powerless or unwilling to step in to solve this opioid issue of its own making, the legal establishment stepped in to save the day and, perhaps, set Melanie on an all-new course in life.  Sadly, this leaves Melanie and thousands upon thousands in her similar situation with a criminal record where an extended medical record would have been much more appropriate.

Miracle Number 2

Here's what I texted to close friends shortly after I learned of Miracle Number 2:

As I text this I am sitting in my car with the steeple of old Christ Church to my left in a parking lot having just visited another of the young ladies of the streets of Kensington who is a deeply committed Christian and was doing great in her walk away from opioids until a medical procedure thrust her back into addiction.  

She was hospitalized just a few days ago with a severe infection that had the potential to claim her life.

Yesterday, the medical team did some further studying to determine how they were going to treat this potentially fatal condition. 

The entire infection was completely gone!

The doctor stated to this dear young lady formerly of the streets that this is an absolute bona-fide genuine miracle and can have no other explanation attached to it.

Today, I have had the privilege of visiting a Christian in prison and visiting a Christian in a hospital. Both are looking at how God intervened in their lives.

I cannot believe that I've had the privilege of experiencing such Earthbound Glory...