Homeless to Famous: Thoughts on the greatest week of Ted William’s life, Part 2

Now, this isn’t a Jesus juke, but it seems to me the subtle, unspoken message from this whole event is “How did a guy with such talent end up on the streets?”.

My son, when he was just a toddler, used to love to push the recycling bin around the house.  And every so often, as I was taking the garbage to the curb, I’d look in the bin and notice my cell phone or some other random non-trash item.  It used to perplex me.

How did THIS end up in the garbage?  This has value.  This is useful.  It shouldn’t be tossed out like that.

And when you listen to Ted Williams speak, you can almost ask the same question.

How did HE end up in the garbage?  He has value.  He is useful.  He shouldn’t have been forgotten like that.

But that reveals a deep internal thought that we don’t really want to admit to.

We think everyone else deserves to be on the curb.

If Ted is the exception, than all of the other people with no home and nowhere to go simply become the rule.

I wonder how many other treasures we’d discover if we simply took to the time to not assume they belonged there.

 

 

Homeless to Famous: Thoughts on the greatest week of Ted William’s life, Part 1

My life has never been anywhere near as high or as low as Ted Williams.  I’ve had some pretty bad days, but never found myself in his shoes.  And, needless to say, I’ve never been the object of national attention.   But I had some thoughts about what is one of the more amazing turnarounds in a long time.

I think it is too easy to misplace the reason or cause for his sudden turnaround.  Some say that this is what makes America great.  A guy down on his luck can make it if he perseveres and doesn’t give up.  Or some say that it’s a testament to the power of the social web because without the viral nature of his story he wouldn’t have been afforded these opportunities.  Others have pointed to the videographer from the Columbus Dispatch or the paper itself for sharing the story.  All of those things are true.  But they are not the single cause for Williams’ turnaround.

Williams has continually given credit to God as the difference in his life.  The reason Ted Williams was able to have a week like this is because God loves the second chance… and the third chance… and the 839th chance.

Ted Williams didn’t get a lucky break.  He is the result of what God can do in a person’s life.  Doesn’t mean Ted will never do anything wrong.  Doesn’t mean Ted will always make great decisions.  It simply means that GRACE is greater than anything this world has to throw at a person.