People crossing

As the dream dust settles I did a couple of jobs the last two days and yesterday got to move a dish for a young man I’d installed once previously.  He was moving and called me up to relocate his Directv…..

Whenever I do work for somebody my ears are always open for an opportunity to have my ears open….The one thing I have learned in this life, is, it is so much more rewarding to listen to someone than to tell them your story…As a writer it is invaluable.  As a Christian it is essential. This is where being able to minister to somebody’s needs becomes most effective.

This young guy, in his mid twenties, had been in the Marines and had his eye shot.  So you can only imagine the things this young fellow went through right after that incident.

He told me some of it.  The one thing that really stuck out was that he went on a 3 day drinking binge…On the third day one of his fellow Marines came in to tell him he needed to get back to work basically or the Marines were going to penalize him in some way….But this guy couldn’t care less…He was paralyzed by depression and refused to leave his quarters.

As he laid there and his fellow Marine went out the door, he said someone else opened the door and came in.  He said it was human like, but the color of it was like a dark liquid…Instead of hands it had talons…He said the face was visible but like he was looking through a fog at it….Then this being spoke to him….”Hi.  I’m your Uncle Johnny…Why don’t you keep drinking and join me where I’m at.”

His Uncle Johnny had died drinking himself to death.

The Young Marine said he had about a half hour conversation with this thing, and finally told him,

“I may be going to die, but I’m going to choose how I go out, not you.”

And the entity left.

Today that Marine is a young man with a heart for people, especially young guys who are messed up.  He tries to encourage them and help them any way he can….He told me, they’ve taken advantage of my kindness, and have even stolen from me, but I forgive them and don’t hold it against them…they are messed up and don’t really know what they are doing.

He told me how a friend of his took off with his truck and blew two of his tires and got it towed.  It cost him 500 dollars.  His dad wanted him to call the cops and press charges.  He said, “No…GOD will take care of it.  I don’t have to.  GOD always looks out for me.”

Even though he has struggled with what happened to his eye, recently he realized perhaps GOD was protecting him from himself.  He knew inside himself if he went to Iraq and Afghanistan it would have been hard for him not to just blow people away who may have been doing something innocent that he perceived suspicious.

He said, “I believe GOD was protecting me from me.”

I was able to share some things in the WORD with him that the LORD brought up in my spirit…He said, “I don’t really read the Bible but I believe in JESUS.  He said I don’t pray so much as I talk to GOD and I know HE has always been there for me.”  Then he added, “Listening to you, I think HE wants me to read HIS WORD more…”

That was strange to me because he had done most of the sharing, until it occurred to me, that every once in a while I was able to share a verse with him that spoke to exactly what he was feeling, or wrestling with, or had proved what he believed or had done was right…

What a wonderful heart this young guy had…I pray he really gets to know JESUS more and more each day….When GOD crosses our paths with other people, if we are open to it, he can make those crossings incredibly special…Ministering to him, ministered to me.

I finished the job, and left.  A few hours later, I got a text from him that simply read, “Thanks for the talk today.”

That was very humbling, because it was me who should have been thanking him….

Staying UP

People celebrating with me say, “You must be walking on Cloud 9.”

“I passed Cloud 9 a while ago….10 and 11 is in the rear view mirror…Right now I’m on Cloud 12″

They ask me…”Have you come down yet?”

“I’m not coming down.  I figure I might as well stay up here on Cloud 12 so I can watch what ABBA DADDY does next in my life.”

GOD is GOOD!

 

Weekend Thoughts

In sifting through this weekend’s events and digesting still the fact that GIDEON took home the Grand Prize of the KairosPrize Spirtually Uplifting Screenplay Competition….the word “Incredible” comes to mind….followed quickly by “Thank You”…..

Going to LA and participating in the 21st Annual Movie Guide Awards was nothing short of a miracle to me….GOD is GOOD!  Yes I have put in countless hours and hard work writing and rewriting GIDEON, but I could live a thousand lifetimes and not experience what GOD has done in this lifetime for me, particularly this past weekend…..And it is only just BEGINNING!!!

GOD posed this question to me in my spirit one day after I told HIM I wanted to write a movie that would Glorify HIM and capture the imaginations of both my nephews and nieces and the secular world…”If a child was to be brought up without any outside influences but the WORD of GOD, what kind of child would he grow up to be?”

GIDEON is my answer.

The bonus is that it also captures the imagination of the inner child in all of us….

The most wonderful thing about being in the Top 3 of Kairos was the incredible outpouring of love and joy shared with me by my family, friends, the new friends I met in LA, the other two winners, Romeo Ciolfi, and James DeVince, and even from people I didn’t know coming up to me and expressing how happy and excited they were for me…..GOD is GOOD!!

What a first class ministry the MovieGuide Organization is….I mean to see the heart they have for GOD, and the ultimate desire to influence our culture thru the media with the things of GOD, HIS Love, HIS Grace, HIS Forgiveness, HIS Mercy….was beautiful….I pray GIDEON and my future writings may have that impact on our culture and represent Dr. Ted Baehr and his beautiful wife Lili, The John Templeton Foundation, and the KairosPrize  people, (Special thanks to Michael Trent, Director of Kairos…you sir, are just plain wonderful) their heart’s desires and the utmost Glory to GOD and our LORD JESUS CHRIST….

Finally my THANK YOU’s….Thank you to GOD who has opened the door for me to have this life changing experience.  You are the absolute Best ABBA DADDY!!!  And to my beautiful LORD and SAVIOR, KING and MASTER, and Best Friend who sticks closer to me than a Brother….JESUS!!!!!!!!  And to HIS HOLY SPIRIT who is always inspiring me to do better and be better, and write better….I LOVE YOU ELOHIM  !!!!

Thank you to my good friend and Manager Alan Yott who believed from the first time I told him the story of GIDEON, that I needed to finish the screenplay, because it is meant for such a time as this. Who spent many hours listening to me read it out loud and giving me great thoughts.  Who always spoke the positive over me and the story.   We are now starting to see it come to fruition…I was glad I could share the weekend with you Alan.  That was special to me.

Thank You to everyone who has encouraged me along the way and instilled in me, planted in me, and shown me the Love of GOD, and the Love for GOD through out my life.   I love you all.

Thank You to the wonderful people who hugged me, prayed for and with me, and shared in my joy in person, over the internet, over the phone, and thru prayer and praise to GOD….

Thank You to my brother Joseph Wraith who designed this website from his heart so that I could express myself….Without you this would be a blank, parked .com….LOL!  And who designed an awesome poster for GIDEON that absolutely captures the Glory of the Story…I love you my brother….May the LORD Bless you a thousand fold for your kindness and open up incredible doors you can’t even imagine….

Thank You to WritetoReel.com, Roy and Hank’s website of screenplay reviews,  who’s notes and pointers for not only GIDEON but the other screenplays on their site, made it a screenwriting education every day…..And Talentville.com, Ben Cahan’s website that allows fellow writers to review each others work in the hopes of making it the best it can be….I can tell you….both websites have been a big part of honing, tightening, and reworking GIDEON….

Thank You to all my wonderful family,and brother’s and sisters in Christ….Mom, Dave, Shirley, Joey, Tad, Gail, Sue, JC, HL, LoLo, Brother Clee, My high school Drama Teacher Ann Long, Cathy Ellis, Van and Ann Robinson,  and all of my nephews and nieces who were my inspiration to write a story that would capture your imaginations and glorify Almighty GOD….GIDEON was written for you all….

I am so looking forward to what GOD has planned and being able to share it with everyone of you….GOD BLESS…..Randall W Hahn