Slowing Down to See the Blessing

John Wilson is moving out and graduating the R3 Program, but before he could get to the secure, healthy place he’s in now, he had to stick around.

 John came to the Eugene Mission after he lost his job at a movie studio and the apartment that came with it. He quickly secured 9 job interviews, but his car was stolen at his first interview in Eugene within two hours of being in the city.

 He called an information line and the representative suggested he should come to the Mission. “The lady said there was a whole program I could enroll in,” to help map a future, versus finding a simple bed and housing.

 After his third day in the Rescue Shelter, volunteer Jackson Conrad, a graduate of the Life Change Program, invited him to chapel and Bible study. John, a former assistant director of the National Atheist Association, thought perhaps his situation might be a sign from God that he needed to slow down, reconsider the faith he grew up with, and let God handle his problems.

 John is a Navy veteran who was a nuclear engineer and is familiar with electronics and computer systems. When Craig Wilson, with the Lane County STEP Program, suggested that the drone program at Lane Community College might be a good fit, John knew he’d found his perfect new career.

 “I went from not having anything on the streets of Eugene and now I’m experiencing all these blessings,” John said. “If it wasn’t for the advice I received in the Rescue to take time, I wouldn’t be in this situation and I wouldn’t have all these opportunities.”

 He said he needed to accept that his difficult situation was temporary and that he was being given the opportunity to start over. “Then, it was relieving,” he said. “I told my friends, ‘let me just stay here. If I live with you, I’ll just be existing, but at the Eugene Mission, I’m learning to really live.’”