Miles from Millions, and Good with Good

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The Goodness Continues to Spread

I finished the Samson trip, and 8 weeks after dropping Daniel off at the Greyhound station in California, I was joined by several Samson brothers to pick Daniel up from rehab. The Birmingham Samson guys put Daniel and me up in a hotel, and they brought their families to breakfast the next morning to meet Daniel and hear him play.

“Hey Daniel,” one of them said, “it’s a CRACKer Barrel.”

“No,” Daniel replied, “it’s a CRACKER Barrel.”

From there I drove Daniel to Franklin, Tennessee, where he and another Samson guy rented a house from Nate Larkin. Every week, Daniel was part of a community of about 200 men who are doing life together.  A couple of months later, the church in San Luis Obispo flew Daniel back out for a concert.  He’s been to California with his music ministry four times now.

Shortly before Thanksgiving, Nate Larkin drove Daniel home to North Carolina to say goodbye to his father.  He got to kiss his dad on the cheek and tell his dad he was doing okay. That’s a pretty good farewell.  Goodness spreading.

The day after Thanksgiving, I left Indianapolis to take Daniel home for his dad’s funeral. I was received like family.

Daniel has reconciled with his wife, and there is talk of remarriage.  He has reconciled with his adult children, and he carries a video clip of his grandson – Daniel gave him a harmonica – on his cell phone.

Last week Daniel moved to Indianapolis, and right now – and every Thursday evening – he is playing at the Starbucks near my house.

He has used crack a couple – four – times in the past year. It is still a struggle. We both have struggles. But we’re not alone, and that makes a world of difference. My dentist is going to fix Daniel’s teeth for free on Monday. In two weekends, Daniel will house sit for me, as he has done before.

We’ve shared our story and his music at churches – you can listen to one example here – but what we’re working on together these days are “living room visits,” dessert and coffee type evenings, with small groups of friends who’ll have us.

Daniel has become my brother, and we make better sense in quiet settings, in conversation. A magic sort of feeling comes into the room – I know it is the Holy Spirit – when we get to tell of the things God has been doing in our lives. I like to think that maybe the people we meet feel like a part of our adventure, because they are. And I like to think that maybe, because they’ve met us – soft, white, neurotic, nerdy author guy recovering from Christian heroism, and wiry, black, con who sees all the angles in a relational moment, but who sings with a sweetness and soulish quiet he’s earned through too many tears – they look for God’s goodness, too.

It’s not what I expected when I signed with Donald Miller’s agent and manager, and a lot of the time I feel like maybe I’ve failed as an author and speaker. I’m certainly not the cool kid I thought I’d be (and to be clear, this is in no way a knock on Miller – whose work and success opened any doors I’ve passed through and am ever likely to encounter – nor on the agent, manager and publisher who have worked hard on my behalf…things are simply unfolding the way my Lord, whom I’ve invited to drive all things in my life, wants them to unfold).

But man, does my God delight in showing His goodness in this place, and man does that feel good. I’m not going to change my prayers now. And the prayer and the delight is open to any of us. May the same delighting God show you the joy He takes in spreading His goodness in this world.

You can learn more about Pete Gall at http://petegall.com

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