Dave's Bread.

For World Storytelling Day, March 20.  Here’s a story about my friend Dave. It takes place about 20 years before I first met him and he became a huge influence on my life

Dave really needed some bread.

God had really done some incredible stuff in his life. It was just a year ago that he was an addict on the streets of Vancouver. God totally delivered him from all that, like, instantly. He met these people from this group called “Y-Wam”. They prayed for him. He was done with drugs. A friggin' miracle.

So now Dave was doing a school type thing with these Y-Wam guys. It was this course that was 6 months long, and you did all these classes where people talked about God and helped you learn about yourself and community and Jesus. After the class stage, you were supposed to go on a missions trip. Somehow, Dave had got all his money for the first part, but he still needed a lot of dough for the mission trip part.

Dave didn't have any money. But Jesus had helped him quit drugs, among other things, so he must have been able to get him some dough.

“God, you gotta lay some bread on me, Man,” Dave would pray.

And every single dime he found, he counted to God. If he saw a penny on the ground, he'd pick it up and take it to the secretary lady that handled the money.

“I got some more bread for my outreach,” Dave would say, and hand her some change. The money lady would roll her eyes (but not too hard).

This went on for a while. “God, I know you want me to have faith. You just gotta lay some bread on me.”

Dave's Dad didn't really get this Jesus stuff Dave was getting into, but he loved his kid. Dave's Dad was a good guy, but the kind of guy who resented June Carter for “softening up” Johnny Cash. Not really an intuitive type.

Then one day, with the outreach trip coming up fast, Dave got a package in the mail. It was from his Dad. He opened it up, and he was really confused by what he saw. There was a note with it.

Dear Dave,

I was in the grocery store, and I kept thinking of you. I kept going by this aisle and thinking I needed to get this for you. I tried to ignore it, but I kept coming back to this aisle and eventually I had to just buy this for you.

Hope it makes sense.

Dad.

Dave looked at the note. He checked the other side for some other clue. He re-read it. He looked at what his Dad sent him. He looked at the note again.

“God, I don't get it. What's this mean, Man?” thought Dave.

Dave stared at the package, and the nice, big, white loaf of Wonder Bread.

And God said, “It's a joke!”

The End.

P.S.

After that, Dave got his dough for the outreach trip.