Recently, I was going through some of my “stuff,” hoping to spare my kids the future agony of watching a lifetime of their dad’s memories being tossed into a dumpster.
My wife had already started the process and handed me a beer stein my parents had given us for Christmas years ago. With our German heritage, we’ve accumulated quite a collection.
But something strange happened when she handed me that stein. I immediately sensed there was something inside. I lifted the lid, tipped it over, and sure enough, the keys to our first pharmacy location in downtown Covington dropped out.
Those weren’t just any keys.
They were the keys to a chapter of my life that nearly destroyed me.
It was at that pharmacy on the corner of Wright and High Streets in downtown Covington, where my drug addiction spiraled out of control.
Then came an intervention involving my wife, boss, brother, and a man from AA. It was long, painful, emotional, and, from my perspective at the time, completely irrational.
But eventually, I surrendered and agreed to get help.
The rest, as they say, is history.
That history might have looked very different had my boss not believed in second chances.
Two years into my recovery, he handed me back the very keys he had taken away following that intervention.
I’d worked hard to rebuild his trust, but ultimately, the decision was his. He could have said no. Instead, he chose grace.
Those keys represented far more than access to a pharmacy. They represented restored trust, renewed purpose, and a second chance at life.
Holding them again after all these years reminded me how close I came to losing everything and how much I’ve been given since.
Losing nearly everything and rebuilding my life strengthened my gratitude muscle in ways success never could.
And perhaps that’s one of the greatest lessons of second chances.
Grace opens the door.
Wisdom helps us walk through it differently.
Gratitude reminds us never to take the keys to that door for granted.
Soul Search
What second chances have you been given that you may have started taking for granted? How can you honor those gifts today through gratitude, humility, and the way you choose to live?
Scripture
“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten.” — Joel 2:25 (NIV)
P.E.A.C.E.
Jay@EagleLaunch.com
