War Cry - November, 2014 Page 9

The War Cry | NOVEMBER 2014

A Conversation

............

the starting positions as pitcher.

Jimmy recalls that the partying

and trouble he and his teammates
often got into was "unbelievable."
As one of the star players, Jimmy
was "on a pedestal" and would
seldom be disciplined.

"It was great fun, but in retro-

spect it was not good for a young
man like myself to have no account-
ability for my actions," Jimmy says.

After discharge, Jimmy returned

to Ohio and found a job in a fac-
tory--which he hated. So he and
a buddy bought and operated a bar,
which only worsened his growing
addictions.

He married his girlfriend, and

in the 1980s, they moved to Florida
and started a family.

"I went to school down there

and soon earned a degree in golf
course turf management," he goes
on, "...but the drinking never
stopped. It only got worse."

By his own admission, Jimmy's

choices as a husband, father and
businessman were fueled only by
alcohol and drugs.

"I don't like the term `function-

ing alcoholic' but that's about what
I was. It got to the point that if my
eyes weren't closed, I was drinking!"

He was let go three years ago, and

although no reason was given for his
termination, Jimmy concludes that
because he had grown "increasingly
obnoxious and vicious" to everyone
around him--attributed to his al-
coholism--the reason was clear.

Several trips to the West Palm

Beach VA Hospital for rehab didn't
help.

"As soon as I was released, I was

drinking on my way home," he says.

For one last time, Jimmy's wife

drove him back to the VA Hospital--

telling him that this time he would
not be welcomed back home. His
children (all grown by now) had lost
all respect for him and would not al-
low him near his five grandchildren.

Jimmy was placed on suicide

watch for ten days, and sensed that
he was, indeed, at the end of his rope.

"I lay there in my hospital bed,

and the realization hit me that upon
my release this time, I would be
homeless," he explains.

That's when a VA Hospital case-

worker connected Jimmy with

someone at The Salvation Army's
Center Of Hope in West Palm Beach.

"In the true definition of the word,

I was homeless, except that The
Salvation Army took me in," Jimmy
says with a smile, still beaming after
all this time.

"Major Charles Smith met me at

the door and welcomed me," he
continues, "and Corps Sergeant�Ma-
jor (CSM) Dan Hager and the corps
officers, Captains Chris & Heidi
Farrell, made me feel... important!"

Jimmy immediately accepted an

invitation to worship at the corps on
the following Sunday, and he's been
attending ever since.

He signed up for Major Smith's

Soldiership Preparation Class twice
because "I like the way he talks!"

During one weeknight Bible study

class, CSM Hager was teaching on
the subject Walking With Jesus. Af-
ter the class, Jimmy went up to Dan
to learn more about what he meant.

"Right then and there, Dan led

me to the Lord, and I became a
born-again Christian!"

Jimmy is a fixture around the

West Palm Beach Area Command
and at the Lake Worth Corps where

he is now a soldier. He logged over
1,900 volunteer hours for each of the
past two years. And his family is
back in his life.

Now that Jesus Christ is Jimmy's

Lord and Savior, he is at the top of
his game. He says he couldn't be
happier, and his countenance shows
that. His only regret is that he didn't
become a born�again Christian
earlier in life.

"God has given so much to me,"

Jimmy testifies. "I want to spend
what time I have left freely giving
to others what He has freely given
to me!"

Jimmy Greer (at right), in a class at the recent National
Seminar On Evangelism. He is making winning others for
Christ a priority in his life.