Looking Beyond - The Dave Knepperstory Looking Beyond
If you look inside a man’s heart, what will you find? I had never really given it much thought until I went out into the streets of Jackson, where I met Dave.
At first glance, some may say that Dave is just another man. Some may even say that Dave is a “nobody” or he’s “just a bum”. For those people, I say that you are missing the blessing of Dave’s heart.
I first met Dave in January 2009. He was living in an abandoned warehouse with his friends Ron and Gerry. Dave was the caregiver to all of his friends on the streets. He took care of Ron who was suffering from cancer. He took care of Gerry who always seemed to find himself in some kind of trouble. I have seen Dave take his bag of food and give it to someone who he thought needed it worse than he did.
Dave is a great person, but like all of us, he is not perfect. He who is without sin should cast the first stone.
Living on the streets is hard to do and most people are running from the pain of the past. Therefore needing something to numb the pain, they turn to drugs and alcohol. Dave is not much different in that sense.
Dave has experienced loss, just as a lot of us have. He talked to me often about losing his parents and how hard it was for him. But the big loss for Dave came in 2009 when he lost Natalie. He had met her on the streets of Jackson and he loved her more than anyone could have ever imagined. He felt that it was his job to protect her from the bad things. Sadly, a fire broke out in the boarding house where Natalie and her boyfriend were asleep in their room and Natalie perished in the fire. I have no doubts that If Dave had been the one lying in bed with Natalie he would have never left her. He would have carried her out of danger or he would have died with her. That is how much he loved her.
I remember seeing Dave the night that he learned that Natalie was gone. The hurt and anger in his heart was evident on his face. Even as hurt and angry as he was, Dave didn’t want anyone to see him cry. As usual, Todd (Brooks) is the one person who could talk to him and get through to him. Dave and Todd had developed a great friendship and Dave knew that he could depend on Todd.
Dave’s anger was one of the first things that he had to deal with after Natalie’s death. He had to forgive Natalie’s boyfriend for leaving her and saving himself from the fire. It was not easy but by the grace of God, Dave forgave Natalie’s boyfriend.
I wish I could say that things started to turn around for Dave but the grief consumed him. I have never seen someone grieve as Dave grieved the loss of Natalie. The pain of losing her was unbearable and Dave jumped into a bottle and never wanted to come out. He drank to numb the pain. He cried for her when he was drinking but he mourned even harder when he was sober. He missed Natalie so much.
In early August, things seemed to turn around a bit for Dave when he moved off the streets and into a camper with his friend Ron. It wasn’t much but it beat an abandoned warehouse. Dave and Ron started going with me to FBC Fannin. Things were rolling right along, or so they seemed. That does not mean that Dave jumped out of the bottle. It just meant that Dave was off the streets. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out for Dave and Ron sharing the camper. It only lasted a couple of months and then Dave found himself back on the streets.
Fortunately, Dave was able to crash with Gerry at “his” place for a while. Dave tried to tell all of us that he would be fine living back at “his” warehouse. But it was evident in Dave’s face that he really did not want to be back in that warehouse or on the streets of Jackson.
Dave had been back on the streets about a week when Todd picked him up from Gerry’s place and took him to the Opportunity Center. At that point, Dave had no clue how much some of the street ministry team leaders had been praying for him and praying about a way to approach him about his drinking. After spending time at the OC, Todd and Jeff (Taylor) took Dave back to Gerry’s place with David (Triplett) following them. They pulled into the parking lot of a cheap motel known for drug activity. That night is when life really started to change for Dave. David and Todd talked straight and deep with Dave. David shared with him how alcoholism can change the whole course of your life. It’s obvious that God was there in the parking lot of the cheap motel and He was there for everyone to see. The Spirit went to work and before the night was over, Dave was in tears and he knew that it was time for a life change. So there in the parking lot with all kinds of people looking on, Dave cried as he accepted the grace and mercy of God through the kindness and love of his friends.
The next week was a blur of confusion about where Dave could go for treatment. We looked at Friends of Alcoholics, Teen Challenge and others. Finally, a call was made to Gateway where I talked to Pastor Sweet who explained their program and the process. The very next day, Todd took Dave to Gateway where he spent the next three months. It was a little rough at first, but Dave made it a whole three months.
In month number three things took a terrible turn and we thought that Dave was giving up sobriety to go back to the streets, a life for some that is very addictive. You wonder what can be addictive about the streets? Freedom….NO rules…..living like you want with no responsibility for anyone but yourself.
My motherly instinct wanted to go find Dave and make him go back to rehab but I prayed about it and God (and friends) clearly told me to wait. On day 3, Dave called me from Gerry’s “place”. It was clear that Dave had been drinking. He was very emotional and kept saying that he thought he had breast cancer. Three days after that phone call, I found myself in St. Dominic’s emergency room with Dave and Gerry. I will never forget as we walked into that hospital, Dave took me by the hand and said “let’s do this”.
As Dave and I sat in that ER for four hours, he talked a lot about needing his family. I had tried unsuccessfully before to find his family but that night we spent that night burning up the internet. Thanks to Facebook and a lot of faith, Dave was talking to his family by the end of the night.
Just a few days later, Dave went home to be with his family. Despite the scare of breast cancer, he has a clean bill of health and happy to be home. He is going to family birthday parties, watching his great-nephews play baseball and enjoying every minute of being right where he belongs.
If you ever look at someone and think you know them…..take a minute to stop and look at their heart. You may find another Dave who just wants to go home to his family.