Johnny

By Jeff Becraft

 

We recently moved Hannah from Maryland down to Charlotte. As Hannah and I were heading to Charlotte, I said, “We need to get some help unloading this truck. There is no way we’re going to be able to do this all by ourselves.” Not only was there a mammoth amount of stuff, but some of the items were pretty heavy, and we had had help up in Maryland getting it onto the truck. Not only that, this would be coming at the end of a long day of long driving. Hannah’s dog, Gibbs, had thrown up three times within the first hour in her car.

So we hired two guys to help us and they were phenomenal! They unloaded the truck in 45 minutes. It was amazing to watch them in action. Hannah and I got out some of the little knick-knacks that we had stuffed in between all the other items, but it was the two guys that did most of the major lifting and moving in the process.

I got to know each of them a little bit, and I explained how my Dad had passed away, and we emptied out his house of everything and since Hannah had been living at his house, she was now moving back to North Carolina.

I mentioned to them that I had a friend coming tomorrow morning… he was driving up from Columbia to pick me up and take me home.

The mover looked back at me and said, “You have a friend driving all the way to Charlotte to pick you up?”

I said, “Yeah”

He states, “That’s a good friend.”

And I responded, “He sure is.”

He responds, “Those are hard to come by.”

That friend is named Johnny.

Now, at various times in my life and in various circles, I have called all kinds of guys “Johnny.” I actually got it from a movie years ago. I didn’t do it as much in Youth Corps, and really haven’t done it all that much in Our Place of Hope. But there are various situations and various circles that if you are a guy, chances are I’m going to call you “Johnny” at some point.

One time for a weekend men’s trip, I was supposed to ride with a friend and some other guys to head out. It made more sense logistically to ride with Johnny so I let him know, “Hey, I’m going to be riding with Johnny.” He responded, “I thought I was Johnny.” I said back, “This is the Original Johnny.”

So not only is Johnny the Original Johnny, he is also a really good friend. He has done so much for me in my life. (To tell about the two of us going to a big box hardware store on a Saturday morning to get supplies I needed for a shed and he doesn’t even have all the floorboards in his trailer is worth an email all by itself and so that will come at another time.)

As the moving guy said, good friends can sometimes be hard to come by. So today is a great day to be a true friend to somebody.

 

Jeff Becraft is the Director of Our Place of Hope located in Columbia, South Carolina, where people find encouragement to regain meaning, purpose, and hope for their lives. Jeff has dedicated much of his life to helping shift the vision of people’s lives. If you would like Jeff to speak to your group or event, you can connect with him at  [email protected].