I’m not sure how many times we’ve driven this route. We could probably make it in our sleep if we had to.

It’s a pretty easy trip if you get ahead of the traffic, so we were rolling down the interstate by 7am.

To be honest, my expectations are pretty low. But I have hope.

There’s a difference between the two.

We took a friend of ours to rehab last week.

That’s the trip I’m talking about. The low expectations are about him getting and staying clean.

He has been homeless in downtown Birmingham for a while now and has a serious alcohol problem.

I mean, after almost 10 years of doing this, you kind of understand the law of averages and what to expect. That might sound jaded, but again…10 years.

It’s pretty easy to see the homeless and think of them as some kind of person-less body that’s empty and just aimlessly walking around. You see them on the corner at 10am on a Tuesday with a brown bag in hand and there’s a reason the expectations stay low. You get a phone call from a guy you took to rehab three months ago saying he’s been kicked out and your expectations for this trip get even lower.

But, when you get to know that guy with the brown bag, things change a little bit. Maybe not with the data, but with the perspective.

When you spend time with him and get to know his story, you understand that he’s not person-less. You understand that he’s more than just a statistic.

When you’re friends with the guy who just got kicked out of rehab, you’re simultaneously frustrated and deeply sympathetic to the inner turmoil inside of him.

The frustration makes you want to throw your hands up. The sympathy and understanding makes you hope and long for him to take another chance at getting clean.

Our friend that we dropped off last week was the guy you’d see walking around downtown drinking early in the morning and sleeping under I-65.

The logical side of me knows what he’s up against. I know the data about relapse and overcoming addiction. I’ve seen the stats play out in front of my face over and over again for the last decade. That keeps my expectations low.

But, I also know he’s a guy with an incredibly outgoing personality and a talented singing voice. He’s caring and funny and cooks a mean Chicken and Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo.

He’s a person, an image bearer of our Creator, who has value and dignity and is worth fighting for.

And because I know those things…because we’ve taken the time and created the space to get to know him and spend time with him…we don’t see him as just an empty body wandering the streets.

We can’t just look at him through the lens of the statistics.

Expectations can stay low.

But we have to fight to keep hope. 

If we lose hope, we might as well pack it up. If we don’t have that, then what have the last 10 years been for?