It says here you're from Houston: you're certified to drive a truck
"It doesn't say what you been doin' the last five years"
Then I watched his eyes keep readin', then I watched his eyes look up
An' watched another job I needed disappear
'Cause when they get to the line: "Have you been convicted of a crime?"
They say: "Thanks for comin' in," an' they don't call you back
I ain't askin' for every job under the sun:
I just want one second chance
On August twenty-second, well, little Jacob's turnin' five
But his momma moved him half-a-state away
I left another message on her phone at home last night
An' she fin'lly had her lawyer call today
She knows I can't afford to take this thing to court
And I'm tryin' hard to make her understand:
I ain't askin' for every weekend of every month
I just want one second chance
I was young an' I was stupid: I regret it every day
I ain't sayin' I didn't do it but I've paid for my mistakes
It's a lost and empty feelin' when they don't want you around
Yeah, I finally got my freedom but what good is it now
There's some days when it feels like it's been a hundred years
Sometimes it feels like only yesterday
We were paintin' Jacob's nursery, countin' days till he was here
Next thing I knew, I'd thrown it all away
Now I know I can't go back to the life I used to have
When I still held the whole world in my hands:
I had a job, I had a wife, I had a son
Now I just want one second chance
7-13-2006
NCZ/NKZ/NMZ
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and images are reserved by
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the artists by buying the cds.
~~"Hi I'm Jeff Bates. I'm celebrating five years of being drug
free. For those of you who don't know about my past, I was
addicted to methamphatamine and from the first time I did it,
all I could think about was how to get more. I sold everything
I owned that had any value to it so I could support my habit.
And when I ran out of things to sell, I started stealing from
my friends. And on March 14, 2001, I was arrested for grand
theft and drug possession. I remember waking up in jail, after
about seven days and having my first clear thought in months
and realizing that I had hurt, cheated, and lied to everybody
that I knew and loved and cared about. And I was ashamed.
The only thing I knew to do was what my momma taught me
to do. And that was get down on my knees and pray. I asked
Him to help me and He did. Then I got on the phone and
started calling everybody that I had taken anything from and
told them I would pay them back when I got out of jail, which
I did. But the thing that really blew me away was, out of
everybody that I had hurt, cheated, lied to, stole from, every
single one of them forgave me. So we do this song for anybody
out there who needs forgiveness or maybe needs to give
forgiveness."
These words are spoken by Jeff at the beginning of the "One
Second Chance" video. From the beginning of His career, Jeff
always shared with His audience His addiction and how He
overcame it. By singing this song and telling His story, Jeff hopes
that He will help at least one P.person.~~
