For Phoenix Link/ Connecting Current

     So there's this loud kid that I met my junior year of high school. At times he made many people in my class laugh, including me, but I never thought we'd be more than classmates. Today this day, the same loud kid is one of my best friends.

     You know sometimes we feel like we're not that very special or have a real purpose in life, especially as teenagers, but this one person made me realize that's not true... That junior year was about the same time I was figuring myself out spiritually. I was confused and slightly uninterested in Christianity for a long time, although I went to church every Sunday. It's ironic how you can appear as a Christian but not think or speak like one. Anyways, that year I really got close to God with the help of a friend who invited me to church. What she did for my future relationship with God was act as a middle man. She spoke and reflected him in ways that I was able to comprehend and accept as a person lacking in faith. And the really amazing thing was that I was able to be that middle man for my friend too. 

     After inviting him to church and Phoenix a few times he changed a lot... and in the best way he could. I could tell that a relationship with Jesus was something he desperately needed, despite the fact he probably didn't know he was lacking anything in his life. It was an amazing thing watching someone you just got to know for a few months, change so quickly and beautifully. Although I'm not talking about physical beauty, spiritual beauty and salvation is something to awe at. Watching anything that God does is something to awe at. It just makes it that much more special when you realize you're a part of the big picture he's painting.

     To this day, I'm incredibly proud of my friend and all that he's overcome and achieved thanks to God's grace. Within the short beginning months since he started going to Phoenix, he's gotten saved, baptized, served, and invited other friends to church in order to show them how amazing God is to those who are even broken or messed up. Because all of us who's come to know Jesus used to be dirty and imperfect in the eyes of the world, but Jesus totally changes that and us. 

     Now, my friend is middle man for his friends and those who he feels compelled to share the good news with. I'm incredibly happy for him and hopeful for his journey of building his faith. Although he's thanked me numerous times for introducing him to our church family and being that person who helped him grow in his relationship with God; I think the real person to thank is God himself. I'm thankful that he used me in his plan to bring another person to Christ, and that he deemed me worthy of it. It was honestly just of an amazing experience for me as it was for my friend. And although sometimes we don't get along, I'm happy to have the loud kid around till this day.