Matthew Mitchell Gail Richard Composition I Connection Essay, Final Draft September 11, 2013 Have You Loved

Someone Today? As the time neared ten we all simmered down with our stories of the week and bowed our heads as Bro. Tommy, our Sunday school teacher, led in prayer. The lesson he began to teach that morning is one that I cant remember at all. Due to the fact that the lesson, once held a top priority, dropped dramatically in status as another Sunday school teacher rushed into our room. She told us that there had been a car accident involving a couple members of our church and said that as far as she knew they were alright but Tanner, the driver of the car, had been sent to the intensive care unit. She then asked if we would pray for them and their families. After we had prayed we continued the lesson but not ten minutes later she came back with a look on her face that I never wish to see again and words that seemed to shake the foundation of the church, he didnt make it Tanner. These words were engraved in my mind as I watched emotion flood over everyone in the room, including myself. As I sat there with my hands on my head and wet eyes I didnt think it was possible for this to happen. Tanner was a man that truly loved God and loved other people. He had surrendered to the ministry a few years earlier and had just started his new job as a youth pastor for a small church. He didnt champion the name of Christianity but he championed the name of Jesus Christ and showed the love of Jesus whenever an opportunity presented itself, something many Christians have trouble with. The only way I can speak with any authority about this is because as I sat there not understanding what had just happened it hit me, I had been one of his opportunities.

Just as is the case when most people pass the days after are often hard, dark, and slow for loved ones who are trying to grasp the situation and bring back all the good memories that they shared. This was much the same for myself. I spent the next couple of days reflecting over who Tanner was, the direction his life was headed, and just how much of an impact he had had on my life, most of which I was just now realizing. Over the past couple of years Tanner had really began to take an interest in my life as a whole but more specifically my relationship with Jesus. He would often engage me in a conversation, which in and of itself was a hard task because I wasnt much of a talker. Over a couple months of him striking up conversation with me I began to sense a central theme he was trying to convey to me, love. This wasnt the kind of love found in a romance novel but rather the love found in being a friend to the kid that finds himself alone, buying a homeless man a meal, or sharing with someone the greatest act of love ever committed. After Tanner passed, it occurred to me that the whole time he had been around me he had been discipling me. He wouldnt just tell me what the life of a true Christian looked like, but he would show me by how he lived. To him the story of the Good Samaritan wasnt just a good story but it offered a choice, and I watched him time and time again choose to be the Good Samaritan. The purpose of his Christianity wasnt heaven, even though it is promised to all who believe, but it was the fact that he found true life by giving up his life to honor and glorify God. This is how my purpose has changed, in order to find life I first had to give it up. The scope of Tanners impact on this world is something that is hard to determine. However, his impact on me is something that I can still feel to this day. Before Tanner invested in my life I was your typical Christian who wore the title like a stick on name tag. When it benefited me I would wear it but when it caused anything else I would tear it off and hide it in my pocket until the time came it would benefit me again. In many cases I feel now as if God has

switched my role and given me many opportunities to be to others what Tanner was to me. This is the way it should be, someone discovers true life in Jesus Christ so they in turn share it with others in love so that they can discover it and continue the beautiful cycle of sharing the truth of Jesus in love. So the same question that was left to me I leave to you, Have you loved someone today?