laLhered by Cod Lhrough Lhe men ln my llfe

l have had Lhree ChrlsLlan men ln my llfe who are worLh menLlonlng 1ray Mlchaels
Alpha Payward and uave unger 1ray was my youLh leader for flve years uave unglerL (from
here on ouL Lo be referred Lo as Super uave) was hls assoclaLe pasLor for Lhose flve years Alpha
was Lhe head of youLh mlnlsLry aL my church and as such spoke Lo my youLh group plenLy of
Llmes
l had an lnLeresLlng experlence when l was LhlrLeen 8elng ralsed as a ChrlsLlna wlLh
super conservaLlve parenLs l wenL Lo youLh evenLs and youLh groups my enLlre llfe l had
accepLed !esus ChrlsL lnLo my llfe aL leasL four Llmes buL noL only wasn'L l llvlng a ChrlsLlan llfe l
dldn'L wanL Lo Cne nlghL l was llsLenlng Lo Alpha speak and hls words changed my llfe l looked
aL llfe Lhrough Lhe eyes of someone wlLhouL !esus and l was Lerrlfled So for Lhe flrsL Llme l
asked !esus Lo enLer my llfe because l wanLed hlm Lo 1he men above are responslble for LhaL
1ray was Lhe man l wanLed Lo be he was my (deslred) faLher flgure Pe was passlonaLe
abouL Cod an awesome gulLarlsL (he doubled as our worshlp leader) and funny l followed hlm
around Lrylng Lo geL hlm Lo Lalk Lo me l never really goL hls aLLenLlon ln any really poslLlve way
Any aLLenLlon l goL seemed relucLanL or lmpaLlenL now l reallze lL was because as a young
Leen ager l was an unbearable prlck l was mean l never wanLed Lo parLlclpaLe and l was
honesL noL honesL ln Lhe sense LhaL l never lled for l lled consLanLly buL honesL ln Lhe way LhaL
l would Lry Lo hurL someone by polnLlng ouL Lhere mosL obvlous flaw 1he grace l recelved from
Lhese men of Cod ls an unbellevable blesslng
Alpha was [usL cool plaln and slmple Pe was a powerful evangellsL when he spoke you
knew you were recelvlng words of wlsdom and LruLh l wanLed Lo have 1ray be my faLher flgure
and l wanLed Alpha Lo be my Leacher 1hey were boLh huge parLs of my llfe Lhey encouraged
me Lo be open and honesL abouL my problems Lhey were Lhe ones who Lempered my
arrogance Lhese men gulded me Lo who l am Loday LhaL ls Lhey seL my feeL on Lhe rlghL paLh
lf Alpha was my Leacher and 1ray my faLher Lhan Super uave was Lhe man l wanLed Lo
be my besL frlend Pe was goofy klnd paLlenL as all hell and wllllng Lo leL me be vulnerable Pe
was Lhe flrsL who l could Lalk Lo abouL anyLhlng l wanLed Lo and feel no shame because he
undersLood and held no [udgmenL Pe would consLanLly Lell me how much he cared abouL me
and he was once agaln Lhe flrsL Lo ever do so 8uL l never really dld know how Lo LreaL my
frlends
Super uave was overwelghL l mean really overwelghL l loved hlm llke Lhe older broLher
l always wanLed buL l was cruel l would ouLrlghL mock hlm l always apologlzed and repenLed
laLer buL l dldn'L sLop he sLuck wlLh me anyway 1ray and Alpha seL my feeL upon Lhe paLh l
needed Lo walk buL Super uave walked wlLh me Pe held me up when l sLumbled and prodded
me ln Lhe rlghL dlrecLlon when l sLrayed Curs was Lhe flrsL relaLlonshlp where l Lold someone l
loved Lhem noL love ya see you laLer" buL Super uave l love you for who you are and whaL
you have done for me"