Henry

I grew up in La Grande, OR. It's a little town of 12,000 in the Blue Mountains on the East side of OR. If you ever go there go to Neils In n Out and get one of there specialty drinks they are the goodest bestest. Went to a Presbyterian church since JR. High until I graduated High School. Like I said I went to church but I couldn't tell you what a single sermon was about. I acted differently when I was at school than I did at Church. I did things that I knew were wrong, but at church I played as if I wouldn't ever do those sort of things. Church was a social event. Looking back HS was a joke. The only thing about HS was the few friends had. Those bonds are gone now but memories of the things we did still remain and there are some great memories. My parents own a restaurant for 14years I think. During those years my parents were never at home. I would be out until 2am (in Jr High) and they wouldn't know. One of my buddies would stay over the night since we had so much freedom.I went to Whitworth College in the Fall of '97. Being the first time "on my own" was sort of scary. Whitworth was the turning point in my life. The first three years were a build up to the last year I was there. I met some key people that would turn my world upside down. Sophmore year a good friend of mine quoted to me Revelation 3:16 and asked me what that meant. For you are neither hot nor cold but lukewarm I will spit you out of my mouth. That was in the back of my mind for the years to come. By my senior year at Whitworth I was pretty much at an all time low. That is when those key people (the Pagoda Boys) came back into my life. They showed me how they live and what they lived for (CHRIST). As I observed their life I knew something was different. We would all say we are Christians but my life was different than theres. They had a peace about them when issues arose or had a bad day. I found myself wanting the same for my life. Revelation 3:16 finally made sense to me. I am either a Christian or not, there is no middle ground. I'm either a slave to sin or a slave to Christ. In the Spring of '01 God drew me to Himself, my life really started at that point. I had a purpose. As an infant each one of those Pagoda Boys showed me a different aspect of Christ. I learned what it meant to follow Christ, the cost of following Him and the prize in store for those who believe and submit to Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. In 2002 I met another guy who has been very crucial to my growth and continues to refine who I am. That story is still in the making...