It's the end of an era for one Beth Ann Root

For the past six and a half years of my life, I've been in choir - not all of them were good choirs, and a couple of my choir directors almost sucked the joy of singing out of me (which is why I have such a great appreciate for good directors) - but choir has become a HUGE part of my life.

Music is very important to me; I'm not very good as expressing what I'm thinking or feeling, so I use music to convey the feelings inside of me.  Lately, music has taken a back seat - life is crazy! I'm a stressed college student, trying to do all my school work, work, fulfill church callings and obligations, trying (sort of) to have a social life, and sleep enough so I'm not a big crankypants.  My piano skills have been sorely neglected and my guitar has been sitting in a corner, gathering dust.  Choir has been keeping me sane; keeping me involved in music; keeping that love of music alive inside of me.

It was such a blessing, the day I decided to take choir instead of doing sports, like I had wanted to do for the first 15 years of my life. (When I was 8, it was my dream to become the first woman in Major League Baseball. Don't you dare laugh. If I had been on a team and had been trained, I would have been a stinkin' good player!) Do you know how different of a person I would have been without music? I would probably be a much angrier person; music has softened me, has made me into a gentler person. I would probably be even worse than I already am at expressing myself.  Essentially, that fated day, when I made that decision, has forever changed my life. I call Divine Intervention on that one.

Today was my last day of choir for 2 years. And, maybe, my last day of choir for much, much longer than that. Except for institute choir. But, truthfully, that's not real...choir-y. This thought...has saddened me greatly.  It was probably one of the saddest moments of my life. Honestly. Even though I have been neglecting music more than I should, even though I'm not the most musically talented, even though I don't know as much about music as a lot of other people, it is still very important to me - it's the feeling that music invokes, and the power it has to touch the hearts of people.

Music is a blessing. It's a gift from God. God loves music. He loves it when a person sings, even if they are not the best singer, and He especially loves it when we sing to glorify Him, to proclaim our testimony and love for Him. Choir has been such an important part of my life. It's what made my senior year of high school. My sophomore year of high school in choir made me remember why choir was so amazing, why I loved it so much. And last night, the last performance of Holiday Dinner (as much as I complained about it, every time I started singing, all my worries and complaints went away, as I was enveloped in the music) reminded me of why I sing! It reminded me of the power one has with music - which is why one must only listen to and participate in good, wholesome music. Last night, as we finished up our performance, I was thinking about how I wouldn't be taking choir for a couple of years. And I was just like, "Huh. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted." This morning, sitting in choir for the last time this semester, I was holding back tears the entire class period. Because I looked around at all the girls, and realized that I loved them so much. Even the ones that I'm pretty sure I've never spoken a word to.  There's just a bond that is formed when you sing with someone. And the thought of not coming back, and not singing with them, not sharing those special moments with them. And, simply not being in a choir. It was a hard thing for me.

To close, I want to share this song that, several years ago, touched my heart. And expresses, quite well, my feelings towards music. It kinda became known as my song my senior year. It truly is fantastic. And, when I heard it, and truly listened to it for the first time, it changed the way I saw music.

Let music never die in me! Forever let my spirit sing! Let music live!

I Know This Man

Today has been a fantastic Sunday. Full of the Spirit. Full of experiences that have brought me closer to my Heavenly Father and to Jesus Christ. This evening we had a fireside on the Atonement. Needless to say...the spirit touched me deeply - those who saw me there would know it was true by the amount of tears I shed - and my love and appreciation for my Savior increased. There truly are no words I have to express the feelings I have for Him.

After the fireside, I decided I'd take the time to read the copy of Jesus the Christ I have - I don't have much time to read it right now. I'm waiting for the craziness of this semester to be over before I really dig in - and because some stuff was going on in the apartment, I stuck some headphones in my hears and started listening to Rob Gardner's Lamb of God while reading. That is like the ultimate experience, let me tell you. And, then, as I finished up the chapter I was reading, the song "I Cannot Watch Them" came on. Here, Peter denies Christ the three times, and then he realizes what he's done, and as he flees, he says, "What have I done?...I know this man!" Because of my experiences this day, I was struck by this song. I cannot forget what He did for me. Yet, I wonder how many times I deny Him. Do I ever turn my back on Him?

I cannot do this. I cannot afford it. How can I turn my back on the man who suffered for me, who makes it possible for me to repent, to have eternal happiness, and to transcend the temptations Satan puts before me. I cannot bear - I cannot afford - to let people degrade Him, dishonor Him, to bring Him down, to hurt Him! To this, I sing alongside Peter in this song, "I will not watch them crucify my Lord. For I know this man! I know Him! I know this man!"

Instead, I must dedicate my life to Him, just as Peter, just as Alma the elder and Alma the younger, just as Paul, just as any prophet, disciple, or follower of Christ whose life was changed by Him and His love. I must teach others of Him, bring others closer to Him, love as He did.

I know this man:

I know that this man lives. He lived, He died, and lives again, for me! For my benefit! To help me. And for the whole world. There is no person who I love more - though I know I need to do so much more to express that love. And there is no other person who I want to be like. 

And, in case this isn't long enough...here's something that expresses a little bit how I feel about Him, and my hopes of what I become in life.

His Eyes

I look at my hands,
I look at the scars.
I look at the feet
That have carried me far.

I look at my face
With both beauties and flaws
Then I look at my eyes
But there I must pause.

So there I do look,
And hope that I see
A deep, shining light
That has often led me.

I see this great light
In leaders, friends, kids.
I look in my eyes
And hope it's not hid.

This wonderful light,
It's the light of Christ.
It's the light of the man
Who paid a great price.

One gloomy, dark night,
This wonderful man
Carried a great burden
That no other man can.

The very next morn
After the burden so great,
He died on a cross
To help our own fate.

I live my life so,
Maybe someday,
Words of gratitude, praise,
Words of love I can say.

I want to be worth
To tell Him these words.
So, in this long journey,
The light, I'll go towards.

So on that great day
When, face to face, we'll meet,
I'll fall on my knees,
With joy, Him I'll greet.

I'll look at His hands,
I'll look at the scars.
I'll look at the feet
That have helped me go far.

I'll look at His face
With just beauty, no flaws.
Then I'll look in His eyes,
And there, I will pause.

And I hope, will all hope
He will look back at me
And say, "Little sister,
I see me in thee."

I know I will weep,
And I hope He will say,
"Little sister, well done.
You've returned home today."

Beth has been keeping a secret...would you like to know it?

Well, it's not exactly a secret...I mean I haven't gone around telling people it, and if people ask me straight up about it, sometimes I'll tell them and sometimes I'll beat around the bush. You see...this subject if very near and dear to my heart. It is the subject of missionary work. From about age 4, I was determined to go on a mission. It was my greatest goal in life. My primary teacher, Sis. Scott, said she was leaving to go on a mission. Being 4 years old and only seeing boys leave, I was thoroughly confused.  I mean, only boys were allowed to go, right? She explained to me that girls could go too, at age 21, if they wanted to. From that moment, I knew I was going to go. I remember, even at age 8, someone asked me if I wanted to go on a mission (I don't remember why they asked me, but I remember this instance) and I responded with a resounding, "Yes!" They looked a little shocked. And probably didn't believe 8 year old me.

So, I went through the next 10 years of my life, intending to go on a mission - that is, if I didn't get married first. I wouldn't complain if that happened. But then, I hit college. And I feel so at home. I mean, yes, there's stress and problems, and, hey, life is hard. But, it was great! Flagstaff was (is) fantastic. I felt so comfortable. Psychology is my calling in life. Heavenly Father told me multiple times last year that psychology is definitely what I'm meant to be studying and ultimately what I'm supposed to do with my life. So...going on a mission didn't make sense. It didn't fit. Although I still knew it'd be awesome to go...I lost a great part of that desire to go. It kinda got pushed into the very corners of my mind.

Then, about February-ish, the sister missionaries that were in Flagstaff with the YSA were Sis. Wise and Sis. Vaughan.  It was when they were here that I started getting involved with missionary work up here. I would go to lessons and stuff. And, after I would do things with them, I felt that desire stir inside of me. But then, a few days later - maybe even a couple hours later - I'd get sucked back into collegeland and psychology everything, and that desire got smothered and pushed back.

Months go by and then it's October. General Conference. I go up to Utah with my roommate, Kathleen. We didn't have tickets, but we stood in the stand-by lines with hopes of getting into the conference center. And we got there extremely early. While we were waiting in line, a sister missionary walks up to us - from Hong Kong, China, of all places - and starts talking to us. After talking with Kathleen about some stuff, she turns to me, and, in a not quite logical change of subject, she asks, "So, have you ever thought about serving a mission?" I was taken aback. I responded, "Well, yeah. Ever since I was really little, I've always wanted to go. But since coming to college, I've wondered if maybe serving a mission isn't right for me." And then the conversation moved on. But, before she walked away, she turned towards me and said, "Be sure you think about a mission today in conference." And...and hour or two later, sitting in the tabernacle, (Not the conference center. I know. Sad.) I hear President Monson announce the lowering of the age requirements to 19 for girls.

My mind was reeling. I don't think I've ever had so many thoughts at once; I don't think my brain has ever thought so quickly in my life. Within like 2 minutes, I had figured out what I might have to give up to go, my possible options, the things I would need to do, the money I would have to spend, pretty much everything. And then for the entire session, I was thinking, "What the crap?! I can go on a mission. Am I supposed to go on a mission? It doesn't make sense logically. Holy crap I can go on a mission!! I think I want to. Am I supposed to? My mom is going to freak. Oh my crap, oh my crap, oh my crap!! Am I supposed to go? What does Heavenly Father want me to do. I'M SO CONFUSED!!"

And that pretty much was what on my mind for a few days. I thought I got my answer on Monday, but then I started over-analyzing everything and I freaked. But, then Tuesday, I took the time to sit down, calm myself, and read the Father's blessing that was given to me at the beginning of the semester and my Patriarchal Blessing. And then...I picked up my phone and set up an appointment with the Bishop for that night and then Skyped with my mother. You guys...I'm going on a mission!!

I know there's a bajillion of people going. There are tons of people who have made this same exact statement. That's part of the reason why I've kinda been keeping this quiet. Because I didn't want it to seem like I was jumping on the bandwagon; I didn't want people to disregard what a special revelation this was to me; I didn't want my announcement to take away the sacredness and specialness of others' announcement. This process of trying to discover what the Lord wants me to do has been an incredible one. I grew so close to Heavenly Father, because I was striving so hard to align my will with His. And it's still a process. There's still a lot I need to figure out, there's still a lot I need to go to Him about. And, He keeps sending me reminders that this is exactly what I'm supposed to be doing.

This week, I had kinda been losing that...that fire. I got distracted once again. But then, Sis. Wise, called me and I talked with her for a little while about mission stuff. And, it couldn't have been more timely. Because I have that fire again - that excitement, that drive, that intense desire.

It's really hard to focus on school; I just want to focus on preparing to serve. And, I honestly have no clue when I'm going to be able to go; I kinda have like...no money. So, what I'm doing is not doing school next semester and working full time. In truth, that was a really hard choice to make, but once the spirit was like, "Beth, this is the best option for you," I dropped all plans I had concerning classes for next semester. I still plan on staying in Flagstaff. I feel like I need to stay here to do the growing that I need to do.

So yeah. That's my secret. I want to go so bad that it hurts. I don't want to wait. But, at the same time, I'm freaked about going. I'm willing to dedicate those 18 months to the Lord - I can't wait to show that devotion to Him! - but it's going to be so different and so hard. So, so, so hard. But, I'm going.

If you happen to talk to me about it, and I don't seem too enthusiastic to talk about it, don't get offended. It's just, this is very special stuff to me; sometimes I just don't want to talk about it.

But, you know what the best part of all this is? Preparing to be able to go here:

The temple is the place to be. And I. Can't. Wait. To. Go. No words. No words to express how incredibly excited I am to know that I will be able to participate in sacred ordinances that I thought I would have to wait...years to participate in. You guys. I'm going to be going to the temple!! With in a year! AAHHHHH!! 

The church is true. I know it is. I'm willing to put everything on hold for 2 years so I can earn the money to go, and then go. And, there is one thing that I hold more dear than my knowledge that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true, and that is my knowledge of the Savior. One day, relatively soon, I will be able to devote every waking hour to preaching of Christ and bringing others closer to Him. That is the greatest thing ever, because He is the Light. The Way. The only to true and everlasting happiness. 

So. That's it. I am preparing to serve a full time mission, to serve my Heavenly Father, bringing His children, my brothers and sisters into His fold. And I can't wait!!

The Randomness of Beth

Sometimes I feel like doing a blogpost. And sometimes I have nothing to do a blogpost about, so I just decide to spout randomness that's in my head.

Pizza. I. Love. Pizza. Seriously, I want to eat it all the time. And now, it's like this thing with the sister missionaries up here. When there's a transfer and new one comes, she already knows I have this great love for pizza. It's been passed on to sister missionary to sister missionary for the past 6 months. Kinda weird, actually.

I have this thing with names. If I know a super awesome person, I tend to start liking their name a lot (which, I think it pretty normal) but then if there's different spellings, in my mind, I start playing favorites with the names. Not with the actually people. Just their names. Like Sarah and Sara. For whatever reason, I love the name Sarah with the "h" but without it...it bothers me! I can't tell you why, but I just think all Sarah's should have an "h" at the end of their name. And, my dislike for the why the name is spelled has nothing to do with how I feel about the person. Which, if you are aware of my obsession with Sara Barielles, you would understand this. Because, obviously, I have no problem with her, despite the fact that she is missing an "h." Same thing with Hannah and Hanna. Except, for whatever reason, I like Hanna better, without the "h." If I name one of my daughters Hanna, it will not have an "h." Same with Ann and Anne. Ann without the "e" is better (though I guess I may think that because that's how my middle name is spelled). Random Beth fact.

Psychology is freaking awesome. I'm enjoying my Neuroscience class, even though it's online. My online criminology class? Makes me want to punch things. I thought criminology was going to be awesome. Now whenever I think about doing my criminology assignments I cry a little bit on the inside. But psychology. Psychology is fantastic. There are very few things I would give up, stop, or pause my education in psychology for. In fact...I can only think of two things.

Ever since Saturday morning, when President Monson dropped that bombshell that girls can go on missions at age 19, I've been wondering what the heck I'm supposed to do with my life. As I've striven to align my will with God's and to figure out His plan for me and what He needs me to do, I have felt myself grow closer to Him. My relationship with Him has grown so much stronger than it ever has before. The spirit has been more present in my life than it has for a very long time, and it feels good to be doing what He wants me to do.

Flagstaff. I love this place. So much. The weather. The scenery. The people - especially the people! The people I'm surrounded by are a constant reminder of Heavenly Father's love for me, because they help me and strengthen me so much. They uplift me and bring me closer to Heavenly Father. They make me smile and laugh, which is pretty much always needed in life. Plus it's like the best stress reliever in the world. They remind me of the things I need to be doing. They help to gently - and sometimes not so gently. I need harshness and bluntness sometimes -  mold me into the person I am supposed to become.

The Gosepl of Jesus Christ. His restored church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Truthfully...I love nothing more on this Earth than His Gospel and His church. Not pizza, not the color purple, not psychology, not Sara Barielles, not Flagstaff, not even my fantastic friends and family. I would give everything, everything up for this Gospel, if it was asked of me. It's something that I normally would hesitate to say, except, a little over a week ago, I contemplated the possibility of having to leave everything behind in order to serve the Lord and spead His message of love to my brothers and sisters around the world. And, I would do it. Whether or not I actually go, I am willing. I would do it, because I love Jesus Christ. I love Him, so very much. There are no words that can describe and express the love I have for Him. I know this Gospel is true. I know it, I feel it in my very...my very being, my very soul. Every particle of my body, my heart, my mind, my spirit, it yells out, that this church is true! Sometimes I get distracted. Sometimes I let other things become momentarily more important, like my friends and my social life, my education, my music. But, right now, when I'm so close to the spirit, I cannot deny it, and I cannot put anything else first.

Well...this turned out to be completely different than I had planned. But, really. I just want to talk about the Gospel all the time. I want to just tell people about Jesus Christ and all He has done for me and how much I love Him, and how much He loves them. I've turned into this big Gospel nerd. I mean, I already was one, but that's because I'm simply a nerd, but now that's like all I want to talk about and I want to relate everything to the Gospel. Because it's awesome.

So, yeah. Life is awesome. As is the Gospel. I love my friends and my family. They are a wonderful support to me, and I appreciate all the love and support I can feel them giving me. The end.

The big freak-out of October 2012

The first session of General Conference this weekend threw everyone for a loop. Why? The mission age requirement has been dropped. For the young men: age 18, as long as they are graduated from high school/the equivilent. AND for the young women: 19. 19 years of age. Dropped down two years. Every single girl in the church, particularly the 18, 19, and 20 year olds reconsidered their life plans, even if it was just for a moment. And then practically every 19 year old said enthusiastically, "I'm going on a mission RIGHT NOW!!!"

This has caused me to do a lot of thinking. And I want to share some of my feelings pertaining to this. This lowering of the age limit is fantastic. I know it is approved by God. I'm excited for those young men who are now able to go on a mission right after high school, instead of waiting a year - if that is what they desire. I'm excited for the young women who are able to go serve the Lord and teach what they love a whole 2 years before they would have been able to, just 3 short days ago.

Now, this doesn't mean that every single boy at 18 years of age needs to - or should - go on a mission. They can wait until age 19, or even later! And, this doesn't mean that every girl needs to - or should -  go at 19. They can go at 20, 21, after they finish college, at 25, or they don't even have to go! It's not a duty of a young woman to go! We have other responsibilities that may take priority, depending on each person's situation. But, it is important that the young men, at age 18, and the young women, at age 19, should prayerfully consider if going on a mission at that time is right for them. Why? Because the opportunity is there for them, and although it may not be our responsiblity at that time to go, it is still our responsibility to ask. And, it is our responsibility to be willing to do whatever the Lord asks of us. Are you willing to give up everything if He asks you to go? Scholarships, opportunities, jobs, forking out that kind of money. Are you willing?

Why the lowering of the ages? Well...signs of the times! The quickening of the Lord's work! He needs more missionaries. He needs more people devoting their time to sharing the Gospel. It's a huge work - like a stone moving forth out of the mountains. It can't be stopped! And we have to keep up with it! And, I think that we, as a church, are going to need the experience of many more missionaries in families and in wards, to strengthen testimonies. The times ahead are going to be difficult ones, but we have the Light and the Truth.

This is a fantastic opportunity, and I'm excited to see what happens in the world. Great and marvelous things are about to happen. I can feel it in my very soul! And, if you haven't watched the press conference about this, I would recommend you look it up. I would post it on here, but I'm too lazy for that...

The trouble with freshman

I've mentioned before how there's a bajillion of freshmen here. You know how freshmen are. Immature. Rude. Spacy. Flaky. Sometimes scared out of their mind of the upperclassmen. Whiny because they miss Mommy and Daddy and home-cooked meals (although a lot of them still have Mommy and Daddy paying for everything). This class of freshmen is the biggest NAU has ever had. Seems like lots of fun, right?

Actually...it IS a lot of fun. The freshmen that I have come into contact with have been rather spectacular. In fact, most of the new friends I've made have been little freshmen girls. And by little...I don't mean little. Because I'm pretty sure Shirley has like a good 8 inches on me. And some of them are only like 3 months younger than me. These past few weeks, I've been looking at the freshmen that have been around me, mostly at church, (I may or may not ignore other freshmen because they bother me.) and I've been astounded.

At first I was like, "Dude. Why is it that I'm being drawn to become friends with them? There's lots of other new people here. And lots of people who were here last year that I still don't know." I've always gotten along well with people older than me and people in the grade just below me. I figured the reason why I get along with people older than me has to do with the fact that I've dealt with people older than me all my life. That happens when you have 8 older siblings, I guess. But, for whatever reason, it took me forever to figure out why I got along really well with the people in the grade just below me. Until I remembered that, if I had been born 3 months later, I would be in the same grade as them. Duh. I guess I just get so used to people being so surprised when I tell them that I'm 19 (or when I was 18) because they thought I was at least 21. Or when an adorable old lady last year thought me and Amy were twins and when we told her that there was a three year difference and one was a freshman and the other was a senior, she thought I was the older one. (Win!) Or when people tell my I'm more mature than most people my age. I have to remind myself that I'm on the young end of my grade. I'm a baby sophomore. I was a baby freshman.

And then, I come to realize that a lot of the freshmen that I'm becoming friends with are quite incredible. I mean, they're still obviously freshmen. Most of them still have that newbie air around them. A little bit unsure, not quite confident in what they're doing, a little bit shell-shocked, and they tend to stay in groups. It's like they're scared of older college students or something. But then I see their spiritual strength, I come to know some of the things they've had to do or deal with in their life, or see how they're handling college life and being away from home and I'm humbled. Because my life has been relatively easy. Most of my struggles have been emotional, and I've been able to get over those pretty quickly. And my first week up here was...well, I was a train wreck by the end of it. Not very many people knew, though, because I didn't know anyone at that time. So they saw me as the calm and collected freshmen who had been living in Flagstaff since June. These freshmen are so much cooler than I was as a freshmen. It's definitely humbling.

It makes me think of the whole rising generation thing. There are definitely many incredible souls here on this earth at this time, because we are the rising generation. I'm grateful for these freshmen  I'm getting to know. I'm grateful they chose to come up to Flagstaff and that our paths have crossed - Heavenly Father's foresight is incredible and I've come to recognize the importance of making sure that those people He places in my life become people I love, trust, and call my friends. Because that's why He places them in my life. So, yeah. I'm drowning in freshmen. But, they're pretty cool, so I guess it's not too bad.

Love

Today at church I was filled with a whole lot of...feelingness. I tried writing it down in words at sacrament meeting, but what I was feeling went a whole lot deeper than just mere words. Words can be powerful. Words can influence others. Words can invite the spirit or drive it away.  But words are insufficient for deep, deep feelings. And what I was feeling today was love.

Love is an incredible thing. Now, I'm not talking being in love. Though I'm sure that is amazing. I'm just talking about love in general. Love is...love is everything. Everything is love - or, everything that is important and that has power. God is love. Jesus Christ is love. The Gospel is love. The Priesthood is love. I think that happiness comes from love -whether it's love for those around you or love for whatever it is you're doing. Love is SO important. And, earlier this week, I came to the conclusion that I need to do a whole lot more loving. I need to be more loving - be kinder, do more service for those around me, express the love that I have for others. Everything that I do in life should be motivated by love - whether it's love for my God, love for those around me, or even love for myself. But, my life should be about love. And, it's funny. Since I've had that inspiration and made that decision, life has just thrown me a bunch of little things that made me frustrated and annoyed with people. It was like immediate opposition in my resolve to love more - which, in reality, reinforces to me that this is exactly what I need to be doing. Not that it makes it any easier.

So, today in church, in remembering all this about love and its importance, all the feelingness that I was experiencing was simply...love. Intense love. A love that I simply cannot put into words. I sing in the ward choir, and today we sang "How Great Thou Art." I cried like a little baby - which, as a side note, embarrassed me to no end. I hate crying when no one else is. But, I couldn't not cry, because of the overwhelming feeling of love that I had. It was as the song said, "Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee, how great Thou art! How great Thou art!" My soul truly was singing, my entire being was exclaiming those words! How great Thou art! Think about it. Think about what Christ has done for you.

"And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing,
Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in.
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow in humble adoration,
And there proclaim: My God, how great Thou art!"

Gladly bearing. Jesus bore our burdens gladly because of His love for us. If you do not have a testimony of Christ, if you don't believe in Him and can't understand why I feel the way I feel, why I share whenever I can my testimony and love for Christ and this Gospel,  then at least just do this: Picture a man, the kindest, gentlest, most giving man you know. This man loves you. A lot. Much like your brother or father or someone like that. This man wipes away every tear you shed. This man, when you are struggling will come to you and help you in any way possible. He comforts you when you are in the deepest despair. When you feel you can't go on anymore, he lifts you up from the ground, carries you, wraps his arms around you. He puts a smile on your face when you feel like nothing could ever do so. He is always, always there for you, like your best friend, but MORE. THAT is Jesus Christ. Except infinitely more. He suffered every little thing that we have gone through and will go through. He took our burdens upon Himself. He cried our tears. He felt our pains. He felt our stress, our sadness, our frustrations, our despair. And, I love Him for it. I love Him more than I could ever express.

But, that's the thing. I need to express that love. How does one do that? By loving others, I think. If I truly love Him, I will love those around me. I will serve them, thereby serving Him. One day, hopefully some day soon, Christ will come. I cannot wait for that day. Because, I will bow, I will kneel, and I will tell Him everything that He means to me. And I hope that He will be able to tell me that the way I lived my life reflected the love I have for Him.

This man. I love Him. I know Him. He is my Savior. My brother. My best friend. So much love. So much feeling for Him that I literally cannot express.