Year One

Freshman Year..a lot of which is very fuzzy

But there I was graduating from middle school. I had a lot on my mind at the time. Mostly girls, like any typical teenager. But there were more important things at the time, like the people that started the long journey of making me into the person that I am today. Matt, Ming, Amal, Donovan, Tyler, Ashley and Seth are just a few of the long list of names.

These people were the leaders from my youth group.
They helped me through all the times where I wasn't sure of who I was.

At the time, this is all I could remember who I was at the start of Freshman Year. For one thing, I realize now that I was socially awkward, nerdy (video gaming), and no idea how I was going to turn out. I thank those people for putting up with my nerdyness. All I really talked about was video games, I had no other passion or pursuit on my mind other than God. My identity crisis began here.

At one point and time, I thought to myself, I wondered what I was going to do with the rest of my life. After high school, what was I going to do? Play games all day? I could never answer that question. I really didn't know what I was going to do.

I remember one day Matt, my youth pastor, was asking me, "Chris, what do you do besides play video games?"

I don't ever recall giving him a straight answer. But my reaction was enough for him to know that he had a long road ahead of him. A work in progress. What was his first course of action? Making sure that I talked less about video games and began to broaden my social horizons. That first step in the right direction. Heck, I was still addicted to video games, but I was going somewhere. And I was better off than where I started.

This isn't even the whole story.
There is just too much to be said and I can't even remember most of it. Though the people that I mentioned probably won't ever find this, if they ever find this..

Thanks for all the respect that you gave me and the patience. Especially the patience. I don't even know how you guys put up with me throughout that year and the worst was yet to come. I learned a lot through that year, but I was far from the person I am today.
To be continued..