Men of Faith

There are times when memories come crashing from who knows where.  Tonight I have been remembering some friends from my Young Harris College days:  Sheppard and Mobley, next door roommates who put up a Christmas tree with strung popcorn that kept disappearing, Tom, my roommate who taught me how to knot a tie and other things, Dwight who led me off a pier into the cold waters of Lake Chatuge one hot July afternoon, Claude, a guy whose personality filled any room, Harold, with whom I learned about being a circuit rider in the North Carolina mountains, and Walter, a quiet guy who had a deep powerful singing voice.    

These guys were men of faith in Christ back then and remain so today.  They each had shaping power on my life at a time when it could have very easily gone awry.  With the exception of two of them, I still have some contact with each one.  Obviously, they are all different and each one of us has changed in the years since those days long ago.  And though we may not all fit under the same theology tent, each one has been rooted in Christ, and thus, has been individually shaped by the Spirit in a way that speaks of God's plan for them.    

Grace did not make them all like me.  One of me is more than enough.  Grace created these men to accomplish something in the places He put them without any consultation with me.  So, it is with all of us.  We are who we are.  We are the person God is shaping for His plans for us.  There is more than enough grace to go around so that each one of us are shaped by this Christ to Whom we chose to be rooted through faith.