lonnienord said:
i always want to know more.
Did Jeremy bring you back to GOD by example or with words or a little of both. How did you meet Jeremy? How much time did you spend with him? (i have a reason to ask -- as i serve GOD i Would like to help others grow closer to HIM)
Surprisingly enough, I met Jeremy at a "line party" thingy when we were waiting for the midnight showing of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers when it first came out
I think the moment I met him was the moment that I started liking him, he was just so smart and such a gentleman and very noble. He led me back to God more by example. Oddly enough, we never really talked about religion, but I read his profiles and his blogs and what not and it was more than evident that God was his priority in life. And, like I said, he probably doesn't even know that he's the reason why my life is the way it is right now. I know I should tell him and thank him because it's been such a life-altering thing for me.
It's actually kind of a ridiculous story how it all came about. So Jeremy goes away to Marine boot camp last year in August and is gone until December, then shortly after he goes back to training for another 3 months or so, the thing is in this training he gets to come home on some weekends. Anywho, I was up in Irvine and one Saturday I decide to to go the gym. While I'm over there I notice that the main gym (basketball courts, etc) were set up for some weird sporting even which I've never seen before in my life. Then after my workout I see people walking around in fencing gear and then I see people with UCSD jackets on and I get really excited. You see, Jeremy fenced at UCSD before he left for boot camp and everything, and he told me before that when he got weekends off that he liked to go and help out with the fencing tournaments, plus his mom and dad coach their team. So I start thinking that maybe, just maybe, he's there. So I go home and shower and everything (cause I dont want to run into him and be all smelly
). Then as I'm walking back, I make a "deal" with God. I tell God, "if he is there, then I'll go to church tomorrow." You gotta understand that this was back in the time where I took a hiatus from going to Mass and this was before my turning point. So the whole time as I'm walking back I'm constantly thinking to myself, 'Oh, he's probably not there anyways,' but I go check anyways (I'm pretty pessimistic about these things). And then I get there...I look into the main gym...and BOOM! There's Jeremy! I was so happy my heart was flying! I couldn't even walk up to him for like half an hour, all I could do is watch him from far away, because I was still in a bit of shock. Anywho, so I spend some time with him and he explains fencing to me (because he was refereeing a match).
So, keeping my word to God, I went to Mass the next day, and boy am I glad I did! You see, the great thing about the Masses I go to is that it's a bunch of college kids who truly do believe (because now they go on their own accord, not because their parents made them or anything) and the priest makes the homilies relevant to what we're going through in our stage of life. Well, this Mass was amazing. I don't exactly remember what the priest talked about, but I do remember that it touched my heart more than anything in the world, and I left Mass in tears. These were tears of joy, and I couldn't help but wonder how I survived without going to Mass and everything. Since then I've been going to Mass every week, I've been praying every single night, I've been reading the Bible and other books on religion, and life has been amazing since then. And, of course, watching Jeremy be so confident in his faith helped me a lot. I mean, he's not afraid to make public comments defending his faith (I guess one could call him an apologist), and just seeing him trust in the Lord so much has made all the difference in the world, it let me know that I have nothing to hide even though I go to a school that's full of people who don't believe.
Sorry for such a long repsonse, but I couldn't condense it anymore because this was such a huge change in my life I don't think it deserves being shortened
Thanks for asking too, Lonnie! It felt great to get it out!
