A Promise

Ok, ok…this blog entry is a day late; I realize that, and I apologize for my procrastination. Now that we have all acknowledged my faults, lets move on to something a little more serious.
I have made many promises in my life; I have also broken many promises. Sometimes, I even make promises that I know I cannot follow through with. For the most part, I think promises are silly. Why cant we just say something and do it?? Is our word not good enough?? Anyhow, I say all of that to tell you this: The morning my sister died, I made a promise to myself. In this promise, I vowed to always tell the people closest to me what they mean to me; I promised to always encourage as many people as possible. I am a very emotional person, and through my emotions, I hold my true friends very close. I realize that I gain strength from the people that surround me and I never want to forget that. Without my friends, I would have never gotten out of my bed on July 17, 2005. Without my friends, I would have never been able to hold my head off my shoulders after Katie and I broke up. If it were not for my friends (and most importantly, my family), I would have never been able to open my eyes to the Glory of God that was surrounding me…even if I did not feel it at the time.
We (Jesus followers) are the body of Christ. We are called to love each other and if we do not do that, we are completely missing the passion of Jesus. I fully believe that if we desire to feel Jesus’ presence more often, we need to begin to act like him. Jesus came to the world to personify love. If we are followers of Jesus, we will try our best to imitate that same love.
A little bit of encouragement can go a long way. If you haven’t done it in a while, call a close friend and tell them you love them, or give some encouraging words to someone who has helped you in the past. You’ll never know how much someone means to you until they are gone- I have learned this through more than one experience.
To Kevin, Sapp, Joel, Chris P., Chris K., Scott and Maggie: you’ll never know the impact you have had on my life. The way in which you led me back to Jesus is something I will cherish forever. Thank you for coping with all of my emotions and enduring the burdens I could not bear. I love you all, and I am eternally grateful to you.

-Brian Witham