Jake’s Story

My relationship with Jesus has lots of ups and downs, but I’m learning that staying close to Him all the time is how I grow spiritually. When I’m close to Jesus, He helps me get close to my friends.

Studying God’s Word with friends helps me a lot. After going to a Campus Life conference, several of us started a prayer group. We’d read Scripture and talk about it and just hang out together. Mostly we encouraged each other. Being open and honest about our lives was the best part. We started praying for other friends who needed Jesus. No big plan, but we knew that if our friends were going to know Jesus, they had to see Him in our lives.

It worked—and still does! One summer night, my friend Ann and I were just hanging out with Karla and laughing like we always did. Karla started telling us that she saw something different in our lives. She fi gured it was spiritual, but she was confused because she felt religious herself. Wow! I don’t remember the exact words we used, but we just told her the truth about Jesus’ death and resurrection and our stories about how He had changed our lives.

That’s what Karla wanted in her life. Sitting at a picnic table, she prayed and said yes to Jesus! Jesus changed her life story right then! Sometime later, Karla got cancer. I’ll never forget standing in her hospital room holding her hand the night before she died. It was so hard but so good, because I knew that Jesus was holding her other hand and would soon walk her right into heaven. Now she’s experiencing the best part of God’s Story!

Jake