He rounded the curve, running like a gazelle, winning the 200 hundred meters, in his first race of the meet, with ease. The crowd cheered as he adjusted his stride to cross the finish line.  His next race, the hundred 100 meters, later in the day, posed stiffer competition. But still he came away with a win.  His final sprint of the meet was the 400 meters. Carefully calculating what he had to do in order to capture his third winning medal against the medalists of the previous year’s meet, he exploded out of the blocks in lane 2 to overtake the two sprinters on the final turn and coast to a third victory. His family was stunned, but thrilled at what he had accomplished as a first-year junior high school athlete. They were envisioning track and field greatness as he stacked up medal after medal during that spring. He continued to excel in sprinting and three years later, as a high school sophomore, had one of the fastest 800-meter times in the state. Everyone seemed to think that his college was going to be fully paid for.

But friends were secretly bringing temptations into his life and creating influences that his family members were completely unaware of. They weren’t concerned that he would make poor decisions with his friends because he had always been very involved his youth group at church, had grown up in a family that had come from several generations of ministers and missionaries and leaders in churches. But his friends won the battle for his heart for several years and he chose path of secret meetings, temporary thrills, and darkness.  The lure of the “highs” he’d get from the drugs, controlled his life.  Over the next three years of heart aches, his family—aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents—were praying earnestly for him to see the hurt and folly of his choices.  It was during this time that he broke one of his feet and his back. These injuries kept him from being able to continue to participate in track. This was a huge disappointment to him and affected him greatly. The zero tolerance discipline policies of his high school did not deter him unfortunately and he was expelled and placed in an alternative school for a semester because of drug violations. Following several car accidents and two that flirted with death, the family began to see a few signs of remorse and movement toward better decision making. The family believed that Jesus was answering their prayers. 

Jesus never left his side and a few months later he made the decision to let Jesus rule his life and he was baptized in a beautiful mountain stream that the family would go to often for family outings.  As his dad lowered him under the water, the family looked up and there was an eagle circling overhead as if to confirm his commitment to God. 

He graduated high school and then attended a community college for a year. Not long following, he decided to visit his grandparents who lived several states away. While there he made the decision to live with them. The family was very happy about his wanting to stay longer and continued to pray that he was truly submitting his will to the Lord. After his move, he continued his education at another community college. The entire family was slowly beginning to have faith in his decision making again and continued to pray that he was rekindling his love for our Savior.

All through these years, Jesus was quietly and assuredly working his wonders in his life. After a season with his grandparents, he chose to attend a major university and God led him to a strong church family in that city. He has been on 4 mission trips and is now a leader in his church and in his Christian fraternity at the university. He will graduate with honors this December 19 from the Walton School of Business at the University of Arkansas. We all praise Jesus for Christopher’s following his Lord and keeping his eyes on him!  In Isaiah 40:31, God says, “Even youths grow weary and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the Lord shall renew their strength.” Thank you, Jesus that you never gave up and for rescuing our precious grandson!

—Don Berryhill

Light: The candle of LOVE

Read: The girl no one wanted, JSB p. 70 (Genesis 29-30)


Ask: What does a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love look like?

Pray: Thank God for doing amazing things through people who aren’t attractive, loved, or wanted. Ask God to help you love your enemies and to love those who are different from or seem strange to you.

Jesse Tree Ornament: Girl holding heart 

Act: Share a meal or cup of coffee with someone you don’t know very well. Try to listen more than talk.