A lot of people think that what makes us who we are are the places that we’ve come from or the things we’ve done, but I completely disagree. I think God is always intervening in our lives no matter what our background is, always speaking to us in some fashion, and that it’s our ability to listen to him that makes us who we are. Being able to dig down deep within ourselves, step back, and look at the world from God’s perspective isn’t necessarily what makes us unique, but it is what makes us who we are, undeniable children of God. I believe He created everything, that He’s apart of everything, but in order to see Him, we have to find him. We have to listen. When I lit that restaurant on fire, I realized the power I could hold over people, the power God had given to everyone to choose good or bad, a power that could be used to ruin lives. The glass sculptor taught me that it was possible to care for people above all other things and to forgive them no matter what the cost.  My Grandpa taught me a lesson of time. He taught me that we are not limited in what we can do with God on our side, but that we are limited on how much we can do in one life, that we must start right away to fulfill God’s purpose, or we might never get to it. The Haitian’s taught me that love doesn’t always mean throwing yourself out there and doing whatever feel like you should do for them, but to do what they want you to do, to listen to the peoples needs and not your own ambitions.  And God taught me that I don’t always need to understand who he is or why he wants me to do something. He taught me to just do it, to stop thinking, stop question, to just act, love and act.

So that’s what makes me who I am, not the different experiences that I’ve been through, not my sense of humor, or the size of my brain, not my parents or my culture. I am the guy who tries to listen to life, tries to experience life, tries to love full heartedly, and when I don’t understand things, when I question, I inevitably find God smack dab in the front of everything, loving without reserve.