Matt, Me, & God.

Matt always carried himself with an extra edge.

He knew how to make the girls giggle, throw a football the farthest, he always made getting into trouble look worth it…basically, Matt just knew how to be cooler than everyone else. The kind of guy with amazing talents, but more often than not, used them to bring attention to himself.

I met Matt at Mt. Aetna Camp when I was only a day camper in my single digits. Although a couple years older than me, our weeks at camp often overlapped. As the years progressed, more towards the weeks of our tween and teen camp experiences, our friendship really began flourishing. We shared friends, basketball, cabins and even a bed once (long story).

I could go on for pages writing stories involving Matt: when he got kicked out of camp, how we both tried winning over the same girl (he won), when he and Joe snuck over to the girls village and bombarded them with water balloons, or when we got arrested together and had to take a fire safety class!

But there is one story about Matt and me that matters the most.

You see, although Matt and I became close friends spending time at camp, our lifestyles, activities and goals during the remaining 51 weeks of the year were much different. Matt was a self-proclaimed “bad boy”, and me…well, let’s just say I didn’t attract as much trouble. The gulf increasingly grew between the directions our lives were headed. We both felt increasingly uncomfortable around each other because of the growing differences between our beliefs, behaviors, morals and life philosophies.

And that is when I began to pray.

It took well over two years of consistent praying…a few major life disappointments, a broken leg and a broken heart that led Matt on May 6, 2014 to post on Facebook: “I think it’s time I really hand this life over to the Lord…I need something to believe in.”

And that is when my prayer was answered.

I called Matt and asked him how things were going. I referenced his recent post and asked if he was interested in getting to know God more. Although hesitant at first, Matt and I began studying the Bible together over the course of the next year. The changes I began to see in Matt’s life were amazing. I got to watch the power of God’s word free him from selfishness. Like a wedge, it started removing many of the poisonous choices, thinking and behaviors that once bounded him.

Matt decided he wanted to see if it were possible to work at camp with me that summer. And miracle beyond all miracles I had the absolute privilege of performing my first baptism, baptizing Matthew Taylor on July 4, 2015 on the Sabbath of Matt’s first week as a Mt. Aetna Camp counselor! A few weeks later we went on to be co-counselors, and won honor cabin of the week.

Matt’s story and mine had now officially come full circle. As camp counselors we were now ministering to campers who were the same age we were when we first met!

A new born baby in Christ, choosing to live a life independent from his past history of sin and selfishness, now operating on new principles of love and the burden of sharing with others the gospel which had so recently transformed his life, Matt was now looking for ideas for what to do next with his life. At first unbeknownst to Matt, with the help of friends, family, and others who had only heard of his story, we raised over $5,000 of donations and scholarships to completely cover Matt to go to SALT (a discipleship training program on the campus of Southern Adventist University) for that upcoming fall semester!

Matt graduated from the program in December 2015, and has spent time back at home working. Matt is back at Mt. Aetna this summer using the skills and experience he has acquired over the past year to minister as a camp counselor for a second year.

Today, July 4, 2016, I write this blog post to celebrate Matt’s one year spiritual birth day! By God’s amazing grace, the day where he publicly proclaimed his independence from sin, choosing to walk in the freedom of His law of love!