I’ve always behaved badly since I was very young. My parents live in the countryside and attend to their fields. I was left to myself; there was no one to see what I did, no one to care for me, and no one to help me. I felt lonely and scared, but as I grew older I became angry. I wanted to be someone, I wanted people to pay attention to me, and I was willing to do whatever it took.
Soon I discovered that when I did something bad I got a lot of attention, a lot more than when I did things right. Doing bad stuff became my life style and I ended up doing whatever I felt like doing. My peers wanted to hang with me, my teachers didn’t know how to handle me and my parents were gone; I thought it was great. However, when I was home by myself I still felt lonely and empty.
One day my teacher brought some new textbooks to our classroom. The books focused on why we do things, what is the purpose of every decision we make, where are we headed; things I really hadn’t thought about. My teacher taught us about the purpose of life. She went on to tell us that God had something unique planned for each of us and that He was constantly there to help us. She told us He had created us and prepared us to be great and influence others around us to be great.
I was beginning to understand how valuable I was to God. He made me because He needs me and that He’s ready to help me, whenever I need Him. I was fascinated. I realized that good behavior; even if it doesn’t get me the attention from others I thought I needed, God was watching me and that all that mattered. I realized that my good behavior would influence those around me, inspiring them to follow my example. What I was learning made me happy and grateful to God. Each new topic in the text book gets me a little closer to the person I hope to become. I feel that I belong and that I have a destiny. Thank you Mission Generation for telling me the good news that Jesus loves me!
-Rodrigo Sanchez
