Party animal? That's not you!

Jonathan Daugherty

Rules , punishments, people telling you what to do. Sometimes these might leave you feeling that you can't determine the course of your own life. While some rules really are helpful, others may seem unfair, leading us to believe that life and the world are something to rebel against or to escape from. Yet a heart that's open to God's love can totally change our view of life no matter how bad things may seem. I found this out in my first year of college.

By the end of high school, I was more than ready to leave a difficult relationship with my mother and to experience all that the world had to offer. It was only a short time into my first semester when I began drinking regularly. During the same period I had four car accidents—all of which were my fault. The last accident resulted in the total loss of the car. While I was not hurt, the destruction involved was frightening.

When I arrived home for Christmas break, my mom was out for the evening. I can remember that as I entered our empty house, I had never felt so lost and confused. The more lost I felt, the more I realized that the only place answers could be found was in the little that I knew of God. Inside I knew that my thoughts and actions influenced what happened to me. It began to sink that the car accidents and confusion I was feeling were associated with the materialistic escapes I was trying.

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