Season of Thanks, James

Season of Thanksgiving #9 – James

Where do I begin with James? He and I have been friends since 6^th grade. That’s 18 years.

I was an odd, dorky kid. Well, so was James. Even today, when we get together, no one else can quite understand our bizarre conversations and whacked sense of humor. Blank, confused stares are what we get a lot of the time from other people. There are so many years of memories with James. Amassing our Star Wars action figures together to stage epic battles, playing years worth of N64, staying up until 2am on a school night to play a level of HALO on legendary.

We have witnessed each other grow up. He witnessed me make some of the dumbest decisions of my life, just as I have seen him do some pretty weird things. There is absolutely no conventional way to describe our friendship. It’s…just…odd. A phone conversation can range anywhere from Star Wars to an in depth Bible study. He is also the most random, scatter-brained individual I know. Example, he bought a sword. I’m serious. Who does that? I don’t know how much he spent on it, but he bought a replica of Arwen’s sword from Lord of the Rings. And then he didn’t want his parents to know, so he asked me to keep it. Well, I did. For years. I finally gave it back to him when he was over 18 and couldn’t really get in trouble anymore. But not before the guys & I took a bunch of pictures of us doing silly things with his sword and mailed them to him.

But most important of all, James has always been there, even after his family moved back to Texas. In my time of personal crisis, he hopped on a bus and came all the way back to Knoxville to surprise me with a visit when I needed a friend. He helped me flip the script in my life, with the Gospel of John. I know the love of Jesus because of James and his family. But it was James who personally helped usher me into a new-self. And for that, I am forever grateful.