So shut your mouth, how can you say, I go about things the wrong way, I am human and I need to be loved, just like everyone else does."  -the smiths

    The Smiths were a famous 80's alternative rock band that I worshiped growing up.  Their lyrics spoke truth to my life and made me feel like there was someone out there who knew what I was going through and could relate to me.
 
    When I was 16 I met a girl named Layton. She was smart, beautiful, kind, talented, and everyone loved her.  We had two classes together and ended up becoming good friends.  She was unlike anyone I had ever met.  She was genuine, always inclusive, and very loving.  She was also honest.
 
    We had math together, and she always tutored me.  I would go to her house after school, and she would help me get through each problem until it was solved.  While she was helping me she was also doing other homework.  One day in class the teacher went around checking our homework, and Layton said she hadn't finished.  I looked at her and said "Layton, why didn't you just make up an excuse, that you left it at home?  I always do and she believes me...and then you can copy my homework and show it to her later.  You basically did all my homework with me." 
 
    I will never forget what happened next.
    She looked at me and said "Because that would be lying."  I had never known a 16 year old to have a problem lying. I did it all the time and thought nothing of it.  I was floored by her conviction.  Who was this girl?  Was she real?  I didn't understand her but wanted to.
 
    After school I asked her a bunch of questions.  I asked her why she wouldn't lie about something as stupid as the teacher checking our homework.  She said that it was because she was a Christian.  She told me that her relationship with Christ is what made her act the way she does. 
 
    My experience with religion was always negative.  It was something that I was forced to do.  I had to go to church on Sunday and religion classes but it only pushed me further from God.  All the people I knew who went to church on Sunday, didn't act like Christians throughout the week.  I liked what I saw in Layton.  She was real, genuine and the first person whom I felt truly accepted and loved me for who I was.  She cared about me and my journey to discover Christ in a personal way.
 
    Because of her love, her involvement in my life, her desire for me to learn the truth and because her love for Christ was real, I found that same type of relationship with God. I placed my whole life in Christ's care. I wanted and found the peace, joy, love, patience, gentleness... that she possessed.