- Drugs
15 years ago, I was playing street hockey at P.E. class when I met the new kid in school, Michael. I introduced myself, and we immediately became best friends. We were inseparable, even playing on the same soccer team. Michael had all the talent in the world. Everyone knew he would grow into an incredible soccer player. Michael had all the energy in the world too, which was infectious. He was able to make friends with anyone and everyone and was one of the most genuine and likeable people I know. Michael hid his personal life very well with a great happy personality. You see, Michael had a lot of pain in his life. His father cheated on his mom when he was only 10, and from that point on, he was considered to be his father’s “second family.”
Since he grew up without a father figure, he plugged into a local church with a thriving youth group. The youth pastor was well-liked and the son of the head pastor. Mike took him on as a mentor and trusted him completely. One night, Mike stayed the night at the youth pastor’s house. That night, Mike was raped. I got the phone call the next morning and was completely devastated. How could this happen? Why!?
As you can imagine, Mike had to go through a lot of counseling but he never quite got back to being his old self. Right after that, Mike moved into a new neighborhood and started hanging out with the wrong crowd. From then on out, Mike started slipping away. He got into drinking, followed by smoking, followed by drugs like cocaine and meth. Mike then got into dealing drugs, which led to him dealing automatic firearms. He’s fathered five kids with three women and takes care of none of them.
I still consider Mike my best friend and I am optimistic he will turn his life around and start living for Christ.