Is there more to life than this?

Kamloops Residents' Life Stories:

Brent's story

As long as I can remember I have watched
other people.

As a child I watched and learned from my family and friends and added each experience to my understanding of the world around me. From what I had seen and understood by the time I was 16, a good life consisted of getting a good job, working hard, getting married, loving my family, and being a good person. It wasn't until I was 17 that I started to feel like there was something else still missing.

I looked to members of my family, my friends, my teachers and my co-workers for answers. Some didn't want to question their own lives. Others thought there must be more to life, but they didn't know what it was or where to look for it.

A few friends in highschool had answers to my questions that seemed too strange to be true. These "religious" friends were different from others because they said they had given God control of their lives. They also said that knowing God meant knowing answers to my questions about the real purpose of my life and what happens after I die. I didn't know much about Christianity, but the more I learned about my church-going friends' beliefs the more I became interested and filled with questions.

My friends told me about how anyone can talk to God and have a personal relationship with him. Could that be true?

I also discovered that in the Bible God says he loves me and has a wonderful plan for my life. Could this be right? God had a plan for my life? How come I had never heard these things before?

As I stood back and watched my Christian friends in my senior years in highschool I had many doubts about them, but I couldn't help noticing a difference in their lives. I saw their peace. I saw the love they had for others. I saw the effects of their prayers. The more I watched, the more I saw the presence of a very real God in their lives.

I had watched people all my life, but never had I seen something so unique.

After a number of months I decided that what I was seeing was very real and I wanted it. So on a Winter day at Mount Baker in 1988 I prayed to God and asked Him to come into my life.

It's been 10 years since I gave God control of my life and I'm still growing in my relationship with him. I still struggle with problems in life, everyone does. The difference between today and when I wasn't a Christian is that now I have God with me to give me strength and confidence and purpose in all I do.

What I've discovered over the years is that I can live more easily knowing God is with me when I'm feeling weak. I can live each day in confidence that God will take care of me and never put me in a situation I can't handle. I now know without at doubt that God has a plan for my life and that I will join him in heaven when I die.

I have realized that success or happiness in life does not consist merely of getting a good job, working hard, getting married, loving my family, and being a good person. The people who find success are those who pursue excellence, but not for their own gain. My inspiration for success comes from a man who had no degree and held no office. A man who owned nothing but the clothes on his back. A man with a radically different message. A man who gave his life so that I might live. A man named Jesus.

Are you interested in learning more about Jesus and what it means to become a Christian? Click here to find out how you can have a personal relationship with God. Do you have questions or comments? Email me

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