Let me tell you about my Brother...

In the midst of the week before finals, as I write a 12 page topical paper on the word "Light", I have decided it was time to take a break and reward myself with a blog post. As I was writing about how we are called to bring Jesus' light to the world, I felt it was very fitting for today. As I awoke today I was reminded of a man who always seems to bring light into the room even though I never would have expected this of him when we first met. It all started in the latter part of my high school career.

It was a typical youth group night when we noticed that someone new had entered our community. At first glance one would see a tall, skinny, camouflage-clad, unshowered, young man who teeth and nails appeared to have avoided the sink. Then he opened his mouth and what appeared to be words came out. I could hardly tell what he was saying except for the occasional explicit word. We learned his name was Travis and he was 22, although his mental capacity was hardly that. As a good youth group we welcomed him in, while keeping a eye on him. Mid-lesson, he got up and left unexpectedly.

As the weeks progressed, I began to see him at Sunday morning services and around the town. We, as the church, slowly found out more and more about this mysterious young man. We learned that he lived with an unnamed relative in town and that the town had, for the most part, showered him with love; giving him rides to places whenever he needed. Pretty soon it became a common occurrence to look outside the window and see Travis driving his imaginary bicycle around the church and our yard. The more he attended our church, the more his language got better and the more we could understand him.

After awhile Travis started calling my Father "Papa" and my siblings and I "Brother" and "Sister", which went from a weird interaction to an expectant loving remark. Then when we had our Vacation Bible School and I was dressed as a crazy figure for the children, Travis felt the need to follow me around and tell me he wanted to be like me. Travis wanted to be a super hero like his brother. He followed me so close, he even followed me to the urinal adjacent to mine. Awkward as it was, this was the beginning of a very close friendship. As the weeks progressed we learned that Travis loved our church because we didn't kick him out like that "explicit word church did." As the Pastor's family we would all sit in very front row and Travis started joining us up front like he was one of us; a part of our family. I still remember, with tears near my eyes, looking over and seeing Travis with his eyes closed and hands raised singing praises to God in his very broken English. I remember looking over to my Father, motioning over to Travis, and saying "This is the Kingdom of God, this is what it's all about!"

As the end of my high school approached, I stopped seeing Travis as often. By the time that I went off to college I had not seen him for awhile; however when I returned home for break I was greeted at the door one day by Travis. He had come to drop off a t-shirt that he got for me. I have no idea where he got it, what he did to get it, but it said "Yahweh: When the World says No way, we say Yahweh." It was a beautiful representation of Travis. I have not seen him this past year and I am not sure where he is, but I know that whenever I do see him, I see Jesus in Him. So today, I wear this t-shirt in honor of my dear friend Travis.

I hope and pray that everyone can experience a Travis sometime in their life.  To end this post, I am reminded of when Christmas Eve of my Senior Year approach and while many were taking family pictures, Travis joined the Risser family for our family picture. I will forever remember Travis as one of my brothers; I am not from a family of 8, I am from a family of 9.