Late at night, after my apps had shut off, I was laying in bed with tears forming in my eyes. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. All I could think was, “why are you letting this feeling haunt you?”, even though I couldn’t figure out what the exact feeling was. The only feeling I felt was empty and lost.

At  first I didn’t know what to do, but then I remembered what I knew best, and that was to pray. While hugging my Bible close to my chest, the same Bible that has Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding”, written in it. I closed my eyes, folded my hands, drowned out all noise, and I began to pray. I was talking to God and thanking Him, when finally I realized what I really needed to pray about. I made a statement and said, “God, please remove people from my life who aren’t good for me. Please remove people from my life that pull me away from You. I’m laying it all in Your hands because I know that I can’t fight this battle using just my strength.” After that, I said “amen”, turned off my lamp, and went to bed knowing that I had to be up early for my basketball game tomorrow. 

You might be wondering why I asked God that question, well here’s the answer. I was struggling with making a decision of who my real friends are. I could slowly see my best friend becoming absorbed into this different lifestyle. I was losing her to not only worldly things, but also another friend. I was hurt, but I didn’t want to tell her because I hate putting my feelings on the line and making myself vulnerable. I couldn’t let her drag me down with her, so I put the situation in God’s hands. 

A lot of things happened between the night I prayed and the week after. To cut to the chase, I lost my best friend. All I could think about was maybe it's for the best, or maybe it isn’t. I refused to let myself dwell on that question though, so I moved on with my life. I started seeing life in a different light. I was happier and felt more mature because I was making better choices and truly living for God. Closure was easily found within the next day. It felt like a heavy weight was lifted off my chest. Now I could live my life, and make choices that benefitted me without having to worry about another person's feelings. 

My parents have always been supportive of me, especially my walk with God. They knew I was undergoing a hard stage in my life. My stepdad gave me the best gift he ever could, someone to talk to. I met with one of the many youth ministers at my church, Kendra, for coffee. I was extremely nervous, I had never met with someone that I hadn’t talked to before. Little did I know, this would be one of the best experiences of my life. While talking with Kendra, I felt an instant connection. I could see God in the way she spoke. She inspired me to become the best version of myself that I could be. Proverbs 13:20 says, “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” Today, not only am I walking with the wise, I’m fully devoted to living for my Savior. To me, that’s a huge success.