Chapter 8: Love as a Way of Life
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for
one’s friends. – Jesus, John 15:13
New York City is awhirl with opportunities: the lights of
Broadway, international cafes, excitement of business and
trade, and it is filled with international communities, acting
schools, and so many other inviting lures. It is also a place of
ghettos, drug dealers, bars, and a host of temptation. Yet, this
is where my 19-year-old son received a scholarship to attend
New York Film Academy.
As a mother, I hoped I had trained Him to make good
decisions, to walk with God in the midst of temptation, to be
safe from the dangers of a big city, yet, I knew at my core, that I
had no control over my son’s life. I would have to leave him in
God’s hands.
Early one morning, after he had been bedazzled by the city, he
was jogging in a park near his apartment. As he ran, he said it
was as though God spoke to him.
“What kind of story are you going to write with your life? You
are the one who will determine your reputation. People are only
victims if they let their circumstances determine how they
behave.”
“There are so many ways your life can go now that you are on
your own in a big city with lots of pathways—those which
could destroy your life and those which will create a life of