Nathan Keating

As the glow of the campfire illuminated my tears, all I could say was, "I'm so hungry. I'm just so hungry." After my father died from a drug overdose, I embarked on a desperate search for love, intimacy, hope, joy, and all other aspects of life that make it worth living; however, I continued to come up only more and more void of all these things. I became immensely hungry and increasingly thirsty for Life. But the food I ate and the water I drank left me hopeless. I ate bread that did not fulfill and drank water that could not satisfy. You see, my longings went far beyond what could be touched with my hands and seen with my eyes. They reached to the depths of what only can be held in my heart and cherished in my soul. For years, I wasn't ready to give in. I wasn't ready to trust. My feet were swift to run into arms that betrayed me time and time again. Part of me expected these arms to lose their grip, because I knew they could never hold me securely. But what if I trusted the everlasting Arms and they let me down? To whom was I to run then? So my feet continued on, searching for water in a barren land. My strength to carry on was diminishing and my hope was fading with the sun into an even more cold and lonely night. But then, somehow, unexpectedly, and so graciously, I heard these words, "I am The Bread of Life and the Living Water. Whoever eats of Me will never hunger again. Whoever drinks of Me will never thirst again." This was the Truth I longed to hear. This was the reality I longed to behold. This was the Love worth living for. So, in complete brokenness, as the glow of the campfire illuminated my tears, all I could say was, "I'm so hungry. I'm just so hungry." My cry was heard, my strength was restored, my heart was filled, and my soul was saved. Now, I find my life and breath and being in the One who's words graced my ears and pierced my heart that night, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the One who died and rose for the forgiveness of sin and the redemption of our souls. Striving to make this life count.