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Billy the Bully Growing up, I realized that not all things in life were real. I found out at the tender
age of seven, that Santa Claus was really my dad dressed in a ridiculous red suit. I walked in on him while mom was trying
to stuff a pillow down the front of his pants. I remember thinking that I really didn't care about Santa, as long as I had
presents under the Christmas tree. That's
how my life was. No matter how hard people tried, I always found out the truth. That is until three years ago, while I was
in my senior year at high school. It was a normal day like any other and I was walking to my homeroom class when Billy Miller
approached me. Billy was what most people would call the school bully, but to me he was
just a kid in trouble. As always, he came up to me after class asking me for my notes. I asked him why he didn't take any
notes himself, knowing what the answer would already be. He looked at me and grabbed all my folders. He took the notes he
needed and headed back down the hallway and that's when it happened. That's when as my father would say hell must have frozen
over. I realized right then and there that some things in life can not be explained or can they? Billy Miller walked back up to me, handed me the notes he had taken and
apologized. I looked at him in sheer amazement. I was speechless, I couldn't even move. I just stood there like a deer in
the headlights. When I finally could speak he was gone. As it turns out, Billy had been apologizing all day to everyone he
had ever wronged at school, and let me tell you that is one big list. What happened to him? That couldn't really be Billy,
could it? I was bound and determined to find out. Later that day, I found Billy sitting outside alone as usual, reading a book. I approached with caution because I
had never seen Billy read anything, let alone a book. I walked over to him and asked him what he was doing? "Reading",
he told me. "I know that, but what are you reading" I asked . He looked at me and just smiled. O.K. now I know something
is going on, because the last time Billy Miller smiled was when he super glued Mr. Thompson the math teacher to his chair
in detention. O.K. Billy fess up, what's really going on with you? He just smiled and continued reading. Wanting to know the
name of the book that peaked the school bullies interest, I walked around in front of him and almost collapsed in shock. Billy
do you know what you are reading? I asked. He just smiled and said yes. He said he got it from his pastor in youth group last
Sunday, It's the Bible. He started to tell
me about all the stories he had read and how they are changing his life. Now I smiled. I told him how awesome it was and I
that was proud of him. He asked me if I had ever read the Bible? I told him that I had on a few occasions. He asked me what
my favorite verse was and I told him. My favorite verse is Psalm 40:5. It talks of all the amazing things God has done, to
many to be numbered. Billy quickly turned to that verse and read it. He agreed that it was a good verse but he liked Genesis
1:1. I asked him why he would pick that verse? He told me it was because it was the first verse he read in the Bible and it
would change his life forever. Since that
day Billy and I have become good friends. Three years later we both attend the same church and are planning to go on a mission
trip to Africa. I am still amazed at Billy's transformation, but with God in your life anything is possible.
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