In my eigth grade church camp, some of the sponsors challenged us to find people in the Bible we can relate to. Lots of kids chose Jesus or Paul or Moses... I chose boring Peter. Something about the guy just has, "ANTHONY" written all over him. And as I dig into the Gospels, I see myself fitting easily in Peter's shoes. Peter always wanted to do more for God, but he didn't have the patience to do it. So headstrong yet screwing up all the time. There's me in there 100%. Passionate for God and yet stumbling every fifteen feet. I imagine the disciples looking at Peter and thinking, "Wow. What a waste of space, what a waste of God's time." The guy betrayed Jesus three times, and when Jesus pulled him to the side, the others were probably like, "Now the wrath comes down." But what is most amazing about Peter's story is actually God's story - not abandoning him, rescuing him, calling him out, admonishing him. I see myself reflected in the Peter of the Gospels - a screw-up half the time.

Yet then I look at the letters of Peter, and I see something drastically different, and I wonder, "What happened? How in the world did Peter change?" Obviously, Jesus wasn't done with Peter after the ascension. The real changes in Peter didn't take place when Jesus walked the earth, but in the years afterward, when the Holy Spirit got to work on the guy. So as I reflect on this and read 1 and 2 Peter, I am comforted by the fact that change is possible. Peter and I share this little bond, and if he can get through it despite all his hang-ups and screw-ups, then so can I. If he can experience true and radical change, so can I. There's no one too far for the grace of God to do a revamp and set them straight. Even I can experience this, and that's huge.