Ben Davis

What is a hero? To some people when the word hero comes to mind they think of Superman, or Batman, but not to me. A hero is someone who is completely selfless, courageous, and genuine, someone that you can trust 100% no matter what the circumstance. And let's face it, in society today, it's really hard to find someone like that, fortunately for me though, I have.

Ben Davis is someone who has made a huge impact on my life. Ben has been my Younglife leader since my freshman year, and he has yet to turn his back on me. As a little freshman I walked into my first club with a couple of friends. I had no idea what to expect, I just heard it was a lot of fun, and it ended up being at one of my friend's houses, so I decided I would go. Right when we pulled into the street we saw a never-ending line of cars on the sides of the streets, and as we went over the hump of the street we saw tons of kids running around. Right away I got nervous because I saw a lot of seniors from school. So we got out of the car and hesitantly we walked toward the house. Clearly we looked like freshman due to the fact that we were standing alone not associating with anyone. But then all of a sudden we saw a man walking toward us and says "Hey guys, I'm Ben, what's your all's names?" We all just stood there waiting for someone else to say something, with a big smile he then says "Guys, it's cool, no need to be nervous," we all then one by one said our names and by the time we were done we had to walk into the house. Not only was club really fun, but we also talked about God, and Ben happened to be the one talking.

Throughout the rest of the year I got a little lazy and went every once in a while because I was still a little nervous. But I always happened to see Ben and his wife Maria around at school activities, and around the kids that were really involved in Younglife, and even though I didn't go a lot to club, Ben always made sure and said hi to me and created conversation. My sophomore year is when I started to get more into Younglife, which meant that I was around Ben a lot. I always thought though, why are these 26 and 25 year old people hanging around a bunch of high schoolers? Then later on I found out that not only do they hang out with a bunch of kids, but they also have three of their own. Jack, Kate, and Lucy are three of the cutest kids, with a lot of personality, and they were always around us as well. I've never met a person like Ben, he is selfless in every way, not only because he talks about God and takes time out of his day to be with us, but also because he has always made sure that we knew his front door is always open to us. It's hard to believe that he never gets sick of us.

By the summer going into junior year, I was officially one of those kids that were hanging out at his house. When you're at Ben and Maria's you feel yourself, and you know that you don't have to impress anyone. Ben and I have had many talks about God, and problems that I have, and it's ultimately shown me what it means to be a good person. I've changed a lot since my freshman year, and I know that it's all been for the better, and I know that I owe some of that to Ben. I'm far less judgmental than I used to be, and I know one thing for sure, I want to be just like Ben when I grow up. He truly is my hero.