I had a very good friend in High School and College. He was a strong Christian who was planning on going into ministry. He was one of those guys who oozed confidence and personality, an obvious future success in whatever he did in life. I hadn’t heard from him or anything about him for over 30 years. And then, recently, I heard that he had been in the Oregon State Prison for the last ten years and had recently gotten out. I don’t know anything about the details of his life, but it doesn’t look like it is ending like it started. I wonder why? He is my age, so he doesn’t have much time to turn things around and do something with his life that matters. In conversations with people, I hear things like this often: people who have made a train wreck of their lives. I wonder why? How does that happen? I know it is because of bad choices, but why do they make those choices that end up in a mess? Knowing what is good and right often doesn’t matter; they still do it. It is a mystery to me, but every time I hear another story about someone messing up their lives and the lives of many other people around them, I am more determined than ever to pray for my grandkids that God will guide them and protect them from the evil one. As a Pastor, I pray a little for many people, but for my grandkids, I pray a lot. They are my responsibility; God has given me authority with Him on their behalf, and I will not neglect that gift of power with Him for them.