Ellrol didn’t want to forgive or accept his parents. Dad skipped out when Ellrol was very young and Mom was a drug addict. Ellrol’s youth counselor, John Reid, encouraged Ellrol to forgive his mother not for her sake, but for his own. “The grudge you’re holding onto is keeping you from building a better relationship with Christ.” Ellrol knew his counselor was right. Ever since he gave his heart to Christ at summer camp, Ellrol knew that God wanted him to make things right with his mom. But how? As he prayed, Ellrol got his answer.

One night, his mom returned home, stoned as usual. But this time, Ellrol didn’t lash out. Instead, helped her to bed, and told her he loved her. She cried. Afterward, Ellrol said he felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. “You have to look beyond the sin, to see your mom the way God sees her,” John told Ellrol. This was the first time Ellrol got to put the hard lessons he learned at camp into practice. But it certainly won’t be the last.

Now that he’s made peace with his mother, Ellrol has turned his attention to helping others come to know Christ — including his younger brother. For now, he’s content to know that “no matter what we go through in life, we know God is in charge of it all and we’ll be all right.”