My name is Zachary Nathaniel Grieco I am a kid with no point to life. No reason to live. Nothing to live for. I’m not happy, but I don’t want to die. July 25th, 2002, gave me new reason to keep living other than the same old boring stuff I had always held onto with the birth of my baby sister, Ashlee Marie Johnston. The first half of 2004 was the last time the old dorky Zachary Nathaniel Grieco would ever been seen again. The latter half of 2004 saw the creation of a more social, gothic, and fun Zachary. A Zachary who had to say “hi” to a fifth of the whole cafeteria every single time he stood up to walk somewhere else. The end of ’04 also saw something completely new: Zachary attending church on his own. He attended Wednesday night church and then Sunday mornings as well. April 5th, 2005, Ryan and Clint sat down with Zachary after The Bridge, the Wednesday night youth group service, and talked for a while. They answered many of his questions and clear up some of his confusion. Ryan left Zachary with one statement that was about to change his life forever: “You may never be ready on your own. Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith.” On Sunday evening, April 9th, 2005, during a service preached by a member of the Power Team in church, Zachary took a leap of faith. Zachary Nathaniel Grieco gave his entire life to his Savior, Jesus Christ, and was born again. The rest of the evening and the following week, Zachary experienced the most amazing internal feeling he ever felt in his life up to that point. Later it was explained to him that he felt great because God was emptying Zachary of himself and his desires, and replacing them with God’s life, love, and will. My name is Zachary Nathaniel Grieco, a born-again Christian. The latter half of 2005 saw the beginning of trying times for Zachary. By the end of ’05, Zachary became known by the moniker Zak, and had faced the most trying times he had ever seen in his whole life, but this was not the end. My name is Zak Grieco, and I’m Christian who is sick of pain. Early 2006 saw bad times for Zak. The evening of Zak’s first born-again birthday, he hit rock bottom in his faith, and had to be pulled back up by God working through his girlfriend at the time and one of his friends as well. The summer of 2006 saw new hope for Zak, as he finally felt free from all the pain of the past year. Zak was wrong. From June to November of 2006, Zak faced some of the hardest and most confusing times of his life, dealing with nearly every emotion he has ever had up to that moment. In early November, 2006, Zak rededicated his life back to the One who saved him from hell. November and December of 2006 were the months in which Zak took a good look at his life over the past two years, at all the good, all the bad, and everywhere in between. On December 31st, 2006, during a prayer at a lock in, Zak dedicates his life and the year 2007 to God. In the early hours of January 1st, 2007, while speaking with Danni, a new friend he just met, at a lock in at River Oaks Church of Nazarene, Zachary Grieco decides its finally time for him to be baptized. This is where our story leaves off. My name is irrelevant. All you need to know is that I am a born-again disciple of Jesus Christ, my Savior. If you must know me by a name, you can call me Zak if you choose. I am a child of God, and I am working on living like one. | 
