Graduating...Paul Miyake

I know several people who are set to graduate in about a month. I would be remiss if I did not take some time to talk about what they mean to me. I have been so impacted by these kids, and I feel that it is high time to tell them. This post is a man that I have become close with this year-Paul Miyake.
Paul, your growth throughout college has been stark and the only explanation is that there is a true, real God who loves you and is sanctifying you towards righteousness. I remember on a walk last year that you made a comment about how it was difficult for you to open up to people, and I could have attested to that. However, this year you have grown to the point that you are very transparent with others and it has increased your ability to lead others 100-fold. You have been such a leader to so many people this year, and not just younger people, but your peers and even to me as well. I cannot tell you how much you have grown, but it is so much. I have leaned on you more than you know this year and I appreciate your willingness to oblige me and even stick with me and allow me to be open with you about my weaknesses without fear. You have encouraged me so much without words in being in my bible study just in the way I have seen that lightbulb go off in your head as the evidence of you pondering things for the first time is displayed on your face. Additionally, I have been so thankful for the number of times that we have broken bread together over the last couple of years, and this year especially, you have taken time out of your schedule to sit with me and listen to me, and that has had such a profound impact on me this year at times when I have needed it most. You have given me a much-needed outlet for thinking through the good stimuli in my life. It is not just about in-taking good stimuli for me, but also having someone there to think through that with me, and you have obliged me in that. I have readily said that this year, though my heart has not always been in a good place, if someone needed someone to pour into them, you were someone that I would quickly point them to. I say that because I have seen Christ in you this year, in the way that you have poured into relationships, in the way that God has broken your heart for parts of the world that do not have as much access to him, the way that you have become more passionate about the Kingdom of God. I am upfront about my oft-apathetic heart, but your friendship has diminished that apathy in the slightest and I am thankful for that.
Paul, when I think of you, I think of the word Rock. You have become a consistent Rock, one of the most fundamental people around. People will for the rest of your life come to with struggles, weaknesses, because they need an ear, and just because you are available, and I am sure that it is a compliment of the highest order when I tell you that I think that that is an evidence of Jesus within you. Continue to pursue Him, my friend, because your doing so has kept me afloat this year. I love you, Paul.