Nick's Eulogy...given by his brother Josh

I know...I know...you all probably wish I would get on with it, but I can't, I have children this age, and they knew Nick and were effected by his death. I have to admit....I became part of the circle...:)

Eulogy for Nicholas Adam Avery:
Written for and read at Nick's funeral by big brother, Josh...
Many of you have probably read some, if not all, of my posts on the caring bridge site. If you have, you'll know that I've often talked about the Circle. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, let me explain. If you're a Christian today and a believer in Christ, then you're in the Circle-the Circle that sets us apart from the rest of the world as followers of Christ. Nick was a part of the Circle, and his entire life was dedicated to the purpose of following Christ. His life was all about heading to the frontline of battle for the Circle's sake-for the sake of Christ. Today I'm going to be talking a little bit about some memories of Nick and I'll also talk about his committment to God.
One of the things than many people remember Nick for was his sense of humor and how he was always trying to play tricks on everyone. Nick's friend, Aaron Shields, told me a story the other day about the time when he had gone to Dairy Queen with Nick to order some food. Nick went up to the counter and said "I would like a cheeseburger-but hold the meat, pickles, lettuce, tomato, and condiments." The worker said "So you just want a grilled cheese sandwich?" Nick replied "No, I would like a cheeseburger-but hold the meat, pickles, lettuce, tomato, and condiments." Nick said this three or four times before the worker finally just brought out a grilled cheese sandwich to which Nick responded, "Sweet! Just what I wanted!"
One of Nick's favorite things to do was to film episodes of "The Anthony Burkett Show" with all his friends. On the show they made up different skits or did things around the neighborhood to see people's reactions. I remember one of the first things we filmed during the summer neighborhood garage sale. Nick and I set up a table outside on our front lawn reminiscent of a lemonade stand-but we sold hot oatmeal. After hardly anyone bought anything we decided to become traveling salesmen and walk around with dry packets. Nick kept trying to trick everyone we were selling it to by saying "Oatmeal is 50 cents, but you can get it for a quarter because you're our number one customer."
When my mom and Nick were staying at the Target House, Jon Michael and Beth Valantine came to visit. After being in Nick's room for awhile, Nick came out and sat down on the couch next to Beth and my mom but Jon Michael was nowhere to be seen. A minute later all the power in the entire apartment turned off. The TV turned off and even the ventilation system turned off. Finally my mom and Beth realized that the power had been turned off from the main electric box in my brother's room and that Jon Michael had done it. After they went and talked to him they found out that it was Nick's plan all along and that he had convinced Jon to do it as a prank on Beth and my mom. Nick laughing hysterically.
Another big part of Nick's life was about music. His favorite bands were Simple Plan and Clearview but there were hundreds more that he liked. The clothes that he wore were mostly based on bands that he liked. He wore alot of Role Model brand clothing because it was often worn by Simple Plan. He also had tons of wrist bands that he wore and nost of then had band names written on them or were inspired by a certain band. The tie I'm wearing today was Nick's. He bought it because he thought it looked like something Jeremy Willet from Clearview would wear.
Nick loved being involved inthe youth group and spending time with everyone in it. Some of the best times of his life were when he went on the Kentucky mission trips and spent time with all the people there. One of the most memorable stories from Kentucky is when Nick pretended to be Spiderman and made John Beilby be the Green Goblin. Nick jumped off of bunkbeds and sprayed Axe Cologne on John Beilby pretending that the Axe was the spider web spray of Spiderman-getting it in Beilby's eyes, face, and everywhere in the room.
Today you might be asking yourself a question or maybe a series of questions. You might be asking yourself: "If there is a God then why would He let this happen and why would He allow Nick to die?" Today I have a very simple answer to that question, one that I know is the answer without a shadow of a doubt. God allowed Nick to go through this so that others could come to Him. God used Nick's story-and Nick's entire life-to show all of you His love...to show you Nick's perseverance and love of God through the nidst of all these trils. Nick wrote on his xanga a week before he returned to Memphis that he knew God had an awesome plan in store for him. Some of us may not understand how Nick's death could possibly be an "awesome plan" from God but I think I do.
Nick wrote alist of 3 things he would die for. The first on the the list was God, then family, then friends. Nick was dedicated to God above all things in his life and it showed in everything that he did. Every night he refused to turn off our bedroom light because he hadn't finished his daily devotions. Sometimes he was completely tired but he was devoted to reading the Bible everyday because he knew that it was important to his growtn as a Christian. We also recently found a book filled with Nick's thoughts on different Psalms from the Bible and personal prayers he had written after reading them.
Not only was Nick ready to give up his life for God but he was also ready to die for family and friends as well. Nick loved his friends. Like I said earlier, one of his favorite things to do was to film videos with several of his friends at our house and just be crazy-there were no bounds. He even walked a mile in wome's shoes with his friends once, hoping to understand then...but I don't think it ever worked. Nick loved all of his friends from youth group, church, school, and everywhere else. He stayed up countless hours on the internet every night in chat rooms with all of them talking about who knows what.
Nick also loved his family. He loved hanging out with his cousins and going on hikes at Grandma Avery's house, camping out (setting off fireworks on the 4th of July and almost setting Grandpa Avery's pine trees on fire in the process) and riding dirtbikes around scaring my parents with his crazy driving. He loved heading over to Grandma Briggs' house to spend time with all of his cousins there just telling jokes about weird commercials and filming videos for his cousin Anthony's collection. He loved his aunts and uncles, even those who lived far away in California and Nevada. He talked often about the times when Uncle Brian and Uncle Kurt spent the day with us in Hinckley rock climbing. He loved the times when Uncle Bobby came home from Nevada for the summer and he loved getting books from him every Christmas. He loved all of his aunts, all of his uncles, and all of his cousins.
Nick was ready to die for his family and friends...and do you know what? I believe that he did. As I said before, Nick was dedicated to God. I know that he prayed all the time for his family and friends that haven't yet accepted Jesus as their Savior. Nick loved his family and friends so much that he didn't want to see them end up anywhere but heaven. To put it simply-Nick wanted for his friends and family the life that he had-a lifeof hope and joy...a life that ends in happiness and rejoicing in heaven, not sorrow and pain. Nick's ultimate hope was that the people he loved would come to Christ.
Now I stand here before you looking back on the life that Nick lived. It was one of joy, happiness, and most of all it was alife of committment. A life committed to one thing-serving God in everything that he did. I hope that today all of you realize that Nick loved all of you and that he was committed to see you coming to Christ. That's what Nick's life was about-to bring family and friends to be able to see personally the number one thing that he would die for...God.
What I'm about to do isn't often done at funerals but if I didn't then I would be ignoring the number one thing that Nick's life was all about. I'm going to say a prayer aloud...a salvation prayer. If any of you feel like you would like to pray with me, if you want to make a decision to live life like Nick did every day and follow Christ, then just pray this to yourself as I say these words. I'm not going to ask those who want to pray to stand up or run up to the front...I'm not going to ask you to do those things today. But Nick's life was all about this moment for some of you-it was about being an example to the people he loved so that they would come to Christ. So I'm going to pray this prayer and if you feel like making a committment to God then please pray along with me in your heart.
Dear Jesus, thank You for bringing Nick into our lives. I know that no one is perfect and I'm not either. I've done tons of things that make me undeserving of Your love. But God, today I understand that you've paid the penalty for my sins with the death of Jesus. I pray now that You would come into my life and help me live the way You would want me to. Help me to follow You every day in all of my actions and thoughts like Nick did. Thank You for saving me and bringing me to Yourself. Amen.
If you prayed that prayer today don't keep it to yourself. Let someone know that you've become one of the Circle-that you've become one of God's people and you've chosen to live your life for Him. Let them celebrate with you and rejoice in the fact that you'll see Nick again in heaven...probably rocking to some music and trying to start a mosh pit.
Before I finish up, I have one last message for those in the Circle. The message consists of two words: Dive Deep. Live your life every day like it's your last. Don't be afraid to step out in your faith and tell people what you believe. Don't be afraid that they'll think different of you or make fun of you. Nick was never afraid to tell people about Jesus. In fact, when you log into his Xanga a message pops up stating lyrics from a DC Talk song. It says: "What will people say when they label me a Jesus freak? What will people do when they find out it's true? I don't really care if they label me a Jesus freak. There ain't no denying the truth." Dive deep in God, true believers. Dive so deep that you're on fire for God. Carry on the legacy of a 15 year old boy named Nick and never break the Circle.