Acquire The Fire

A few months ago my friend Chanda invited me to go with her church to Acquire The Fire in Detroit, I have wanted to go the last couple years but it just hasn't worked out, this year it did. This post is what I thought about it...

Friday afternoon we left my friend's church around 1:30, about 15 teens and adults packed into two vans. We had a three hour drive to Detroit, it was filled with lots of rowdiness and anticipation. We got to the hotel we were spending the night at and unloaded all our stuff, we grabbed a quick dinner at Mc Donald's then headed to Ford Field. We found a parking lot by Ford Field and walked to the doors, after we picked up our tickets and made sure everyone was still with us we found our seats. The crowd was huge, 40,000 people, energy and excitement was just filling this huge arena. After the opening ceremony with flag bearers and rope dancers the worship band Hillsong United started playing. They were a good band but the songs they played nobody knew. So even though the music was beautiful the crowd just wasn't being drawn in. After the worship music we watched a full length skit about what goes on inside a teenagers head. It was cute but it got kinda long and repetitive. Then when the skit was over our main speaker Ron Luce took the stage, a passionate and intelligent man who's speaking is entertaining yet dead serious, I enjoyed his speaking very much. At the end of this sermon there was an "altar call", something I just don't really understand. Then to finish off the night Skillet came up and rocked the arena. We pushed our way through the huge crowd as we made our way to the vans, we drove back to the hotel and crashed for the night.

Saturday morning we were all up at 6:00 so we could shower and pack up before 7:30, then we headed to Mc Donald's for a hot breakfast. We went back to Ford Field and found our seats again. Ron Luce got back on stage and gave us another great sermon, even bringing a boat up front for a prop. Then we had some more worship music until lunch. We went back to the parking lot for a picnic lunch we'd packed the day before. During lunch we had the usual entertainment when you have a group of energetic teens, bird chasing and water chugging. After lunch we headed back to our seats just in time to hear Hawk Nelson do their warmup. Then we had some more speakers and worship before Hawk Nelson rocked the stage, they were the best band playing that weekend. After the finished we went upstairs to their merch table, the crowd was crazy, Kirby and I ditched before it got to bad, Chanda stayed and risked her life for a t-shirt. After that little adventure we listened to some more speakers then P.O.D came on, they were really loud and really good. When they were done it was time for dinner, so we headed back to the vans for another picnic lunch and included entertainment. After dinner it was decided that we were gonna leave early instead of staying for the closing ceremony. We packed up the vans and headed home, the ride home wasn't as loud as the ride there, it was filled with prayer and sleeping.

Overall I thought the weekend was good, I really enjoyed the speakers and the music, but I felt like it was lacking something, nothing was really great, nothing stood out as special. I was told by several people that last year was way better than this year, but even still I thought it was lacking. Maybe I just don't understand enough, but the "altar call" I felt was insincere, it didn't hold the power and respect it should have. Maybe I just don't understand the whole "being saved" aspect, but I felt out of place and wondering. Something else that kinda bugged me was that abortion was only mentioned a couple of times the whole weekend, and only by a guest speaker. They kept talking about mission trips, and saving the people in third world countries, but what about the thousands of babies in this country murdered every day. Now, I have nothing against mission trips, I think they're wonderful, and if I ever get the chance to go on one I'll be there in a heart beat. But I also believe they're on an equal level with pro-life activities, you don't have to travel thousands of miles to save innocent lives. I will definitely go again next year if I'm invited, hopefully it keeps getting better and better.

I'll end this with my closing thought. Jesus said "if three or more are gathered in my name, I am with them", so when 40,000 people gather in His name shouldn't we try and make it the best it can possibly be? I believe my generation is the generation that will change the world, so whenever somebody has the attention of thousands of teens I believe that the most should be made of it.

Essay Written 4 Scholarship

My Perfect Christmas Tree
By: Theresa Margaret

We piled into the van and drove off to the tree farm, on our way to find the perfect Christmas tree. One of many things that I love about getting a real Christmas tree every year is all the precious time we spend together. It is wonderful to make the trip a family occasion.

We parked the van and headed off into the field with the saw in hand and sled in tow. The smell of pine needles filled the air, and a slight breeze blew our hair. We all have a say in which tree to get. Stating our likes and dislikes freely, the finding of the perfect tree is a learning experience. We learn to listen to other’s opinions, how to state our own opinions without letting down or hurting another person, and how to freely give up our own desires for those of others.

Everyone took a turn cutting through the trunk of the tree. It was hard work, but many hands make light work so they say. This applies not just to cutting down a tree, but also to family life. There is most definitely hard work and pain in a family, but if everyone helps, the job is not as big as it first seemed.

We sang Christmas carols as the tree got closer and closer to falling. Suddenly, my sister called “Timber!” as the beautiful tree fell to the ground. If we cheerfully set to work at whatever the chore may be, sooner than later the job will be done, and all will feel the fruit of their labor.

We pulled the tree onto the sled and triumphantly headed back to the van. We paid for the tree and piled back into the van having loaded the tree into the trailer. However, we had driven no more than a few hundred few when disaster struck. The tree, which had been loosely tied into the trailer had fallen directly into the middle of the road! My dad began attempting to turn around - not an easy feat with a van attached to a long trailer. Luckily, by the time we had finally turned around after many close shaves of diving into a ditch, a man with a truck had picked up our tree and brought it to us. My dad firmly tied the tree into the trailer, and, after thanking the man, we continued our drive home. This incident can be compared to the need of friends and even strangers in our lives. For even though we may think we are secure in our lives, we may, like the tree, fall from the straight and narrow path. It is then that while we attempt to make a complete turnaround to the right way, a friend or stranger sent by God may lend a hand to pull us to our feet. It is these “angels” who are one of many strong guiding points on our way to Heaven.

As we drove home, the girls rode in the trailer with the tree. It was a joy to see them laughing and screaming as we slowly drove down the road. You must take happiness as it comes to you. If your outlook is always gloomy, then no matter how much happiness you may find, it will not appear as happiness. But if your outlook is bright, and you search for the good in everything, then you will find your cup of happiness to be constantly overflowing.

When we finally got the tree home, my dad took it up on the porch to trim it and drill the hole in the trunk for the base. He stood it up in the stand, and we all stepped back to look at the perfect tree. My dad had to leave for work, but we sisters were given the go-ahead to pull out the boxes of Christmas decorations and begin decorating not only the tree but the rest of the house. First we strung the lights onto the tree from top to bottom with ropes of pearls and red beads. This is true also in life. You must first string the lights, the light of the Word of God and His Blessed Presence in the Holy Eucharist, in your life before you can begin “decorating” it with good works. The “pearls and red beads” of our life are the graces given to us from the Lord throughout our life. They aid us as we try to follow the Light of Christ.

Then the fun really began. We started sorting through the dozens of treasured Christmas ornaments that we had collected over the years. Each girl found her special ornaments, ornaments given to her each year at Christmas time. We laughed as we carefully hung the ornaments on the tree, trying to avoid the prickly needles. Even though the tree was continually growing more and more beautiful, it was not without the price of several pricked fingers. Just as the Christmas tree is not all joy without sorrow or pain, neither is life. There will always be pain in the world, for without suffering there could be no love and compassion for those in pain. So you can’t avoid it; it is always there. But if you approach the pain in the right way, you will come out with less “pricks” than you might otherwise have received. Just as if you place your hand far up on the branch of the tree and pull towards you so that the needles don’t poke you as much, you can always get through a situation with as little pain as possible. But you can’t just let the situation sit there unattended. You must act.

As we lovingly hung the last ornament and stepped back to look, everyone sighed and exclaimed what a beautiful tree it was. Even though it did not look perfect with its crooked branches and leaning trunk, the thought and love and joy that came with the tree made it the most perfect tree in the world. For nothing in this world will ever be “perfect”, but by the grace of God, we may all one day become perfect by His thought, love, and joy! Thus my family’s Christmas tree is the perfect tree because of how it brings us together as a family, how it is a symbol of so many things that are central to living our life well and gaining the eternal goal.

2006 Homeschool Blog Awards

The 2006 (yes, I know, it's 2007) Homeschool Blog Awards are up and running. They have a teen blog category, so go check it out!

Praying for an End to Abortion

From Saul, age 17:

Saturday morning I woke up early to drive to the city, I got to the W's house at 8:30, just in time to ride with them to an abortion clinic for a prayer service. We got there and parked behind the building, we met up with a few other teens from our Homeschoolers 4 Life group and walked around to the front of the building.

I was kinda surprised when I saw the group of people out in the cold. There were probably thirty people with signs and Rosaries, a few I recognized, most I didn't. Fr. Tim, a local priest, and Fr. Peter West from Priests For Life were leading the group. We met up with the group and mingled for a couple minutes, then we were all called to attention and asked to move off the parking lot and onto the stones by the road, we aren't allowed to be on the clinic's property. Then Fr. Peter and Fr. Tim led us in fifteen decades of the Holy Rosary, this lasted about forty five minutes. During that time people driving by were taking notice, some drivers honked and smiled, some honked and made rude gestures, but they all saw us standing there praying, standing up for life.

At the end of the Rosary a lady came up and started talking to the priests, I couldn't hear all of what was being said, but I heard enough to know that the lady was on the fence about the issue, hopefully we gave her the right nudge to show her the truth. She was a nice woman, she didn't try to start trouble, all she did was come and voice her thoughts, that takes guts.

There is someone at this clinic every Saturday at 9:00 AM to pray the Rosary, so this is something I will definitely come to again, I just wish I lived closer to town so I could come more often.

I will end this with a closing thought, something that came to me during the reading of the Passion this morning at Mass. There are over one billion Christians in this world, if one billion people stood up and said no to something they would change the world. Jesus was beaten and killed because the good men in the crowd said nothing while the mob was screaming for his death. Evil gets powerful because good men do nothing. Who will we choose to be, the person who screams for the protection of an innocent life, or the person who condemns an innocent life to death by saying nothing?