The Perfect Christmas Gift~ Rachel Melillo

Christmas time! I love Christmas time! And as most teenagers, I love Christmas... for a multitude of reasons. I love to give, but it would be a lie if I said that I didn't like to receive as well. I remember each Christmas, my aunts and uncles would ask me what my favorite gift was and I would usually name the most expensive Christmas gift. In my head, it made sense for my favorite gift to equal the one that cost the most money.

Though I've always known that Jesus was God's gift to us, it didn't really sink in until I was older. One Christmastime after I rededicated my life to Christ, I realized how crazy it was that God would become a baby. A baby. I mean, think about that, the Maker of the universe became the most dependent human being possible. When it comes right down to it, all babies can really do is cry and go to the bathroom. That's really humbling. God didn't have to do that; He could have skipped that step and just hopped down to earth as a twenty-five year old man and then saved the world.

I've always heard of people referring to babies as God's gift to us. How much more amazing is it to think that God gave us a baby? He gave us a miracle baby from Himself. He gave us the perfect gift.

Did you know that Rachel's favorite number is 144?!?!
Did you know that Abby's favorite candy is Nerds?!

Photograph property of Lilies Among Thorns Magazine. Photograph taken by Abby Whear.

A Letter~ by Rachel Melillo

I still have every single card, letter, and invitation sent to me during my life. They’re special, and I can’t bear to get rid of them. There are three that hold significant value to me—more than the rest. One is a postcard from my sister from New Zealand. Another is a letter from my other sister while she was at college. The third is a card from my grandmother.

 

I also have another collection of letters from a group of people that I’ve never met. They’ve been fashioned together in a book, organized perfectly by my Father. God, my Father, gave me a book of letters, filled with overflowing love. Who am I to ignore them? Letters of love, letters of advice, and letters telling stories of love, courage, faith, and grace.

Reading my love letter from my Creator never gets old. The same words can be taken a million different ways, no matter how many times I read it; I can still take something new from it. When someone I like or respect says something, I’ll often ponder it—some prefer the term ‘meditate’—and think about the many ways that the person could have meant it. My Father in heaven gave me a letter than has so many things hidden underneath—though the cover is appealing and attractive, the meaning behind the lines is even more incredible.

I’ve never ignored a letter written to me. Every time I get something in the mail addressed to me, I get so excited—dancing around my kitchen, squealing with pure joy. Although I’d like to say that I regard my quiet times and Bible reading times in the same manner, I’m going to stay honest and admit that I do not. But when we think about it, the Bible is a bunch of letters written to you. To you. To you. From God—the Creator of the universe.

I’d like to challenge you to mail a letter to someone. Pick up your pen and write out a chapter of the Bible to someone that you care about. The New Testament is a great way to go, since many of those books are letters to the church. Write to your pastor, your best friend, a random person that you don’t know (pick a mailbox and send it there). You’d be surprised at the impact you can make.

2^nd Timothy 1: 6-7

“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. ⁸ So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.”

A New Genesis~ By Rachel Melillo

“Valerie, for the last time--I’m sorry! I don’t know how they found out!” Emma shouted out, frustrated that her friend refused to accept her apology.

“Whatever Emma, I don’t care. Just...” Valerie let her voice trail off for a moment until she found the words she was searching for, “Just, please don’t talk to me for the next week. At least.”

“Val—“

Emma was cut off with a curt click, indicating the end of the conversation. The phone, still held against her ear, screamed the painful tone of an empty line; a friendless life. Get over it, Emma. You have other friends, she told herself, hoping to end the mental image of tomorrow.

I don’t understand! No one knew but me! Realizing that, she couldn’t blame Valerie for assuming the obvious—that Emma had betrayed the confidence. It still doesn’t make it true. I didn’t tell anyone.

“Well, that’s not how it looks to the rest of the world.”

She twisted in pain as her inner voice responded. You know, I really don’t need to hear from you right now.

“You never want to hear from me.”

Well, I was trying to be nice by saying ‘right now’.

“Well, guess what, I’m not going away.”

Figures, she groaned. She opened her door and walked across the hallway to put the phone back in her parent’s bedroom.

“Emma, is that you?” She heard her dad call.

“Yeah, Dad, it’s me.”

“Are you busy, or do you have a minute?” He asked.

“Well, um, I have a minute. Sure.” She clomped down the stairs and turned into her dad’s office. “What’s up?”

“Your mom told me that you think you’re going somewhere tomorrow.”

Emma caught the anger beneath the seemingly calm tone. “Oh yeah, Karen asked if I wanted to go to a movie tomorrow.”

“I didn’t hear anything about it.” The frustration rose and Emma winced inwardly, not letting him see it.

“I forgot,” she admitted.

“Then I guess you didn’t really want to go,” he shrugged.

“That’s not true,” Emma countered, panic rising in her.

“You didn’t tell me, so obviously it wasn’t important enough for you to go, otherwise you would have told me.”

“Dad, I’ve been busy!”

“You had time to make plans. Unless you heard about this yesterday, I think this conversation is over.”

“Dad—“

“No buts, you can go now.”

He turned back to his finances and Emma knew that the conversation was over. She looked up at her mom, who looked sympathetic.

She turned and muttered to no one in particular, “I’m going for a walk.” Grabbing her I-pod, she stomped out the door. Her dad was already mad at her, so what if she let her anger show too.

The nearly summer, Virginia air was stuffy, even though it was evening. He’s being unreasonable! I don’t understand. Just because I have a slip of the mind and forget to tell him, he won’t even consider letting me go! Emma growled as she stormed down the quiet street towards the beach.

God, I don’t get it!

That seemed to be her line a lot lately.

She sighed and, convicted of disrespect, she continued, I’m sorry, I know I should be a bit more polite to the Creator of the universe, but it just seems like everything’s going wrong lately. Her heart cracked as the scenes of the past month flashed through her mind—Jared breaking up with her, Valerie’s secret getting out, two of her best friends suddenly hating each other. Finally, the one she’d just played out with her dad.

Reaching the beach, Emma kicked off her flip-flops and ran towards the water. She splashed the shallow waves with her feet, disturbing the sand on the bottom.

“God, why don’t you help me?” She murmured aloud.

She stared out at the water, and whispered, “Why now, when I’m at my lowest, are you abandoning me?”

She felt a warmth enter her heart, slowly mending it together and heard Him whisper the answer into her heart.

“I am always with you. What hurts you, hurts me. I will carry you through it, because I’ve already overcome it.”

Emma swallowed and looked around. “Time to start over. God, here’s a new genesis.”

John 16:33 -- “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (NIV)

Loving Yourself~ A Spiritual Article by Rachel Melillo

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”  - Matthew 22:37-39

Love.  Love.  Love.  With Valentine’s day coming up sooner and sooner every day, Love is everywhere.  But these verses focus on a slightly different type of love, the agape kind of love, not the eras kind of love (‘Eras’ being the Greek word for romantic love). 

The first reference to love is used by the Greek word ‘agapeseis’ which translates (as literally as possible) to ‘you shall be loving’.  The root of the word, ‘Agape’ we often translate to ourselves to be something along the lines of ‘love unconditionally’.  The suffix “-seis” is the command form of the verb agape, adding in the ’you shall’.  Jesus didn’t say this as a ‘as a good idea, you should…’  No, he was very specific in what he said as it was a commandment. 

Normally, people focus on the fact that we should love God and then others…but I’ve noticed that they leave out the ‘love yourself’ part of the verse, and it’s super important.  When I think about it, if you cannot love yourself with the agape kind of love, it’s hard to love God with your entity, and it’s even harder to love those around you.  How many times have you said to yourself, “Ugh I wish I were skinnier.”?  -Raises hand- I know I have.  How many of you have said “Why can’t I be as skinny as her?”  Again, I’m guilty.  When it comes to that question, you’re guilty of breaking both the greatest commandments.  In one sense, you can’t love God because you’re not loving the person that he’s created you to be, and you can’t love the person that you’re envying because you begin to resent that person (and God) for being the way they are.  Whether its subconscious or conscious, it happens, and that’s a problem. 

So what do we do about it?  I’m sure we’ve all heard the ‘You’re perfect the way you are’ speech, but does that ever do any good?  Well, sometimes it does, but most of the time we simply brush it off and refuse to believe it.  I’m not going to claim to have all the answers.  That would be silly of me, considering I’m only eighteen and I’m still trying to figure out my life.  Advice I do have for you, however, is to become comfortable with who you are.  Stop envying other people.  I’m not the skinniest person on the planet (not even close!), but for the most part, I’m fairly comfortable with who I am.  And while I continuously struggle with loving myself, I can handle being comfortable with who I am.   

So this Valentine’s day, instead of focusing on the boyfriend you do or don’t have, focus on how you can love God, yourself, and others. 

SNOW!~ A Fun Article by Rachel Melillo

         

There’s snow out there!  Well, okay, there’s snow out there if you live in Massachusetts or some other place up north like me.  Although mostly I’m too busy to play in the snow, I always make the occasional time to do so, especially after I’ve worked so hard shoveling it from my driveway. 

Sledding is a standard thing to try whenever there’s a good snow out there, when the snow is light and fluffy.  Find a good sledding hill that’s not too crowded but will hopefully have the snow packed down because packing it down yourself isn’t as fun as just hopping on and sledding.  Bring friends and have some contests while you’re at it. 

Snowmen!! The standard thing to do when you’ve got nice sticky snow.  Through the sixteen years I’ve spent building or assisting with building snowmen, I’ve noticed that it gets pretty boring after the tenth year.  So allow me to suggest another alternative of the same nature.  Don’t stop after you’ve built the snowman, build an entire family and after you feel that you’re an expert at sculpting snow, try a snow dog or kitty.  Soon people will be lining up around your house to observe your snow art. J

Caves!  After my dad is finished snow blowing, I notice that there are several really nice hard packed mountains of snow around the driveway.  Grab a friend and dig through it, not letting it collapse on top of you.  After all, if you’ve ever tried this before, getting snow down your neck is an unpleasant experience that follows a snow avalanche. 

So, instead of sitting inside, playing all those video games that you got for Christmas or reading your books for the twenty first time, get your lazy behind off the couch (or computer)  and start having some fun with the snow that God’s given you.

Letting God's Plan Be the only Plan~ A Spiritual Article by Rachel Melillo

I’m a planner.  I want to know what I’m going to do and when.  I’ve known what college I want to attend, what kind of a guy I’m going to marry, how many kids I’m going to have, and what I want my career to be.  That’s just who I am, and I’ve never really had any problems with it, until now.

Recently, I got a rejection notice from the college I’ve wanted to go to since I was fourteen.  I applied early decision and they said now; that they would reconsider me for regular admission.  I got this news and I fell apart. All my plans, all my dreams, were gone for the moment.  I had backups, but they were mostly for show, and I didn’t really want to go there.  My immediate future got thrown into the unknown, and I’m going crazy. 

During the month I’ve been waiting for this letter, my mind has been plagued with “what ifs”.  Those “what ifs” have now become reality, and that, my friends, was NOT in my plans.  I went through shock, major disappointment, and anger.  I took my dog for a walk and just vented at God, telling Him all the things that should happen in my life, and halfway through that walk, I realized what I was doing. 

I was telling God what to do.  Note to everyone reading this: telling God what to do isn’t a good idea.  My mind immediately flips to Job and how he and his friends were talking about how life was supposed to work, and what God says is “Don’t tell me what to do.  I know more than you, idiot,” except God was extremely more eloquent. 

Life is full of change and disappointment. God’s the only one that knows the outcome of our lives and our actions.  He’s the only one that needs a plan for us, because He knows what’s best and He’s in control.   I have no idea what He’s got planned for me, but for now, I’ve simply got to live by faith and trust that God knows what’s best.  Are you willing to do the same?

For this new year, what’s something that you need to give to God?  What’s something that you’ve been holding on to, not willing to realize that by holding onto that. You may be keeping yourself from fully experiencing a life dedicated to living for Christ?  It’s not easy, but ask Him to help you let go, and if you’d like any of us to pray for you, please email us and let us know.  I wish you the best of blessings.

How You Can Help Other This Season~ An Organizations Article by Rachel Melillo

Christmas time is a time to celebrate the birth of Christ.  So often by families, we practice this holiday by giving gifts to our friends and family.  However, there are so many others who also need the love Christ came to bring. Think of them this Christmas as you consider giving to any of the following organizations.

 

 

 

1.    Samaritan’s purse.  You’ve probably all heard of this organization.  They pack shoe boxes with gifts for underprivileged children in third world countries.  Perhaps your church hosts an Operation Christmas Child (OCC) shoebox filling event, and maybe they didn’t but you sent one anyway.  Well, since it’s too late to send in a shoebox, what they do need is also money donations.  Although with each shoebox, people give a seven dollar donation to assist with sending it, they also pack many shoe boxes themselves, along with having extra expenses to cover the cost of the materials and such.  So even though it’s December, you can still help by donating and by that donation, you’ll be indirectly helping an impoverished kid somewhere.  Visit www.samaritanspurse.org for more information.

2.    There are about fifty two countries where it’s illegal to be a Christian and many more where they are hostile towards Christians.  Voice of the Martyrs attempts to help those who have been imprisoned in their faith and their families while they go through this persecution for the name of Christ.  Not only can you help by donating money to help support families whose fathers or mothers are in jail for their beliefs, but you can also write to government officials asking for the release of family members, to family members to know that you’re praying for them, and to the prisoners themselves applauding them for standing strong in their beliefs and convictions.   Also, make sure you pray for these countries, for God to touch the leaders and spark a Christian revival so that we may worship freely and speak of our faith openly no matter where we are.  Wish them a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in your letter as well. J  More information and stories at www.persecution.com.

 

 

3.    This year 1.7 million children will have a parent in jail.   Angel Tree, a program of Prison Fellowship, seeks to reconcile prisoners and their families to God and to each other by giving Christmas gifts and the Gospel message to families that have a parent in prison.  There are three ways you can help.  Firstly, you can recruit your church to participate in Angel Tree program.  Perhaps it already is registered, if so; sign up to buy gifts for a needy family to make this Christmas one to remember.  Secondly, you can donate money to buy families what they really need and want for Christmas.  Finally, you can sign up online to give gifts to a family or perhaps even just one kid and make their Christmas dreams a reality.  Find out more at www.angeltree.org.

 

 

4.    The Make-A-Wish Foundation helps the lives of children with life-threatening medical conditions by making their wishes come true. In 1980, 7-year-old Chris Greicius was being treated for leukemia. Every day, he dreamed of becoming a police officer.  U.S. Customs Officer Tommy Austin had befriended Chris and his mother.  He promised Chris a ride in a police helicopter. When Chris’ health worsened, Austin contacted Ron Cox, an Arizona Department of Public Safety officer, and planned a day that would lift Chris’ spirits. Austin and a caring group of DPS personnel started Chris’ day with a tour of the city in a department helicopter, which also flew him to headquarters. Three cruisers and a motorcycle officer greeted him before his meeting with the DPS command staff. There, Chris was sworn in as the first honorary DPS patrolman in state history.  But his experience didn’t stop there. Cox contacted John’s Uniforms, which agreed to make a custom-tailored DPS uniform for Chris. The store owner and two seamstresses worked through the night to finish it. The officers presented the official uniform to Chris on May 1 and arranged a motorcycle proficiency test so he could earn wings to pin on his uniform. Needless to say, Chris passed the test with flying colours on his battery-operated motorcycle.  This boy’s wish was the inspiration for the Make-A-Wish-Foundation.  More stories and ways to help at their website www.wish.org

I hope that this Christmas season, you find it in your heart to help at least one of these organizations. We don’t realize how much we have until we look at others who have so much less than we do.

Interview with Passion Magazine

Our staff member, Rachel Melillo, had the opportunity to interview Ariel Oliver, Editor of Passion Magazine, in November. Passion Magazine is a Christian teen girl magazine dedicated to helping girls gain a deeper relationship with God. Passion Magazine is also a sponsor of Lilies Among Thorns. Ariel is a wonderful girl and I hope you come to love her and her magazine as much as I do. Click here to read her magazine. You can also pick up her blog button on our blog.

1) What made you want to start your magazine?

I wanted to lead something, give myself an outlet for my writing abilities, and provide a good-quality online resource for Christian teen girls to go to for encouragement.


2) How did you come up with the name?

I was looking up Greek and Latin translations of meaningful words to see if I could find anything that sounded cool. I was searching for hours for something that would match "zeal", or "fire", or "passion", or...then I stopped and thought that Passion sounded pretty nice by itself, so I just stuck with that!


3) What is its main focus?

Passion Magazine's foundational goal is to propel Christian teen girls into a deeper relationship with God that will impact their life.


4) Was it hard to get writers?

At the very, very beginning stage, it was tough because no one knew about us. I started out the first issue with just 3 articles written by me and 1 from Kate Weber, a friend of mine, the first writer. Over time though, God brought us a few solid staff members and is continuing to do so - it's very exciting!


5) How has this experience changed you?

It has given me a greater sense of purpose. I know that it is all through God, but I feel as if I am making a small difference with this webmag, which is important. I can say more confidently that I am God's active instrument and a witness of the work He has done in me, through me, and around me! I guess in short, God has used the experience to personally show me how active He can truly be in someone's life, and writing for it and reading the wonderful articles from my staff has also fueled my own passion for Him and His will in my life!

6) What is your favorite attribute of God?

That's really tough because I don't exactly value one over the other! I will say His love, though, because a lot of the attributes grow out from that. Time and time again it is His boundless love that blows me away and calls me back to Him when I've strayed!


7) What is your favorite thing to write?

My favorite thing to write is fiction; I just love describing things. I don't do it a lot anymore, but it is still something I'll always enjoy.


8) What is your favorite way to serve God?

I think one of the big ones is sacrificing my time, passions, and/or finances to Him. Sometimes it can be a drag during a period of time while you're struggling through it. But then you recognize how great He is and how worthless everything else is! That's the cool part of it. It's proving to yourself that God is more important to you than your earthly toys, and it's giving Him more room to instill joy into you and make Him a bigger part of your life.


9) What is your favorite Christmas tradition?

My family does not have any unique Christmas traditions now, but when I was little, my brothers and I would rotate yearly on who put the angel at the top of the Christmas tree. It was a big event--we had to be picked up by our dad to crown the tree, and I was always filled with the greatest sense of accomplishment after doing so!

10) What was the best Christmas present you ever got?

I'd have to say that it was a wonderfully soft faux fur blanket I got from my mom last year. I love softness and warmth and it's so cozy to curl up on the couch with it! :)



Be sure to go to Passion Magazine! It is a great magazine and has helped out LAT in so many ways. They are a true gift from God and I am proud to be acquainted with them.

Human Trafficing~ An Issues Article by Rachel Melillo

Human trafficking.  Maybe you’ve heard this term before and don’t know what it means, or maybe you haven’t and you have no idea what I’m talking about.  Either way, it’s time you found out.  Be prepared for some horrifying facts. 

What is human trafficking? Human trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons: by the threat or use of kidnapping, force, fraud, deception or coercion, or by the giving or receiving of unlawful payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, and for the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labor.  Does this sound familiar?  This, my friends, is modern day slavery. 

Human trafficking is a problem that affects the entire world, including the United States. The United States is a principal transit location for sex trafficking.  Although major cities are the most probable place for human trafficking, it happens in minor cities as well.  I live in Massachusetts, about fifty miles outside of Boston, and I found out about a case not twenty miles from where I live.  Currently, Atlanta, Georgia is the number one city for human trafficking in the US.  The largest victims of human trafficking come from Asia.  Southeast Asia trafficks about 225,000 victims each year and South Asia trafficks about 150,000 victims each year.  Horrifying, right?  

Ready for some stories? 

This story is about a young girl name Asha.  Asha was only nine when her father sold her to a procurer in a Bombay (India) brothel. She was told she would have new clothes, and that she would be working for a nice family who lived in a big house. But where she was taken was a strange place. "Where's the pretty house?" Asha asked shyly. There was no pretty house; just a small, damp room with a cold hard floor that Asha was locked in.

           

A woman unlocked the door and came in to put makeup on Asha's face. The woman then opened the door and allowed in a man. Asha was told she would have to do sexual favors for him. She didn't want to, so she fought. Another man came in, beat her with a belt, and continued beating her for several days. They gave her no food. Weakened, Asha decided it was useless to resist. She serviced her first "client" and continued to do so for the next seven years.

After seven years of doing this she met a man named Devaraj.  Devaraj was different than the other men she had known. She met him at a small church near Falkland Road. There he taught messages of hope that lifted her spirits. He talked of freedom. She visited there as often as she could.

Deveraj helped Asha leave the brothel that had been her home since she was a young girl and moved her into a “Home of Hope.” Now she is learning how to live. She is learning a new trade. And thanks to people who care, Asha’s life is no longer surrounded by pain and disappointment. It is full of hope and optimism for the future.

This story does have a happy ending.  However, there are millions more stories like this one that do not have a happy ending. 

If you’re wanting something that may be a bit closer to home, the next one’s for you.

Three years ago, two teenage cousins, Kimberly and Carol (names have been changed), set off for a 15-minute walk to get milkshakes.  During the walk, the skies became dark and it started to rain.  At that moment, a familiar face pulled up beside the cousins in a white Lincoln. At the time, Kimberly believed the man in the passenger seat was a classmate's father who she knew as Mike. Shortly afterwards, Kimberly noticed that the man was not who she thought. He forced the girls into a brick house just miles across town from their home.

Inside the house, the two girls found out that the once-friendly man who offered to give them a ride was actually a violent pimp named Deric. During the next 24 hours the girls were fitted for skimpy outfits, assigned fake names (Ambrosia and Heavenly), and taught the rules of prostituting.  They threatened to hurt the other cousin if they didn’t cooperate.

During the day, the girls were locked in a home and at night they were forced to have sex with men for money in Toledo motels. They earned up to $500 a "date," all of which went to their pimp.

This story also has a somber-sweet ending.  Both girls are scarred emotionally, physically, and mentally.  However, they were rescued, which is more than I can say for the majority of human trafficking victims. 

My final piece here is how YOU can help.  The most important thing you can do is be aware and prevent it from happening.  Human traffickers can pretend to be talent scouts for some agency and either get you to follow them, or make an appointment with them later.  Never get in car with a stranger, especially a male. Follow basic safety advice.  Don’t walk alone in medium to large city, even if it’s daytime.

The second thing you can do is raise awareness.  I’m fairly certain that most of your friends or classmates don’t know a thing about this MAJOR issue, and they should be.  The more people who are aware of this issue, the less likely it will occur.

The third way you can help is through benefits and clubs.  Look online for organizations fighting human trafficking and hold a benefit concert where the proceeds go to that organization.  While you’re at it, hand out materials telling people about this problem.

Now for some numbers and facts:

·         As many as 27 million people are victims of human trafficking, At the height of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, 80,000 people were sold each year.

·         After drug dealing, trafficking of humans is tied with arms dealing as the second largest criminal industry in the world, and is the fastest growing.

·         The average cost of a slave around the world in $90.

·         More than 2/3 of sex trafficked children suffer additional abuse at the hands of their traffickers.

·         The average age of entry for girls and boys ranges from 11-15.

·         The International Organization for Migration estimates that each year 500,000 women are sold (trafficked) to local prostitution markets in Europe.

Sources:

·         http://www.notforsalecampaign.org

·         http://www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking

·         http://www.thehomefoundation.net

·         http://www.humantrafficking.org

·         http://www2.ed.gov

·         http://abcnews.go.com

The Start of School... Oh How I Love It!~ A Fun Article by Rachel Melillo

Yes, I realize school started in September, and now that it’s October, it’s getting really old and you’re ready for Christmas break already.  I’m a senior in high school, and here are some of the most exciting things that happen to me in the first two months of almost every school year. 

The first thing that usually happens in our school is the fire alarms.  Aren’t they fun?  If it’s a fire drill, you get out of class for about fifteen minutes and by then your teacher might have forgotten that you were supposed to have a quiz that day.  However, if the fire alarm was pulled, then you get out of class for somewhere between twenty to thirty minutes. This year, our first fire alarm was a drill and we got out of class for about fifteen minutes, but it was enough so that my creative writing teacher forgot that I hadn’t shared a piece of writing, so I didn’t have to!  The second fire alarm wasn’t funny until I learned that it had been pulled by a child in the preschool department of our school.  Fantastic, the hoodlums of the high school are teaching four year olds to pull fire alarms….we have high hopes for the future generation.

The second thing is the bomb threats, although the more interesting and memorable ones don’t usually happen at the beginning of school.  Some of you may not realize how appealing the thought of a bomb threat really is under the right conditions.  If it’s real, yes it can be scary.  The first time, it can be a bit nerve racking, but once you realize it’s just a student pulling a prank, you begin to laugh them off and use the spare time to either catch up on homework you never finished, homework you want to finish so that you have less that evening, or talk to your friends.  Bomb threats are better for the innocent students than the fire drills because you get out for a longer amount of time. I have had some fantastic bomb threats and some awful ones.  For example, two years ago, spring of my sophomore year, we had a bomb threat on an absolutely gorgeous day.  It was seventy degrees at nine thirty in the morning and sunny with a couple of scattered clouds for convenient shade.  We sat out in the parking lot talking with friends and playing games while the police and fire department spent two hours scanning the entire school for a bomb.  However, one of the worst bomb threats was last year.  It was freezing cold, about ten degrees with a light snow.  I would have been more than happy to get out of honors pre-calculus any other day but that one, but that day we had a free day to do our homework.  In addition, we didn’t have time to get our coats from our lockers, so we’re freezing cold. 

Next, there are the fights.  This year, I was coming out of my second class and while I was rushing to the bathroom before third period started, these two girls are pulling each other around the hallway and end up on the floor slapping one another and seeing how much hair one person can manage to remove from the other girl’s head.  I’ve never understood what could possibly be so important that you had to get into a hair pulling fight over it… oh well.

Now, I am definitely not advising anyone to do anything like this.  These three things are the top three things on how to get yourself suspended, expelled, or even arrested.  So do not attempt these things under any circumstances.  However, if they happen to occur, enjoy a good bit of drama and laugh it off later with friends. 

Stand Up~ A Spiritual Article by Rachel Melillo

It started out as a normal Friday morning. They had just finished going over homework when the teacher asked seven specific students to go outside the classroom. Without warning, a minute later they were blindfolded, pushed down a hallway and into a back stairwell and then tied up. The hostage takers and their hostages sat there blindfolded and tied up.

Is this what we think will happen if we stand up for our faith?

I see too many Christians walking around like spies in a foreign country; afraid to be detected and overly focused on fitting into the culture. We don’t have time for disguises. We don’t have time to fit in. For those of us who are in a public high school, you have four years to make the difference in someone’s life. The chances of someone coming to know Christ goes down dramatically after they leave high school. So what’s keeping us from making our faith plain to see?

Our reputations have become more important than our faith. Where would we be today if Joseph had been too concerned with his reputation as a good carpenter and honorable man to continue his betrothal to Mary? What would have happened if Paul let his desire to have a good reputation in society be more important than standing up for Christ and the Church? Are we going to let our desire to have a good reputation in our school be more important than standing up for our faith?

We can’t let that happen. I have a friend who calls me Jesus freak, or J freak, everyday, all the time. At first I thought to myself “Hey, I’m a witness for Christ!” Now I’m sick of it. Does that mean I turn from my conservatively Christian beliefs and let them decide how I should live my life? Does that mean that I should hide the most important part of who I am because I’m tired of a nickname?

High school is four years of our lives. We cannot let ourselves be pushed into whatever our friends want us to do. We can’t let our reputations be more important than our faith. We cannot allow fear define who we are and what we do. We need to stand up.

Note from Rachel: The opening scenario was a planned activity by a teacher and known by all students. It was also not aimed at Christians. Do not fear that you will be taken hostage if you stand up for your faith.

Note from Haylie: Has there been a time in your life where you took and stand for your faith? Do your friends know that you are a Christian? Do they know because you said you are or because they have seen it in how you live your life? The LAT staff and I encourage you to take a stand for your faith. If you have a story of how you took a stand, please email it to us. Click here.

                                             Remember, when you stand up, you are not alone.