(THE DECISION)
"You're putting me in an awkward spot." Todd said to me as I sat with him in the empty mess hall.  He was one of the counselors that arrived the day before, sent from the Church to act as spiritual advisors for the next couple of days.  The plan was that as the week went on, we would discover who we were as Christians, then we would ( Read more... )

(CHASTITY, OR LACK THEREOF)
"Isn't this just....beautiful?"

Her name was Debbie, and she was 19 years old.  She was one of the Teen Leaders for the girls, and she had followed me when I tried to find a place to be alone before the first Workshop.

To be fair, I probably could have kept her from following me with a word, but instead, when she asked ( Read more... )

(ORIENTATION)
The first night at The Retreat was by far the worst.

Night has a way of amplifying fear, and mine was almost deafening.  It seemed that every noise was right next to my bunkhouse, and whatever it was that made the noise was just waiting to come in.

Once it was lights out, I tried desperately to sleep.  But with sleep came dreams ( Read more... )

THE ARRIVAL
The weather forecast for the entire week was hot and muggy, and I could feel it as I sat alone in the seat on the bus headed to the Retreat.  I had a headache and the nausea that I knew was coming was creeping in slowly with every bump of the road.

The bus was full of other teens, all of them excited for the coming week.  Some were ( Read more... )

He was a youth minister at the Church Of Good Intentions (one of the two churches I grew up in).  He was the kind of guy who you instantly liked, mostly because of his humility and his contagious laugh.  Always good natured, nothing ever seemed to bother him, except for maybe when the kids he was supposed to be guiding started showing signs that ( Read more... )

I didn't take the picture, nor did I write the caption.  But I did put them together.

And I can't stop laughing.


( Read more... )

"You need to quit flirting with women."

Mom and I had just climbed back into the truck after shopping at a department store.  The statement came from out of nowhere, and it seemed to absurd that I didn't quite understand her at first.

"Huh?" I said, just looking at her.

My mother has never liked the cold, and the weather outside was 18 degrees.

" ( Read more... )

I'm kinda afraid of my memories right now.  Don't worry, this is nothing new, but it's really the first time I've ever admitted that it is something that happens on occasion.

See, when I go to write something, I don't think about what it is that I'm going to write.  I've never been able to write that way.  The only thing I plan ahead is the first ( Read more... )

I have an audition tomorrow night, and despite the fact that I have been in two musicals and one other musical revue fundraiser, the thought of singing in front of a group terrifies the ever living shit out of me.

On my desk in front of me is the prepared CD with the accompaniment tracks I need to get me through the next few singing auditions I am ( Read more... )

13 year old boys have as many secrets as girls the same age.  While girls write them down in a journal, or tell their best friend, boys tend to keep them to themselves until someone comes along who is trustworthy enough to share the secret with.

My first relationship was too innocent to refer to him as my boyfriend, but was too complicated to say we ( Read more... )