[reallifenewsletter] FCC - YS Student E-mail Newsletter #181

Howdy!

  Debbie is trying to get a head count for the potential trip to the Bahamas this summer.  We are probably looking at early-mid July timeframe.  These trips have been not only great fun but times when God has spoken, helped us and challenged us.

Cost estimates:

    Flight: Cleveland CLE- Fort Lauderdale FLL - $200;

              Fort Lauderdale-FLL - Nassau Bahamas $100?

    Lodging: House rental (includes boat) divided by those going: $200?

    Food: not sure since we'll probably bring in + cook + fish + minimal eating out (not much around) - say $10/day X 6days = $60

    Activities: Not sure of this but say there might be some somewhere - $50/per X 2activities = $100

This puts it at $660, but possibly in the $500 range?

 

If you are interested, please let me know asap, so we can get better estimates for lodging etc and begin reservations.  Also let me know if you have blackout dates in that timeframe so we can try to accomodate as many schedules as possible.

-Nathanael

   

 

YS STUDENT E-MAIL NEWSLETTER #181
April 18, 2005

Contents
1. Something for Your Heart
2. Surf Report
3. Forgettable Fact
4. Potent Quotables
5. Parting Shot

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1. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART

Whenever the topic of suicide comes up, some people can usually make pretty good arguments in favor of it. They say it's their life to end whenever they choose. They argue that death is an eventual certainty, so the “when” part doesn't really matter. They sound convincing as they proclaim that quality of life is just as important as length of life.

But consider a recent news item from Rome. A woman had a stroke and went into a coma. Her husband visited the hospital every day for a month ... and another ... and another. His grief was intense and unrelenting. In the fourth month after his wife's stroke, unwilling to go on without her, he killed himself. Then, JUST TWELVE HOURS LATER, the woman came out of her coma and immediately asked to see her beloved husband. If he had waited one more day, there would have been happy endings all around instead of another senseless tragedy.

Teenagers have a too-high rate of suicide because you don't always have enough life experience to put dark times into context. When something goes wrong--when a series of miserable experiences comes in rapid-fire--sometimes the best alternative seems to be to bail out. But even though the suicide option may SEEM like a clear answer, it's the result of short-sighted thinking.

Almost any adult can recall times of intense loss, misery and despair. But in looking back, adults see that those problems were overcome through any number of unexpected ways: a financial windfall, meeting someone who became a lifelong friend (or spouse), a new job that brought balance and energy back to life or simply the passing of sufficient time.

Suicide is irreversible. It prevents God from showing us a way up and out. It indicates we have given up on him--that we believe our problems are too much for him to handle. But God is ALWAYS there for us. As we learn to wait for him--to act in his timing--life takes on an element of hope that can carry us through our darkest moments.

One other thing to consider: it's NOT just your life. God created us to be interlinked--dependent on one another. The loss of one person's life and gifts affects a circle of people much wider than you might expect. Friends and family members are the hardest hit, but the shock wave that rips through a school after a teenage suicide leaves few people unaffected. Their lives go on, but never the same after being forced to deal with a peer's premature decision to die.

Sometimes life isn't everything we want it to be. But it's LIFE. Each life is a gift from God, and he will see us through it. As we learn to focus on him more than our problems, we begin to see the good things more clearly. And when that happens, the bad stuff just doesn't seem to matter as much.

On your own ...

Experience teaches us that our worst situations can improve in dramatic and unexpected ways. Christians, especially, should know that God can step into any set of circumstances and make even seemingly impossible conditions bearable and maybe even wonderful. Just ask Job ... or Jonah ... or Isaac (after Abraham untied him and took him off the altar).

Think of your favorite story of faith. (Daniel in the lions' den? Joseph in prison? Esther approaching King Xerxes?) Look it up, reread it, and see what got the person through his or her crisis situation. Then pray that God will increase your own faith and make you an available friend for others who might be contemplating suicide or other harmful decisions.

2. SURF REPORT

~ Christian Teenz 4 God
This is a site where Christian teens can just hang out. What more could you ask for?
http://www.teens.christian.nu

~ The Mariner's Museum
This online arm of the Mariner's Museum in Newport News, Virginia, allows you to look at maritime artifacts from all over the world. You'll find photos of Titanic remnants, nautical prints, navigational aids, maps, and anything else used on a ship.
http://www.mariner.org

3. FORGETTABLE FACT

The reason your eyes don't freeze in winter is that you have a lot of salt in your tears.

4. POTENT QUOTABLES

Suicide is the worst form of murder, because it leaves no opportunity for repentance.
- Churton Collins

The divinity who rules within us forbids us to quit this world without his command.
- Cicero

The man who, in a fit of melancholy, kills himself today, would have wished to live if he'd waited a week.
- Voltaire

5. PARTING SHOT

I was going to get my teeth whitened, but I figured it would be easier just to get a tan.

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