Acquire the Fire

So, that trip this weekend? That was a church youth event called Acquire the Fire, with a whole lot of worship, messages, bible, alter calls, and love. At the risk of sounding dramatic and enraptured, there was a real presence of God's love, especially friday night. I couldn't not cry as I felt it, and I can't not mention how great my wonderful friend, Evan, was to me in my weakness. But I didn't really want to go on and on about the personal things God did within me.

No, what I wanted most to mention was the drama. Friday night there was a drama production called Surrounded, with many intersecting paths and stories. It touched on everything, from betrayal to deep hurt to love to guilt. The intensity was such that, even as I curled up as tight as I could manage, I had to cuddle a bit with my neighbor just so I wouldn't start hyperventilating. (No, I'm not a wimp. Prone to panic attacks, sadly, which triggers my asthma.)

At the same time, they managed to be extremely funny in parts.

On saturday, there who two things that really got my attention. First was a message by Nick Vujicic, who was born without arms or legs and has a website: Life without Limbs. There's really nothing I can say that would describe what it's like to meet him in person. He swims, he's happy, he's rejoicing in God's plan. Seeing him, and what he'd managed to do, I could no longer believe that God could never use me for His purpose.

The second was a talk on romantic love. Rather, a skit. The premise was this: what would foreign countries think of love in our culture if all they did was listen to our love songs? Songs like 'So What' by Pink and 'Bleeding Love' by Leona Lewis. The skit was five people acting out love songs in the same fashion as Whose Line is it Anyway. I tell you, there is nothing that puts the twisted, noncommittal version of infatuation of this country better than a literal analysis of our popular love songs.