The Update

 

Hey Shutterbugs!

If you’re in Junior High you are invited to the first ever NSL Photo Scavenger Hunt this Saturday from 6-9pm!

A Photo Scavenger Hunt is where the group divides into teams and tries to photograph as many things as they can from a list. The more you check off, the more points you get. Most points are Kings of the Hunt!

We will meet at the Maple Grove Community Center at 6pm this Saturday. Bring $10, and as many friends as you can!

We need to plan, so if you’re coming then please sign up below! Thanks!

 

It’s tricky to find an album as eclectic as Polarity from southern rockers The Wedding. Now available for listening on the NSL Jukebox!

The album starts out with brass horns, and rocks until the end with piano-driven tracks, post-hardcore screaming, melodic pop-punk throwbacks, and a surprise ending that honors their Arkansas roots.

This one holds something for everyone, and is a fun listen all the way through. So head on over the NSL Jukebox and check it out!

Need a reminder on how the Jukebox works? Get it here.

A short story by Kirsten Stillman (Grade 12)

 [Read Part 1 & Part 2]

“Why did you do it?” he asked.

“Because you sounded like you needed a friend,” she answered softly.

“You probably want to chew me out now,” he braced himself.

She took a deep, slow breath, then let it out quietly. “No.”

He looked at her in surprise. “No?”

“You’ve heard it before and if I did it now, it still wouldn’t change anything. It’s something you’ve come to expect. I’m not going to waste my breath.”

“Why?” His voice seemed as confused as he looked. But he was listening to her now. Something he hadn’t done in a long time.

“You tune everyone out, Matt. We all try to help you, but you don’t listen. What is going to change that now?”

He considered that for a moment, then sighed and ran his hand through his short, messy hair.

“Can I ask you something?” She said after he didn’t reply. “Why did you call me?”

“I don’t really know…” Matt stared unseeing out the windshield. “I suppose… it was because I realized that I really didn’t want to be there anymore and… I knew that if I called anyone else, they wouldn’t come.” He hesitated. “Jazz, I can’t… I don’t want to live like this anymore. I feel so tired. Like I’ve reached an all time low. There has to be more to life than just this…”

Jasmine looked over at her friend with smiling eyes as she put the car in park in his driveway. How long had she waited to hear him say those exact words? She had tried to help him before, but had gone about it in all the wrong ways. Matt used to be a great Christian. But somehow in the years that are called high school, he had gotten turned around. He had turned to partying as a sort of bandage for the wounds of life.

“God still loves you, Matt.” Jasmine said softly. “He’s still waiting for you to talk to him.”

Matt sighed guiltily. “But I’ve screwed up so badly.”

“That’s the beauty of it, Matt. He is unconditionally and irrevocably in love with you. All he’s waiting for is for you to run back into his arms. He wants to catch you before you hit the bottom. All you need to do is let Him take care of you.”

“I don’t know how He could still love me after everything I’ve done,” Matt’s voice broke with the pain of his burden.

“‘For God so loved the world that He gave his only son, so that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life.’ God sent His one and only son to come down to earth to die a horrifying and excruciating death so that we – you and me – could be forgiven in times exactly like this. He knew that we would fall at times, but He also promised to pick us back up and dust us off so we would be ready to face the world yet again. He promised to love us, Matt. He loves you so much that he sent His son to die for you.”

Matt choked back a sob. Jazz reached out and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Are you ready to turn back to Him, Matt?”

He nodded. “Jazz, would you pray for me? I don’t… feel like I can.”

She smiled and nodded. They bowed their heads. “God, I know that the love you have for each and every one of your children surpasses our comprehension. I would ask that you wrap that love around Matt right now so he could feel your love as he returns to your arms. Thank you for protecting him and I ask that you keep him safe in the times of trial ahead. I know you have great things in store for Matt in the years to come. Let his story shake the very foundations of the earth. Amen.”

Matt lifted his head, his face practically glowing. His shoulders looked as if they had had a great weight lifted off of them. He took a deep breath, smiling a smile that would have dazzled the heavens and made the angels sing a hallelujah chorus. “Jazz, I did it. I recommitted my life to Him. I feel… well, I haven’t felt this good in years. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” she smiled back rejoicing in this moment with him. “So what does this mean for you now?”

He smiled. “Going to church on Sunday again; I haven’t been to church in… well, too long.” His smile turned worried for a moment. “And I have some people to beg forgiveness from.”

“You don’t have to beg,” Jasmine smiled as his eyes looked repentantly at her. “I forgive you.”

She thought of all the times she had watched him turn away from her. She had suffered as she watched him slowly party himself to more intoxicating levels each time. She had been convinced he would get into a car and kill himself and someone else simply because he misjudged a distance while he was drunk or high. Or he would finally drink himself to death one of these times.

She pushed those thoughts away, and buried them with the old Matt.

“Friends?” Matt asked with a relieved smile.

“Friends,” Jasmine leaned over and hugged him. “I missed you, Matt. I’m glad you’re back.”

“Me too,” he chuckled. “Me too…”

a short story by Kirsten Stillman (Grade 12)

[Read Part 1]

She knocked tentatively, then opened the door and walked in. An overpowering smell that both reeked and turned her stomach at the same time hit her and made her gag. She put her hand over her mouth and nose and picked her way past the drunk and high bodies lying passed out all over the floor. She searched as quickly as she could for Matt.

She scanned every face of her classmates. They were passed out, but who know for how long. She had heard stories of incidents that happened during these parties. The ending usually involved a hospital stay. She practically held her breath as she tiptoed around the drooling bodies. She peeked into a room and grimaced. It was a sight that no one should ever see, much less describe. She tiptoed down the hallway, careful not to trip over the bodies strewn haphazardly across the floor. Her nerves seemed frayed and stretched tight as she listened for any sound that would indicate someone stirring into consciousness.

Her anxiety grew with each moment that passed. Where was Matt and why had he called her? She tried to still her pounding heart and listened, standing still for a moment despite her urge to run out of the house. It was only then that she heard a noise that made her gag. She swallowed convulsively and followed the noise warily to the bathroom. It was there that she found Matt, hunched over the toilet.

She composed herself and reached out to steady him as he retched. Her stomach churned and threatened to revolt. She concentrated on helping and when Matt was done, wiped his face off as best she could, though there was no help for his pale color. She slung his arm over her shoulders and tried to support him as he staggered towards the door with her, tripping over bodies as he went.

She prayed fervently that the unconscious bodies would stay were they were until she left. She knew how mean some of her classmates could get when they were drunk. She shuddered at the thought of confronting a violent classmate with hardly anything to protect herself with. She only had a very basic knowledge of self-defense that her uncle had taught her. She was sure it wouldn’t do much good with a mean drunk.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she made it out the front door with Matt still stumbling along with her. She somehow managed to get him into the passenger seat of her car, then drove away from Pat’s house with a heartfelt prayer of thanks whispered on her lips.

She drove in silence for a small amount of time before stopping the car back at her house. She turned the car off and turned to face a pale, but much better-looking, Matt. He sighed and cautiously looked at her. She said nothing, even though she had told him so much more only weeks ago about his behavior. She studied his face for a moment, then got out of the car.

“Come on,” she said before she closed her car door.

“Where are we going?” He asked cautiously.

“Inside to get you cleaned up. Then we are going to go eat food made by the best cook in the world.”

He followed her silently into her house, where she took an extra toothbrush, which was luckily still packaged, and handed it to him with toothpaste and pointed to the bathroom. He ducked his head and went into the bathroom, while Jasmine went into her older brother’s room to raid his closet for clean clothes.

Ten minutes later, both were back in her car and headed for her aunt’s house. Neither of them mentioned what had happened earlier. Matt was greeted enthusiastically by her aunt and uncle, as well as by her mom, dad, and older brother. Her older brother stealthily evaluated Matt’s outfit, then raised an inquiring eyebrow at Jasmine, who only raised an eyebrow in reply.

The evening was filled with laughter and good spirit. Jasmine relaxed when Matt seemed to take to the company easily, as if there had not been a distancing of their friendship and he had been invited places with her the whole time.

It was only when the evening had ended and they were back in her car that Matt turned to look at her profile. Jasmine concentrated on the road, seeming not to notice.

“Jazz?” He finally broke the silence in the car.

“Hmm?”

“Why did you do it?”

[to be continued…]