"I think it's a sin to sit down and let your life go, without making a try for it."

Tomorrow is youth Sunday.  I volunteered to speak.  I am introducing the message then a few people are going to talk and then I am going to end it.  I didn't think I was going to be able to convey what I wanted to say.  I sat down and started writing.  I ended up getting so carried away and so into what I was writing that I ended up with a five minute speech.  That is one page, size ten font, single spaced.  Then I tried to read it to my mom.  I broke down and cried and couldn't get through it.  After the first five times, I can now successfully read it and not get choked up.  Now I have a terrible headache.  I think I'll post some of it here.  I won't post the whole thing.. just the ending.  Oh Lord help me get through this!  The topic of the message is gifts.. I talk about it alot at the beginning.. and then I transition into this:

    Challenges are numerous in the lives of teenagers today.  Whether we are faced with varying religions, or tragedy or any of the other numerous vices of the world, it's so nice to know that we have a home to come back to.  Now, I don't mean my home on 634 Meadowlark Drive, although it is a nice place and I have a nice family, but I mean my church home.  For eighteen years, my entire life, this is the only home I've known, next year I will be sad to be without you.  Olivet has supported me through the years, and I can't imagine getting up to go anywhere else on Sunday mornings, but as we get closer to graduation, I realize that this reality in inevitable.  Thankyou Olivet.  Thankyou for all you have done for me.  Thankyou for supporting our youth program.  Thank you for believing in us when sometimes it seems as though the entire world is against us, and in a time when addictions, heartaches, troubles, and the vices of the world are all too real.  You have been a gift to me and a gift to all of us.  And I am so thankful for you. 
    A message about gifts would not be complete without mentioning the greatest gift, Jesus.  Even when nothing seems quite right, even when the things of this world weigh you down, He is the one gift, the one Hope, the one sure thing in a world of uncertainty.  He is the one gift we all can have, we all can share; the one gift that can be refreshed renewed, opened every day, and you never get sick of it.  The gift that's so beautiful it doesn't need a wrapping job.  The gift that even though it's dripping with blood and sweat and tears and the sins of the world, is still the most beautiful vision.  The gift that not only momentarily makes heartaches soften, but the gift that will take away heartache for eternity.  He is the real gift.