When Eyes Meet

After dinner that night we went straight to the chapel, we wanted the best seats we could get because we knew that the message tonight was going to be the big one. Once we arrived we saw that the first two rows of the room were filled so we sat in the middle column on the right side. Everyone's heads were bowed in prayer so I shut my eyes and bowed my head. Everything was silent until I heard a whisper, "Danielle." I sat up and looked around me; everyone was still bowed in prayer. I bowed my head back down, wondering who had said my name. Soon after that I heard the whisper again, "Surrender, Danielle. Surrender." As I heard that I could hear the song Surrender by BarlowGirl running through my head. I could feel tears running down my face before I even knew I was crying. God was talking to me, the one and only infallible God. He was telling me to surrender, to open my heart again. I knew then what the tugging had been earlier that day, it had been the same thing that was happening now, only more intense.

"You alright?" I heard Katrina ask. I couldn't do anything but lay my head on her shoulder and let the tears fall. My mind was reeling; everything I had ever done in my life was passing through my mind, the good and the bad. Once everything had passed I felt warmth surround my body. It wasn't any mortal's arms, they were God's arms. Then I began laughing, I was crying and laughing at the same time. I stood up and threw my hands above my head and laughed straight from my gut. I didn't care who was looking up at me now, all I knew was that I was truly happy right at that moment and I couldn't hold it in for anybody.

I sat down and looked over at Katrina, who had the most confused look on her face that I had ever seen on someone. "I'm whole again!" I exclaimed in a quiet whisper. "I'm right back where I need to be. I feel so light, everything that's been worrying me since the beginning of the summer just doesn’t seem to matter anymore. It's like a giant weight has been lifted off my shoulders." Katrina's face split into a smile and she threw her arms around me and held me tight. "I'm so happy!" she cried quietly. "You were looking so down earlier that I thought something horribly wrong had happened. And I knew that you were so stressed about this being your last summer here. I'm so happy for you, for so many reasons!"

Truly elated that one of my closest friends was happy for me warmed me inside. "Good evening," John's voice rang out over the silent crowd. "I see that we have many reactions to tonight's prayer time, from solemn prayer to elated joy." I pulled away from Katrina and blushed slightly, knowing that he was talking about me. "Now that we're all settled in for the message I'd like to tell you what it’s about. Since this morning we talked about waking up from our sleep tonight I want to talk to you about what you need to do once you're awake." He preached for about thirty minutes. "Now I want all heads bowed and eyes closed," John said after he had finished his message. "If you are a Christian that has gone astray and you would like prayer I would like you to raise your hand right now." I raised my hand high. John waited a few minutes, "If you are not a Christian, but have felt God speaking to your heart tonight and you would like prayer to help you make your decision I would like you to raise your hand right now."

A few minutes passed by and then John said, "Alright, there have been many decisions tonight. If you have made a decision to follow Christ tonight I would like you to step forward to the front of the room where there will be people up here to help you in the decision you have just made. You can even come up with a friend or your neighbor if you don't want to come up on your own. Now we would like you to stand and sing this song with us." As we stood I saw JJ moving towards the piano. He sat down and began playing while Stephen moved up to the microphone and began singing the song, one that he hadn't taught us yet.

During the first verse, where everyone was quiet trying to learn the words and the tune to the new song, the girl next to me tapped me on the shoulder and asked, "Will you go up with me?" I looked at her, "Do you really want me to go up with you?" She nodded her head and we walked up the aisle together. We both kneeled by the alter and I placed my arms around her shoulders while she prayed. While she was praying I also began praying for her and those around us that I had seen come up behind us. She reached up and squeezed my arm once she was done. I opened my eyes and smiled at her while we got up and started walking towards the back of the room with a youth pastor that I didn't know.

Once they walked out of the room I stopped and went back to my seat, knowing now that she was in good hands. I stood next to Katrina and began singing the song with her, even though it was almost over. As the last chord of the song died away Tmac walked up to the stage and turned on the microphone he had in his hand, "We have many people in the back rooms making decisions tonight. So, I would like you guys to exit through the doors to the left of the stage and go to your church groups quietly, so you don't disturb those that are in the rooms." Once everyone had left for their church groups we moved up to the front of the chapel to wait for Shaun and Kelly, they had gone with some of the youth that had made decisions that night.

"Hey, guess what?" Alec said as we all chose our spots, the guys sitting in the chairs and the girls on the floor with our backs to the stage. "I have a joke for you guys." "Ok Alec," Katrina said, knowing that it would either be hilarious or stupid. "What is it?" Alec didn't say anything for a second, building up the suspense I suppose. "Women's rights!" he exclaimed. Donald and Jesse burst out laughing while Katrina, Amber, and I just stared at Alec like he had a giant zit on his forehead. "Um no," I said as I took out a piece of gum and threw the wrapper at him as I placed the piece in my mouth. "What are you guys laughing at?" the bassist for the band asked as they walked in to set up for the concert that would be happening after we were done with our church groups.

"A joke. You want to hear it?" Alec asked. The bassist nodded his head and before Katrina and I could stop Alec from opening his mouth the words fell out, "Women’s rights!" The drummer snickered a little while Stephen, the other guitarist, and JJ just stared at Alec like Katrina and I had, but the bassist cracked up laughing just like Donald and Jesse had. Katrina and I turned to him, glaring with all our might. "You're no longer on the cool list," Katrina said as she turned away from him. "You just hit rock bottom," I said. "Aw, come on. It was slightly funny," the bassist pleaded, trying to present his case. "No way Will," the other guitarist said as he picked up his guitar and started tuning. "You've dropped on the list which means that I've gone up."

"But, Mario laughed a little bit," Will whined. "I did not," Mario lied with a smile. "Don't believe him Micah. I only snickered which is different from a laugh. Right girls?" "Well, it is kinda like a laugh," Katrina replied thoughtfully. "But, you're still above Will on the cool list. And Micah, you're like fifty places above Will." "What about me and JJ?" Stephen asked, intrigued by our system. "I don't know, you're both pretty high up there," I replied with a smile. "Is JJ higher than me?" Stephen asked slyly. I felt heat rising on my face, he knew. The entire band looked at me with anticipation on their faces, they must all have known. "Well, uh, you both play guitar and sing, but you write the lyrics while JJ doesn't so that makes you slightly cooler," I nervously replied. "Oh really?" Stephen asked with a broad grin. "Well, JJ sometimes helps me write. It's fine if you say JJ is cooler because you like him, I don't mind one bit."

"I'm just not going to answer that question," I stated. "Ha, so it's true!" Donald exclaimed. "You like a guy you've only known for twenty four hours!" "What are you guys talking about?" a voice from the back of the room asked. We all turned to see Shaun and Kelly standing in the doorway. I swear I must have looked like a ghost when I turned back around to face everyone else by the way they were looking at me. "Nothing much, just getting to know the band better," Katrina replied nervously, trying to cover for me. "Sure, we'll all have a talk about this later," Shaun replied, his voice tight. I glanced up at JJ who gave me a small, reassuring smile before he went to tune his guitar.

Church group was a little tense and awkward, we all knew that Shaun wanted to talk about what had happened but didn't want to do it in front of the band. We knew that it would probably happen either after the concert tonight or in the morning. Or so we thought. "So what was going on earlier with the whole "you like a guy you've only known for twenty four hours"?" Shaun asked, the band still in the room and watching intently after Shaun asked the question. "Well, you see," Katrina began but I stopped her. "You see Shaun, I kind of have a crush on JJ here," I said calmly, pointing to JJ. "And, it may be more than a high school crush, but I'm not going to push it any further than what it’s going at while we're here at camp ," I added with a whisper that was meant for Shaun's ears only.

"That's a good answer," Shaun replied. "I know how you feel. I mean, Kelly and I met here my first summer as a sponsor when she was a student, but remember that this time here at camp is a time for God and that He should be at the center of your attention. But, communication between you two is fine, as long as there’s not much more to it. If you're really serious about being a collegiate staff member next year you're going to have to set an example now. Tmac and the Y.E.S staff are watching your every move." "I know Shaun," I said, relieved that there wasn't too much of a lecture for me. "Which is why I'm keeping the standings where they are at this point?" "Well then, since we're done with our "meeting" and have prime seats for tonight’s concert let's talk about the Pillar of Faith tomorrow. Who's in?" Everyone raised their hands but Donald and me.

"Alrighty then, so everyone's doing it. Good, unanimous participation is always the best," Shaun said as he smiled at us, both looking like we were going to faint right then and there. "Don't worry Shaun," I gulped, thinking about my possible near death experience the next day. "I have my ways. You'll never see it coming." Kelly rolled her eyes; she was used to the prank wars and tricks that Shaun and I would have that would usually involve the entire youth group. "Alright children," Kelly said sarcastically, "there's only about five minutes until the rest of the camp shows up. So, now would be a good time for all of you to go to the bathroom or do whatever you need to do outside the chapel before it gets too crowded in here." A few got up and left the room while the rest of us got up and chose our seats for the evening, even though we knew we would probably be on our feet and right in front of the stage by the time the band started playing.

I watched JJ and the rest of the band warming up and checking their equipment. By talking to Shaun I was almost questioning my decision to meet with JJ after the show. What I had told Shaun was true; I didn't want a big relationship with JJ while we were still at camp. It would be a huge distraction for me when I should be focusing on other things. I looked up at JJ and he flashed me a grin, which told me that he hadn't heard anything that I had talked to Shaun about earlier. So, I decided to meet him later that night, even if it was only to tell him that it would be the last time of us alone together at camp. I didn't want to risk my chances for next summer or to ruin the trust that Shaun had placed in me for this situation.

Slowly but surely the campers started piling into the chapel. When everyone had settled into their seats Stephen went up to his microphone. "Welcome to your all out worship night," he yelled into his microphone. "Tonight it’'s all about you praising him." He pointed up to the sky. "The guys and I are only here to provide the background music and the beat for you to flow with. So let's get to it!" As the band began playing the crowd of campers rushed the stage. Luckily all of us but Shaun and Kelly, who were only a couple of feet behind us, made it up front and center. From then on it was hands raised, lungs pumping, voices raised, and hearts beating. It felt like it was only a few minutes but when the session was over we had spent a little over two hours worshiping.

JJ caught my eye while we were filing out. He gave me a questioning look and I mouthed to him, "I'll try to meet you after lights out. If not, I'll see you tomorrow." He nodded and walked off with the rest of the band. We all walked back to our rooms, we saw the guys off at their dorm and then we walked back to ours. After everyone except Katrina, Amber, and I had gone to take their showers I wanted to talk to Katrina about later that night. "So, I don't know if I'm going to see him tonight or not. It all depends on how risky it looks," I told her as I climbed up to my bunk. "Well, I think it's too risky," Amber said as she stretched out on her bed. "Besides I thought you told Shaun that you weren't going to take this very far while you're here at camp." "Yeah, what happened to that?" Katrina asked, no happy with my decision at all.

"Well, that's basically why I'm seeing him tonight," I said and they both gave me the "yeah, right" look. "I'm serious you guys. I want to tell him that I'm here to focus on God this week, not him. And, that if he does want this relationship to go past this week that it’s going to be a lot of work and commitment for both of us. I don't want him to get into something that he's going to regret. If it's not safe enough to see him tonight I told him that I would talk to him tomorrow if tonight didn't work out. I could talk to him at the Fourth of July fireworks display tomorrow night." "Well, then I forgive you for almost making a terrible decision earlier today. But, you made it turn out for the best," Katrina said. "But, remember to be careful if you go out. There's more than just Y.E.S and collegiate staff members to watch out for. Remember that snake we saw last year?"

"How could I forget? That thing was longer than my body!" I exclaimed, remembering how huge it was. "Telling that snake story again girls?" Kelly asked as she walked in the door. "You still don't believe us?" I questioned in disbelief. "Kelly, we're telling the truth! This thing was huge and real!" Katrina said matter-of-factly. "Sure girls, I'll believe it when I see it." Soon afterwards all the lights in the dorm were all and girls were either sleeping or getting to that point. Fifteen minutes, I told myself. Fifteen minutes and I'll go try.

Fifteen minutes passed and I crawled out of bed. Sure enough, everyone in my room was fast asleep in dreamland. I tiptoed to the door and opened it as quietly as I possibly could, but it squeaked. I turned around quickly, but saw that no one had woken up. I was safe and in the clear for the time being. When I didn't see anyone moving in the hallway I knew that all the Y.E.S and collegiate staff had gone to bed. I walked slowly to the front door, opened it, and then propped it open with a rock so that I wouldn't get locked out. I looked out across the campus to see if there was anyone on the lookout for a stray camper. When I saw none I quickly jogged towards the chapel to meet JJ.

When I saw him waiting for me my heart quickened, almost as much as it had when I first saw him. "Hey," he said when he saw me. "I was beginning to think you weren't going to come and I would have to wait until tomorrow to see you." "Well, I really needed to talk to you about something and I didn't think it could wait until tomorrow," I said as I stood next to him. "I really don't think that we should take this relationship, friendship, whatever you would label it any further than we already have. I mean, this is a week for me to focus on my relationship with God and nothing else, and I think that if we become more than we are now that it might distract me from that. And, I'm also being watched constantly by the staff here at camp because I have expressed an interest in being on the collegiate staff next year. So every move I make is being judged by them, even being out here right now is risking everything. I just wanted to let you know, but if after this week you still want to move things along then I would be fine, but it's going to be a lot of work."

"Wow," JJ laughed, "that's totally what I wanted to say to you. That's awesome that we feel the same way." "Really?" I asked, just as surprised as he was. "Really. The guys and I talked about it this afternoon, I needed advice," he said. "But, there is one step that I would like to take before we stop moving forward." He took a step towards me and turned me to face him. He cupped my face in his hands and placed his lips on mine. My heart was racing and I could feel every hair on my body standing on end. He slowly moved his lips away from mine. "How was that?" he asked. "Wow," I whispered, the nerves in my lips were still tingling even thought it was just a small peck on the lips. "That was, wow." "Speechless I see," JJ replied with a cocky smile. "Would you like another?" "Yes please," I said as I pulled his lips towards mine for another kiss.