When the Juniors began their project to reform CVA, dark forces immediately swarmed our ranks. Two students, suspended on drug and alcohol abuse. Another student, sent to CAPS* for depression/suicide and cutting. Many more students spontaneously shoved to the ground by the devil in other aspects of life. All of this happened within a few weeks. The world seemed to be crashing. Along with these issues came drama that even still pervades us at times, squeezing in between friends, attempting to make barriers. Nothing could prepare any of us for this. Satan saw what had begun… and he was angry.
Time went by, and the Juniors decided to put on a Thanksgiving vespers on a Friday night for everyone to attend. The main event was writing things about people and putting them in brown paper bags. Everyone had their own bag with their name written on it. I think we all spent a good hour and a half writing things for people. Some people decided to write a short note to everyone in the school. I’m not super connected to everyone at CVA, so I wrote to people who I had things to say to; people who I thought needed to hear something uplifting. I remember writing a note to a freshman girl who I’d seen in the past months that always seemed down, unconfident, and sad. It made me feel terrible every time I saw her, so I wrote some words of encouragement. “Keep your head up”, was part of what I’d written. A few days later she told me what that had meant to her, how it had really touched her and that she’d try to stay in better spirits. That made me feel good 
Aside from that note, many more people felt blessed from the things people had to say. I, myself, was extremely moved by some of the things I received from my peers, as I read the things that I’d never heard them say before. This wasn’t a cliche happening. It was something new… This project just has a tendency to make new experiences when you least expect it. That was the first of several more vespers that occurred in the weeks to come. The first few were happy and had good feelings floating about. But living a Godly life and growing nearer isn’t always such a breeze…
*CAPS: Counseling and Psychological Services – As a side note, I would sincerely ask everyone reading this to offer up a quick, but earnest prayer for our friend, who is still struggling with these problems. Thank you.
