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Campus Life, May/June 2001
Party All Night Long!
That's just what these friends did, planning a post-prom alternative they'll never forget.
by Karen Radford as told to Alister Emerson
The senior prom had just ended, and my friends and I were standing in the school parking lot. Jennifer, one of the most popular girls at school, stood close by. It wasn't long before the insults began.
"You three girls are like that monkey carving on the math teacher's desk," she said. "What does it say? Oh yes, 'See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.' You Christians have no fun."
But Jennifer and her friends suddenly stopped laughing when a stretch limousine pulled up right beside us. As they stared at the limo, a cute guy in a chauffeur's uniform got out of the driver's side and said to us, "Ladies, your carriage awaits." He then opened the door for me and my friends Becki and Tess. As we climbed inside, we were greeted by the beaming smile of our youth leader, Sue, who was lounging in the back seat.
"Sorry I'm late," said Sue, handing us each a bowl of fresh strawberries and a glass of sparkling grape juice. "I just had to organize the movie theater for our 3 a.m. private screening."
We drove away from the crowd of people, who were anticipating an after-prom night of beer drinking and wild partying. While their best hopes for the evening included not getting puked on by a guy named Larry, I knew we were about to begin one of the most memorable nights of our lives.
"Who Says God's Boring?"
It all started when we were at Becki's place trying to decide whether or not we even wanted to go to the prom. We knew that every year there was an after-prom party that everyone went to. Rumor had it this year's party was going to be so big you had to buy tickets! We didn't want to have anything to do with it because we knew how those parties always ended up: lots of really drunk people doing stupid stuff. As Christians, we knew we shouldn't go.
But we also knew this was the social event of the year, and we would be labeled geeks forever if we didn't go. Our options looked pretty grim: go to the party, or go straight home after the prom and sit in our rooms, watching the paint dry.
That was, until Sue had a brainstorm.
"Who told you God was boring?" she asked.
"What do you mean?" Tess asked.
"Well, I don't remember any Bible characters who sat around, collecting dust or being bored just because they decided to follow God," Sue said with a gleam in her eye. "Typically that's when things got really wild for them. As Christians we are not called to be the frozen chosen, but to be radical disciples of Christ."
"So how does that apply to our social problem?" I asked.
"Simple," Sue said. "It means we need to get creative about how we spend the evening after the prom."
So we started tossing out ideas. Some of them were too way out—like riding an elephant at the zoo at midnight. Some were too expensive—like getting picked up from the prom by a helicopter (we settled for the limousine instead). After hours of planning and organizing, which turned out almost as fun as prom night itself, we ended up with one of the most memorable nights ever.
Here are some highlights:
11:30 p.m.
The limo rolled into the parking lot and picked us up. It was so big we called it the "Titanic." It was outfitted with a big screen TV, a really loud stereo, and real leather seats. During our limo ride, we used Sue's cell phone to call a local radio station to request songs. When we told the DJ what we were doing, he asked us to phone in every half hour to let him know what we were up to next.
We cruised around town eating fresh strawberries and cream, drinking sparkling grape juice from the fine crystal glasses, feeling like celebrities. We drove up to the observation point where you could see the lights of the city on one side and the harbor on the other. While we were there, Tess had a cool idea to pray for our friends who were out drinking at the after-prom party.
12:55 a.m.
After an hour and a half of cruising around town, we pulled up to the marina and said goodbye to our cute driver and his posh limo. We were dropped off at the gangplank of a magnificent yacht called the "Del Rosa," which belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Forestor, a cool older couple from Sue's small group at church. The Forestors were so thrilled when Sue asked them about using their boat, they insisted on playing hosts. While Mr. Forestor sailed around the harbor, Mrs. Forestor served us a scrumptious three-course meal. It even included frozen grapes to cleanse our taste buds between courses.
3:00 a.m.
We returned to dry land and waved goodbye to the Forestors. Then we zipped over to the movie theater in Sue's Toyota Corolla. Once at the theater we met up with Sue's husband, Steve, and a group of guys from our youth group.
The guys had found out what we were doing after the prom and talked Steve into organizing their own fun night out as well. While we waited for the movie to start, we swapped stories. The guys told us about the mountain bike ride they'd taken by the light of the full moon, and how they'd played two-on-two basketball in the old school gym for a couple of hours. It sounded like a great night, but I sure wouldn't have traded it for our dinner on the yacht!
Steve brought out bags of popcorn for our private audience of eight, and we sat down to enjoy our own late night movie—although Becki was sure she heard one of the guys snoring.
5:00 a.m.
We said goodbye to the guys and drove to Sue's place for a soak in her hot tub. True bliss.
6:20 a.m.
Although we were getting tired, we all decided to climb the hill behind Sue's house to watch the sun rise. The normally bustling city seemed at peace below us. As the beautiful colors of the sun spread across the sky, we all agreed the climb was worth the effort.
7:00 a.m.
Back in the Toyota, we drove to McDonald's for breakfast. Then it was home to fall into bed, exhausted and happy after one of the most amazing (and least boring) nights of our lives.
One Awesome Lesson
Unlike some of our friends who went to the after-prom party, we can all remember everything we did that night, and none of us had a hangover the next day. Sue taught us an awesome lesson. She showed us the Christian life is meant to be anything but boring. We had so much fun that we all offered to help Sue run a night like this for the next prom. Becki thinks word will spread around our school so fast that next year we might need a whole fleet of limos!
What Did It All Cost?
If you think Karen and her friends went into debt for their fun night out, think again. Here's a rundown of the overall costs:
Limo ride
Free—paid for by two businessmen in Karen's church.
Yacht trip & meal
Free—donated by a couple in youth leader Sue's small group at church; each girl chipped in $5 to buy a thank-you gift.
Movie
$5 each—Sue's husband, Steve, worked out a deal with a friend who worked at the theater.
Hot tub
Free
Sunrise
Free
Breakfast
$4 each
Fuel & snacks
$4 each
Total cost
$18 each for an all-night party
(The guys' night cost $15 each) |
We Want Your Creative Party Alternatives!
What have you done that shows Christians can have a great time without joining the typical party scene? We'd love to hear your ideas! Write 'em up with as much detail as possible. With your ideas, include your name, home address, e-mail address, age and year in school. We'll print the best ideas in an upcoming issue.
Send to: Party Alternatives
Campus Life
465 Gundersen Drive
Carol Stream, IL 60188
E-mail: CLmag@campuslife.net
Fax: (630) 260-0114
Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today International/Campus Life magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Campus Life.
May/June 2001, Vol. 59, No. 9, Page 40
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