8 Nov, 2007
The party's over
Another student makes the deadly choice.
Death by drink didn't shock cops
Amanda Jax's death from drinking too much during her 21st-birthday celebration may have shocked her family and friends, but Mankato police say they're not surprised that such a thing would happen.
"Binge drinking ... has been a problem for some time," Matt Westermayer, deputy director of public safety for Mankato, said two days after Jax died in a Mankato apartment.
Westermayer added that trying to turn the tide on alcohol abuse "has been pushed off on law enforcement." He sees it more as a problem for all segments of society to confront.
The final hours of Jax's life are being pieced together as police try to learn more about the death of the woman whom police believe drank herself to death the night of her 21st birthday, the first day she could drink legally.
After receiving a 911 call, officers and firefighters found Jax, of Mayer, Minn., dead on a bed in an apartment near Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Police said it "appears that alcohol played a significant role in the death of Ms. Jax" after she "became quite intoxicated."
Jax was in town to celebrate turning 21. She was a pre-nursing student at the university between 2005 and this summer and had been accepted into the nursing program next spring, a university spokesman said.
Emotional tributes, photographs and fond recollections mounted by the dozens on a Facebook Web page created in her memory.
"It was just last Sunday before her b-day that we got into deep conversations about our hopes and dreams and aspirations," one friend wrote. "She talked about her plans for the future, how excited she was that she just got accepted to nursing school, and the family she wanted to start to make right after graduating."
photo & story courtesy startribune.com, 11/1/07
Proverbs 23:29-35 (NLT)
29 Who has anguish? Who has sorrow?
Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining?
Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns,
trying out new drinks.
31 Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is,
how it sparkles in the cup, how smoothly it goes down.
32 For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake;
it stings like a viper.
33 You will see hallucinations,
and you will say crazy things.
34 You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea,
clinging to a swaying mast.
35 And you will say, “They hit me, but I didn’t feel it.
I didn’t even know it when they beat me up.
When will I wake up
so I can look for another drink?”
What is Solomon’s Godly wisdom on the use of alcohol in today's God's Story scripture?
It’s pretty clear isn’t it? (Well at least more clear than the head or eyes of the person that Solomon is describing!)
The bottom line is that with the use of alcohol comes risk and consequences. In fact, today’s passage lists seven consequences of drinking. Can you name three or four without going back and looking?
Alcohol may provide some taste and comfort for awhile…but then what? Anyone who tries to find relief from whatever is wrong with life may find out that there’s now more wrong with life.
In the words of Paul in Ephesians 5:18, “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you.”
When will we learn that life is more than a party?
How can we connect today’s God’s Story scripture to our lives?
- Decide to listen to God’s Word rather than the media. Movies, TV, music and ads all promote drinking as the way to experience fun, excitement, better romance, more sex, more friends, and “hot” or “cool” nights, depending on your mood. God wants you to experience His ultimate adventure for you, which comes through the control of the Holy Spirit in you. (This is another way to remember what it means to abide in Christ!)
- If you’ve been struggling with drinking, talk to your youth leader or pastor. If you don’t have one, ask someone who loves Jesus to help you find help.
- Whenever you see a commercial or ad for drinking, pray for the courage to say no to alcohol abuse and pray for the courage to help someone who is struggling.
- Pray right now. If you have been able to say no to the drinking scene, thank God for His strength. If you’ve been struggling with drinking, ask God for the strength and the courage to talk to someone to help you and hold you accountable.
How can we connect today’s story and God’s Story scripture and our story to others?
- Pray for God's comfort for the friends and family of Amanda Jax.
- Remember that if we’re going to be messengers of God’s Story and connect Jesus to (their story), we must live out the message of Jesus because He has changed our lives.
- Make a list of friends and family who are messing with alcohol or are messed up already. Every day, pray for them to be able to say no and to get help and/or be held accountable. Maybe you’re the one to help and hold them accountable?
- Use this DAILYBIDE as a source for study in your youth group or small group. Some interesting questions to discuss would be: Why do you think most teenagers drink? Do you see much difference between the habits of followers of Jesus and those who are not when it comes to drinking? Why or why not? How can we be more like Jesus in facing this challenge?
- July 2008 [17]
- June 2008 [13]
- May 2008 [20]
- April 2008 [22]
- March 2008 [21]
- February 2008 [19]
- January 2008 [20]
- December 2007 [19]
- November 2007 [17]
- October 2007 [20]
- September 2007 [19]
- August 2007 [18]
- July 2007 [13]
- June 2007 [11]
- May 2007 [14]
- April 2007 [11]
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- February 2007 [14]
- January 2007 [7]
- December 2006 [5]
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- October 2006 [18]
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