Day Two: In Which We Arrive

Fathers Day: Once a year for many, but I wish I lived like it was every day for my heavenly Father.

There are very few things I enjoy doing more than worshipping my little heart out, so I was excited to stay for the service at the church in Franklin. It was a little different, but not in a bad way... Just different. I'm not used to people being so ready to put their hands in the air and put their everything into what they're singing. I love it. I love, love, love watching people be passionate. You experience them at their finest moment and become just as passionate as they are.

After some rockin' out and praying, the whole congregation was treated to free snow cones outside, and we were invited as well. Personally, I favored the orange and vanilla combo.

After a lunch of more sandwiches, we loaded up and moved out towards our destination. We arrived a little after six, and first things first, we took all our crap to our living quarters for the next week.

This is all I'll say about our rooms: I've lived in worse, so what we have is, somehow, a blessing. Miranda and I moved in with two other girls we knew fairly well, and I immediately unpacked nearly everything I brought. Clothes went in drawers, toiletries went by the mirror, and notebooks and crayons went in the desk. After the sleeping bag was rolled out, it was just about time for chapel.

When I was with Team Effort the last time, chapel was the highlight of my day. Hello Seattle (Remix) was bumping and the crowd was pumped for the amazing songs we did for worship. I was introduced to so many incredible artists that summer, it's crazy. And I loved afterwords with just our own people, where Jess pulled out the guitar and we continued to sing some of our favorites as well.

This time around is still awesome when we sing, but the mini sermons fall short of carrying weight to me. Funnily enough, these sermons and scriptures are a near perfect copy of the ones they used in Copperhill. More news of what we're being taught will come in later posts.

We headed back to the dorms after being given the schedule for the following day: 7:05 for breakfast, 8:00 leave for work site, 5:35 for dinner, 10:30 lights out. I went to bed, anxious to start the week.

Day One: In Which We Found Super John...Er, Superman!

For the six of us youth who were on the last trip here to Tennessee, a find memory was accidentally ending up in Metropolis, Illinois, home of the incredible Superman. We followed the signs to find him, and sure enough, there he was, standing to protect the police department building. That day we went, no one seemed to be around, and the shops were closed. Also to our disappointment, Superman wasn't that... Super...

On the way into the 6,000 person populated town, you pass a Big John's supermarket, where there is a huge statue of Big John. So huge, in fact, he surpassed Superman's height by landslide.

I poked and prodded our sponsors this year into letting us find Superman again, for nostalgia's sake, and amazingly, they agreed. We ended up there right around dinnertime, so we actually stopped in Big John and got sandwich supplies to eat around Superman. When we got to the police station, Miranda and I noticed the stores were actually open, so we rushed to them and I bought an awesome Wonder Woman cup and a neat postcard for my collection.

After a ham sandwich and Minute Maid lemonade, we gathered around and got pictures taken with the big guy in a cape. Some of the guys played a game of hacky sack with him, too. We made sure we got a seniors picture and a "Super" seniors pictures; one of those who came to Tennessee to Copperhill.

We bid our goodbyes and made our way to Nashville for the night. My mom has a good friend from high school in Franklin, so we stayed with her and her husband at their church.

It was surprisingly cold and it didn't have a shower, but we were worn out, so we just made out the best we could and hunkered down to sleep.

One day down, too many more to go.

New Adventures

Saturday morning, just as the hear and humidity was settling in our lungs, Wyatt Park Christian Youth headed east for my fourth and final mission trip. I was ecstatic to be going back to Tennessee for the fourth time in my life and the second for a mission trip. We went with Team Effort, an organization better preferred by our group.

My bag was packed, snacks bought, and My Little Pony coloring books at the ready. I couldn't wait to get back to the lush greens of Tennessee and to see the beautiful mountains once again. The best part would be to spend time with the people I love the most before I'm forced to leave them when I go to Northwest. The worst part, however, would be to figure out how to handle the noticeable void left by our beloved sponsors Jessica, Gary, and Rylan. I've never been without them, and I wasn't sure what the trip would end up like.

Doubts in mind, an adventure began with those three vans and sixteen hours before us.