Caravan day 3 and 4

I have always questioned the need for “Twitter” when it first came out. I avoided jumping on the bandwagon. A few days before caravan, I signed up as an experiment. I though, well, maybe I can keep folks updated.

It’s worked! I can send short updates from my phone and parents and congregation members and friends can follow us on caravan and know what we are doing in “real” time. My phone doesn’t have enough “power” to do facebook, or at least to do it well. Many of the links on twitter, I can’t open. I can, however, send out messages and have people think about us and pray for us. Since internet access has been sketchy....Twitter has been great to keep track of what is happening each day.

Saturday was a “no service” day. We played in Memphis and had a wonderful time. We went to Beale Street and ate at the Hard Rock Café. A big hit with the kids, it meant however, no Memphis BBQ. How can I ever do an accurate critique with Kansas City BBQ if I don’t eat BBQ in Memphis? Alas, it must wait for another trip.

We took a tour, with a young man named Jake who is a university student here in Memphis. He sang and talked us around Memphis. We went to Sun Records,and drove by Stax Records, by the WC Handy’s house, Elvis’s apartment and Johnny Cash’s apartment. We learned about BB King and many of the music greats of Memphis. We drove past and stopped outside the Lorraine Hotel where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed. It was a sobering end to an entertaining tour. It reminded me of what often lies in the heart of any city….true greatness and and deep despair.

We then went to Mud Island Park and walked and played and finished the afternoon with a River Boat Tour on the “Old Man River.” Then to the church to unload and prepare for Sunday.
We set up all the equipment we need in order to share in worship.

After the work is done, each evening we gather as a large group and run down the the bed times and the morning times. There are several wake up calls and a time for breakfast to begin and end. Since the service was not until 11:00 we actually got to "sleep in". Following announcements, Kris Meckenstock leads the evening devotions. Then, everyone breaks up into family groups. There are two adult sponsors (usually a mom and dad, but not always) and ten kids. They gather to work through some questions about the devotions and "rags and brags".

Then it is time to settle down, get quiet and lights out. And it works! We have fallen asleep in good time...but we never have enough time to sleep. I guess that is what early morning bus rides are for...to catch up on sleep.

The Sunday morning service went well. The Arlington Advent Presbyterian church is awesome! Their hospitality is a gift to us.

The day ended with a trip to Graceland and some laser tag. Now to settle down and for another night. Tomorrow we are off to Jacksonville.

As I look around and see these amazing kids, I am grateful to be

Graced to Serve.