Dear parents, I know you're concerned, but believe you me, your children are fine. In fact, your children are wonderful. Do you know what they've done over the past two days? They sang at a children's hospital in Memphis (Le Bonheur) and gave out bears (check out Amber-Drew's note on the subject) and showed what wonderful and caring people they are. That was after Tuesday, when we sang at a chapel service, visited Nashville and drove to Jackson (and ate tons of food... and saw all the competitors in the Miss Tennessee pageant; the guys were happy) and after a morning visiting the Mississippi River. It was also on the fifth day of tour, a time when most definitely everyone's tired (though how can that be, because I'm sure all the little dears stayed quietly asleep in their beds after lights out?) and their is a 90% chance of irritability. Your kids have got heart and they shared it with people in need of some extra love and light in their lives. After all, who couldn't be happy after seeing Spencer and Brantley climb into the children's play place and rock the play time with a three year old?
After an afternoon in Memphis, your kids showed some stamina and some sociability by singing at Lambuth United Methodist Church in Jackson with some more awesome food (I have never eaten this much on a tour. NEVER.) and a youth group that was excited to see us. They're small but mighty- they had about nine of their eleven kids there that night, sitting at tables among the sea of lime green and making new friends. They came up for the last two numbers and stayed around and played basketball and other kinds of imaginary ball games while the youth praise band played songs. We danced, we sang along, we played and a good time was had by all. Then some of the kids from the youth group came along to our devotion time and your kids didn't mind standing up in front of people they had just met to share what God had been doing in their lives. Most talked about going to the children's hospital (listen to their stories- they'll be better than mine), but some talked about the goodness that people can show and the things that touched them. I've got a tremendous amount of respect for this group of kids. Yes, they complain. Yes, they whine. Yes, they're never on time and yes, they don't actually have all the parts of all the songs memorized. And they're kids- sometimes they're mean, sometimes they're fake, sometimes they won't let you help and sometimes their disrespect will drive you up a wall and sideways. But they amaze me more than they complain, I'm getting a great patience work-out, apparently they smile when they sing and they do wonderful things. Your life isn't going to be measured with a balance when you die, with your good deeds on one side and your bad actions on another, but if that's what happened, then these kids would be weighted towards one side.
Today, we went to the Salvation Army. We meant to leave at 8 in the morning and most of the kids were awake for that in their eye-popping green. We got there in a semi-timely fashion. We split into groups and rotated around, helping out with their vacation bible school, painting and cleaning doors, sorting food and sorting clothes. Some people worked on computers with Bobby (that's a mystical group whose purpose I have yet to determine) and some girls worked on a mural. It is the best. Please go look at Amber-Drew's picture of it and be proud of what your daughters have done. My day at the Salvation Army ended with a partially assembled desk (in my defense, the multiple languages confused me and it only mentioned once that you should put the fronts of the drawers on first) but it's not going to stay that way- I'm sure someone in the group gave up a bit of their dinner to finish it and finish it right because that's the kind of people we have here.
So I'm continuing to blind myself with the reflected light of this superbly bright t-shirt that I'm wearing in solidarity with the people I'm missing right now. The chaperons have said again and again that these kids are our God-moments for the trip. Ron's been having to make the kids go first, but like one of the chaperons said, maybe they don't see the God-moments because they are the God-moments. Through crazy schedule changes (we're flexible) and long days, they've been wonderful human beings around each other. This trip is supposed to be about them (and God- why does it always sound tacky to put God first?) and through themselves, they've flipped it on us.
Wherever we go next year, I can't yet think of a better group of people to be going with. Ron always says that we're building on the reputation of the choirs on the past. We have had some awesome choirs of the past. And we've had choirs of a slightly lesser degree of awesome. Now, this group isn't the group that I grew up wanting to be (yeah, yeah, laugh at the youth-choir nerd who was super impressed when she was in kid's choir) and it's much different from the two-bus filling, orange shirt wearing choir that came here last. But that's because they're their own kind of wonderful. And they're still singing the same song. And it's about God.
Lift every voice and sing,
Let every word you say take wing,
God's power within your heart
Will open Heaven's Gate.
Lift every hand in praise,
Seek out the light that shines above,
God's power within your soul,
Will open Heaven's Door.
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