There was evening, and there was morning...the first day.

It's the end of the first day of the Music Mission. I'm starting to work on the blog, though I'll probably finish and publish it in the morning. The hours on the Mission are pretty long...but also packed with awesome.

I want to give you some idea of that awesome here--some feel for how important I feel like what we are doing is. Important. That's a word I think I'll keep coming back to this week. It's already come up several times.

For the last several years, we have left the church early on Sunday...or we left on Saturday. This year we were able to be present for the beginning of the 8:30 worship service. Just the very beginning. After the announcements, they had a prayer over us. We started singing, and we walked out singing. Right onto the bus. I know this is represents a little overlap with my post from earlier, but I didn't have this picture then. So here we are.

One of my very favorite things about working at Oak Grove is how collegial the staff are. Just in this picture, you'll see 4 staff people who aren't me. Teamwork really does make the dream work! Rachel, Taylor, and Hanna, and Leanne all contribute so much to this trip. I enjoy working closely with the youth staff, and I appreciate their support with the youth choir as well as the way they love and encourage our kids. You will not find finer youth staff.

So we got on the road toward our first destination. If that sound a little cagey, it's because this is a Mystery Music Mission. That means the youth (many of them, at least) don't know where we're going. I just tell them what they need to know about the next day, and we go with it. One of the chaperones in Pathfinder 1 (I'll explain later) took this picture of the bus in motion.

I have a reputation as it relates to a certain aquatic mammal and his brand of aggrandized convenience stores. But also I love our youth. These two truths come into tension every year about this time. Last year, when we drove past the first Bucee's on our way to Little Rock, there was weeping and gnashing of teeth. I was called a crusher of the dreams of children. So I planned to stop this year. We headed up 75 North toward Chattanooga, and when the bus slowed to take the exit, there was much rejoicing.

But look, the snacks are for real. I surely did pick up some jerky and crackers and a sweet tea that honestly wasn't very good. I was surprised by that. Bathrooms: on point. Jerky: on point. Checkout experience: on point. Overall a good stop, and we were back on the bus in a little under 30 minutes. I still marvel that we can spend 30 minutes in a convenience store. But in college I used to spend way longer than that on date night at Walmart. Don't judge me. We were in college.

It was just an hour or so later when we stopped for lunch. We stopped at the same place the children usually eat on their Chattanooga weekend trip, except Chick Fil A was closed because Sunday, and there are a few more options for older kids who can cross one of the bigger streets. These two ate together at Firehouse Subs. Care to guess where they were 6 years ago at about the same time?

 

That's right. They were at Firehouse Subs on a Music Mission trip! Here, I brought the receipts. Everybody say it with me on 3. 1-2-3 awwwwwwwwwwww.

I love me some Panda Express. Today I opted instead for Burger King, but we did have some folks who went to Panda. Lucy got this oddly perfect fortune.

In case the print is too small to read, it says, "You will take an inspirational journey to a faraway place." My thanks to the fortune cookie writers for not spoiling the destination! I do hope it's an inspirational journey. I have every confidence that it will be.

Also joining us for tour, as is his custom, is Sir Trots-a-Lot. He was happy to stop at Bucee's as well. No word on whether he actually purchased one of the spatulas. Look. You can't just go down and buy one of these at Spatula City (spatula city, spatula city). You can only get them at the place where the beaver is in charge. (BTW, 100 Cowden points to the first person to identify that movie reference in the comments below).

A little Monday math for you. We have 59 people traveling with the group this year. There are 56 seats on the bus. 59 - 56 = 3. So we had a decision to make. We could select the 3 most unruly youth and tie them to the top of the bus each day, or we could rent a vehicle to drive with the bus. We decided to rent a vehicle because we are generous and loving.

Only chaperones drive/ride in the chase vehicle. I call the vehicle Chaperone 1 because I think it's a cool mission-sounding kind of name. Initially we had a Nissan Rogue, and Michael suggested we call it Rogue One. Rogue One had a slow leak in a tire, so the chaperones swapped it for a different vehicle in Chattanooga, a Pathfinder. So now we are calling it Pathfinder 1. I still call it Chaperone 1 most of the time though. I also gave the bus a call sign: Zephyr 1. 100 Cowden points to anyone who identifies in the comments why I would call it Zephyr 1. Anyway, as you can imagine Pathfinder 1 moves a little faster than Zephyr 1. I took a picture of them as they went by. (Also, photo credit to Chaperone 1 for the earlier picture of the Zephyr in motion).

Our first concert on the road was at Senator Ben Atchley TN State Veterans' Home outside of Knoxville, TN. They house veterans, spouses, and gold star parents. They have 180 beds and a waitlist of more than 600. They don't have an indoor space that would fit the whole choir, so we sang outside instead. The weather was really nice...a little overcast with a nice breeze. We nestled in the corner of a nice outdoor space. The residents in the room immediately behind us were unable to come outside, but they were able to listen through their windows.

The staff began bringing the residents out. We had a nice crowd building, and then something happened that I've never seen before on tour: a hero walk.

When someone passes away in the home, they open the doors and make an announcement that a hero is about to go through the doors for the last time. They drape the body with a flag, and the family and hero go from their room to the hearse while everyone stands to honor them one last time.

My contact at the home told us what would be happening so we were ready for it. He wasn't sure exactly when it would happen, but it turns out it happened right before we were to start singing. We all stood still and quiet until the family had left the home. It felt holy and important, acknowledging loss and honoring those who have served.

The concert was really good in a number of ways. I was proud of the way they rose to the challenge of singing outside. You know, it was almost 5 years ago when I started my work at OGUMC, and we sang outside for just about an entire year. We couldn't stand this close together, and there weren't as many of us, but it did give me pause. Then we were rising to a different challenge. 

If you look at any of my blogs from before, this is the part where I talk about visiting. I'm going to try something new this time. I'm not going to say anything about it after today, but I will post pictures, and if I have a cool story to go with one, I'll tell it. That'll leave room for more pictures, and honestly the pictures are more compelling than my writing.

The guy in the picture here is holding a harmonica. He told us all about how he came to play it, why he played it, and how he came to play gospel music with it. Then he played a couple of songs for us. Dude can still move around on the harp! I loved the turnabout and listening to his concert for us.

One person was handing these out...gave them to several of us. In case it's hard to read in the picture, it says, "Just think, you're here not by chance but by God's choosing. His hand formed you and made you the person you are. He compares you to no one else--you are one of a kind. YOU lack nothing that His grace can't give you. He has allowed you to be here at this time in history to fulfill His special purpose for this generation."

Not really wanting to unpack all the theology wrapped up in that statement. But I will say this. I do feel like we were there to fulfill a special purpose.

We left the Veterans' Home and went for some ice cream. I technically still owe the choir another ice cream, which we may or may not get on this trip. We'll see. I mean, if we were going to get ice cream, I certainly wouldn't tell them about it. Cruze Farm was delicious and efficient. 5 stars would recommend. They did not pay for sponsorship.

Note to self: explore the idea of getting business to sponsor our trip for blog mentions. Nah. I'm not that influential.

We got on the road and headed toward our hotel. We watched Moana/had a Moana singalong. True words: I actually love that movie.

What's the lesson, what is the takeaway? Don't mess with Cole when he's on a breakaway. Cole almost never sits on the bus. He's always visiting with folks, which is delightful. This year, Cole 2.1 comes complete with jolly ranchers. Please save me the cherry ones. The best way to eat the blue raspberry ones is to throw them in the garbage.

We rolled into Lexington, KY about 7:30. Pathfinder 1 beat us by about 10 minutes, so they checked us in. I handed out keys and then we went for chaperone dinners (each room of youth has a chaperone, and we went out to eat at restaurants that were close). Here are a couple of pictures from dinner.

My guys and I went to Chuy's. Not as good as the one in Arkansas, honestly, but not bad. We talked about the concert and the day some. And just about random things as well. When we had finished, they went to Target to buy some legos while I headed back to the hotel to get ready for devotional.

We gather each night to talk about our day. This year I'm framing the conversation around important things. What felt important today? It was good stuff.

Hanna and I started room checks at like 10:25, which is pretty early. Good thing because with so many rooms it takes a pretty long time. We visit for a few minutes each room. Only one person in a room next door came out to say we were being too loud, but it was Taylor, and he'll get over it.

A quick headcount, goodnight, and close the door. Then I put the tape on it. All are secure.

Tomorrow we leave at 8:30 to head to our first concert, which will be at an ARC location (can't write specifically because it will give away where we're going). It's a home for people with disabilities. Then we'll go...somewhere else. Don't worry; I'll tell you when we get there!