Almost Heaven: The Second Day

First things first. Gil earns 100 Cowden points for correctly identifying UHF/Spatula City and 75 Cowden points for identifying the Marvel reference. It was, however, Agents of Shield, which is a show rather than a movie (hence the deduction).

We started our day in Lexington, Kentucky, which shouldn't be a surprise because that's where we ended the day before. Everyone was downstairs on time, and we got out the door on schedule. Good deal! I didn't take pictures of breakfast for 2 reasons. First, I was working on the blog. Second, there were no waffles. Do we even need pictures if there are no waffles. That's not a question.

Hanna found some sunglasses on the bus. She said she used to have some like them when she played beach volleyball, and she was beast. We asked for a demonstration, and this is what we got.

I sometimes talk about our bus driver. He gets us in and out of a lot of tight spaces. I swear there's like a foot max on either side of the bus where he's driving right there. I just don't know how he does it. I'd be a total mess.

We found a corral for Trots-a-Lot to ride in. He also keeps an eye on the back of the bus for me.

Our concert was at ARC of the Three Rivers. This confused me all day long because we were ultimately headed to Pittsburgh, famous for the convergence of the three rivers there. 100 points to anyone who identifies the three rivers that merge in Pittsburgh without using technology for assistance in the comments. I'm going on the honor system here.

Anyway, we're singing at 2 or 3 ARC facilities on this trip. They have programming for people with disabilities...something of a community center. Three Rivers is fairly small, and their administrative offices were having an onboarding event, so our audience was somewhat limited in number. I always tell people when I'm talking to them about singing that we've sung for one person before (which is true!). As I would tell the youth later in the evening at devotional, sometimes the small places are the, well, the more important places for us to go because they don't have as many folks. This was a good example. My contact there told me that she's been working at that location for 12 years, and nobody has ever come to offer a program like this for them.

Nobody. That was heartbreaking. She was so appreciative, and the clients were as well.

Evie shared at our devotional time that she was worried about what to say or how to connect with this audience. We don't have a lot of practice at it, and I'll admit I had similar qualms. But she just started talking...and they started talking. Maybe it was the magic of the music. Or maybe it was the work of the Spirit.

The ARC fed us lunch after we sang, too! Fruit and veggie trays and sandwiches. It was delightful. We never ask for anything when we go to sing somewhere, and we were grateful for their generous offer to host a meal for us.

Doritos. I forgot there were also Doritos.

And also Hawaiian Punch.

Speaking of punchy...it did take a while for us to cycle through the sandwich line, and while we were doing that some of the youth headed outside. It was a lovely day for...whatever this is. 100 Cowden points for the winner of the "caption this picture" contest in the comments...

Returning readers will recognize this guy and his bus. Mark has been driving me for years on all kinds of trips. He's driven me as far as Los Angeles, and he's driven me on a short trip like Chattanooga. I rely on him not just to get us where we are going safely but also to be where I need him to be every time. He's never left me hanging or in a lurch. And he anticipates potential issues if he notices a schedule crunch so we can work it out before it becomes an emergency. Thanks, Mark!

From the bus: twinning is winning! Man, those shirts look sharp.

We made a rest stop at the Pennsylvania welcome center, and our trip is beginning to take shape. There has been some destination-oriented chatter on the bus, and I'm honestly not sure how many people still don't know the details of the trip. But I know there are a few!

We had a fun photo contest today. I asked the youth to post photos with forced perspective. I had a number of amusing submissions, but this was my favorite. To my knowledge, Addison is the only youth ever to ride Sir Trots-a-Lot.

I didn't get a good picture, but we came out of a tunnel and arrived in Pittsburgh. There was audible cheering on the bus, and it was cool to hear the excitement. It was beautiful, but the way...the drive and the arrival. As we were arriving in the city, I announced where we were headed.

Don't judge me. We went to Dave and Busters. I know you can do that in Atlanta, and Pittsburgh is a long way to drive to go to DB. But it was a lot of fun...and as you'll see in the pictures, the youth weren't the only ones who enjoyed unlimited gaming for a few hours.

Ellen was teaching Mariann how to drive.

Epic Hungry Hungry Hippos. I didn't see this game, but it looks like fun!

Classic hoops featuring Taylor and Rachel.

Arcade axe throwing. A couple of folks actually got their axes to stick. I couldn't ever make it work.

I don't have any idea what this is.

Human claw machine. They lower you down, and you grab something like one of those claws. Reese chose the banana. I don't know why.

To be clear, games are serious business. It's not all fun and games. Well, it is. But it doesn't always look like it.

More racing.

Leanne is supervising here to make sure it's all going according to plan.

And the hippos are still hungry.

Virtual reality gaming? Where was this when I was younger?

Leanne supervising again. I told you...the chaperones were digging it too.

And the director. Michael posted up at guitar hero and was there basically the entire evening. I joined in...haven't played GH in forever. It was so much fun!

Dance dance revolution?

So then after you play the games you can use the tickets to buy little rewards. I suspect this gift will keep on giving...

After DB we headed to our hotel. Pathfinder 1 (formerly Chaperone 1) had gone ahead and secured our room keys, so when the bus arrived we were able to move quickly. Good thing because we had some things to accomplish at the devo time and also needed to get to bed at a reasonable hour since the next morning would be (was, as I'm writing) our earliest of the trip. And of course we still had to check everyone into their rooms.

Hal reminded us about the origin of some of our music and its importance. A good perspective to remember.

It was another good day. Doing the important work of lifting spirits and coming together as a group. In short, we are doing what we came to do. I'm grateful for that. Grateful to be a part of it.

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!

And...we're off!

Welcome to the 2025 Youth Music Mission official blog!

The blog started as proof of life for parents so they'd know we are ok, but I found that folks enjoyed seeing pictures and reading about all we did...enjoy!

I'll post about today in the morning, but Hanna took a great picture of us starting out.

Hanna's in the picture too...that's her elbow.

This morning we loaded up the bus and then spent a minute at the 8:30 service. We had a prayer and then walked out the door singing: "Have courage, my soul, and let us journey on though the night is dark, and I am far from home. Thanks be God, the morning light appears! The storm is passing over..."

The courage to step into an unknown journey. That's what this week is all about. We're about to make our first stop, so I'll paste in here the blurb from our concert program. See you tomorrow!

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In the book of Revelation, when John begins describing the new heaven and new earth, he writes, “...the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” This has always struck me as odd. My family vacations at the beach every year. I love the beach and boats and the sea. Honestly there have been times under an umbrella in a chair with my family that I wondered if this was as close to heaven as I could get on earth! Even in Biblical times, the sea provided for people. Food. Livelihood. What did John have against the sea that the very first thing he said about the new heaven and earth was that there was no more sea? As is often true in the Bible, the sea is a symbol. It represents chaos. It represents evil. It represents the unknown. The absence of the sea, then, is the absence of those things. It is the absence of the unknown.

Why is that so appealing? The unknown is deeply unsettling for us. Our brains amplify fears of what might be lurking just out of our knowledge. Fear freezes us in place. When we do summon the courage to push into the unknown, sometimes we pay a heavy price for it. And yet “a grain of wheat may be knocked to the ground and suffer through the winter’s cold only to rise right up again and bear its seed a thousand fold.” We have the courage to wade into the unknown not because we believe nothing bad will happen, but rather because when bad things happen we believe the Spirit empowers us to overcome them. Overcoming adversity makes us stronger.

This is why we sing. We aren’t selling anything. We aren’t here to argue or convince anyone of this truth or that. We don’t need to agree or even agree to disagree. As we travel, we toss grains of love and peace to the wind and let them fall where they may. And maybe, hopefully, they will bear their seed.

Thank you for listening today, and sharing your stories with us. It is a joy and pleasure to be with you!