Savannah Tour 2015

Time rolled around for the FBCJ Student Choir Tour 2015… this year we planned to go to Savannah, GA. I was super excited because this was this first year Silas, Avery, and Bruce would go with me and the group in the 9 years we've been leading student choir.  We made a trip to the library for several "car books", loaded up the iPads with games and movies, and rode in the car behind the bus. You'd have thought Silas and Avery were going to Disney World… not only did they think they were going on a "big kid trip", they thought all the "big kids" were going on the trip FOR them.  On the way, Silas wanted to draw a family picture. I wondered why he asked me how to spell Samuel's name, but when he said, "Mommy, look!"… I saved that drawing and put it in a frame at home. Isn't this the sweetest thing ever!!

(He is into belly buttons these days. That's him - Silas - on the left with a belly button, Samuel in the middle, and Avery on the right. Mommy and Daddy on the bottom)

We began the tour at City Church here in Jackson, partnering with our other campus and helping with Sunday School and singing in their service:

Then we loaded the bus and headed toward Georgia.  I was so proud of the kids… they did very well on the trip as long as they could see the bus in front of us.  After a long day, we spent the night (well, a few hours) in Dublin, GA and headed back out bright and early 7am to drive the rest of the way on Memorial Day for our big fun day on Hilton Head Island!  

First on the agenda: Zip Line Hilton Head: 

What a blast!  We spent about 2 and 1/2 hours on the 9 different ZipLines, then a few hours on the Aerial Adventure Ropes Course with a lunch break in the middle… with 50 people, it took until about 3pm.  We were pooped!  (and VERY sore the next day…)  No, the little kids didn't zip line, but they helped Bruce and a few others grab our lunch and scope out the beach where we would spend the rest of the day…

After the ZipLine adventure, we headed to Coligny Beach. What a beautiful day!!  Have you ever seen such cute kiddos?!! Silas and Avery LOVED every second on the beach!  They played in the waves, built sand castles, buried big kids…

And their favorite part of the whole trip was when their good friends Carr and Emory found us! They happened to be staying with their family in condos on Hilton Head Island and were walking on the beach… we spent a little time with them at their hotel pool… what a small world!

Sweet friends!

After supper and driving to Savannah, we finally settled in our rooms for the rest of the week. Early Tuesday morning, we all arrived at the church with whom we were partnering Bull Street Baptist in downtown Savannah. Our job was to help canvas the square mile (over 4,000 homes!) surrounding the church to help create awareness and excitement about their Wednesday night program, CityKids. Silas and Avery were so excited to be able to join in on the service. We split off into groups and began the big task in the hot sun!

Beyond proud is how I felt about the way Silas and Avery walked and walked without any complaining with the "big kids", ringing doorbells and talking to people. And, I must mention that the "big kids" were beyond nice, beyond sweet, so GREAT with them.  The first day, we walked over 4 hours and spoke with countless people; we were able to pray with a few and invite most to the program and to BullStreet. We did this Tuesday and Wednesday morning; what a great way to serve, and what a great way for our students to see the way this downtown church loves on its community.

GROUP SHOT!!  Savannah is such a neat city. Tuesday night, we ate at Paula Deen's restaurant (of course!).. after we'd had more than our fill, we explored downtown and the riverwalk. What a great group!

Wednesday morning began the same way, and Silas was the champion doorbell ringer…

While Avery maintained her job as bus entertainer.

A small group of the senior high went to sing and visit at a nursing home where the student pastor was providing the devotional for the week. I did have a really good helper too…

After lunch, we headed to the beach again for a few pop up concerts!  We walked up and down the beach and gathered up to sing a song or two for about 2 hours. How fun!

Bull Street graciously fed us dinner before church.

Then that night, we had our concert at the church. The students did such a wonderful job, and this last night is always my favorite… as we recap the week and how God has used us… but most of all, how we've been changed by our own experiences.

We had a great night after church fellowshipping with their student group in Forsythe Park with some football, kickball, frisbee throwing, you name it!  Finished up the night with delicious ice cream at Leopold's… great night!  After another quick sleep, we trekked home. 

This is always a great week of the year… this year even more special as my family joined! Silas and Avery are old enough to understand what a family mission trip means… this was a great first one!