On the Road Again! (Day 3)

Hello, this is Hillary Puckett once again. I must make my apologies for not updating in quite a while, but this week has been action-packed with some great times! It's been hard to actually find down time, but I hope this suffices as an apology. And now, to continue on with the events of the week.


After a good nights' sleep, wake up call arrived at 7:30 A.M. and once again, youth stumbled awake and got ready to depart from their present home at FUMC. Lynn even added a little joy to the beginning of our day with a musical wake-up call. Yes, even me, not the most happy of people in the morning, was caught jamming in the hallway to Kirk Franklin's "Stomp" and various other peppy songs. Breakfast was once again served by our amazing food crew; more cereal, granola bars, and bananas were on the menu for the day. The jambox was even present at breakfast as many youth enjoyed reenacting the spring coffeehouse repertoire.
By 8:30 A.M., Crossroads was loaded on the bus and once again on the road to our next destination: Gainsville, Florida. By 1:00 P.M. (technically noon to you Memphis folks) we arrived at Tallahassee Mall for lunch and a little shopping. Youth had many choices to choose from, including Chick-Fil-A, Sbarro, Subway, and Quizno's. Some scarfed to get some major shopping done while others just took the time to stroll through the shops. I personally just about screamed when I saw my favorite store: Old Navy. Yes, call me crazy, but even Memphis' version could not top this one. People were so friendly in Tallahassee, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the lunch and shopping break. By 2:00 P.M. we were loaded back on the busses and ready to hit the last leg of the journey for the day.
By 4:45 P.M. we finally reached our resting place for the night: Trinity UMC. Their infamously large youth group was expected to be there for our evening concert. But first, we were kindly fed by the folks at Trinity. Dinner was a scrumptious barbeque chicken dinner complete with baked beans, cole slaw, garlic toast, and vanilla pudding. We Tennesseans were even gracious to have some good ol' sweet tea to wash it all down.
With our full bellies, we lined up on the stage to practice before our concert. At 7 P.M. we performed a once again, spectacular show. The kind youth director, donning his suspenders, was very thankful for our visit.
After the concert, some youth rushed to get to the local Starbucks down the street while others ran for the showers. Bible study began for the night at 9 P.M., and it was amazing to see so many people engaged in the discussion. Jim Knight posed many interesting questions about worship, such as "For whom is the worship service?" and "What should we expect to get out of worship?"
For most, the instinctive answer is the say "Us" and "Spiritual fulfilment" However, perspectives were changed as Jim stated that his five ministers all similarly believed that worship is not for anyone but God, and we should expect nothing out of worship but the satisfaction that we have praised God to the best of our ability. With such enthusiastic discussion, Bible study was cut short of finishing every topic, but it was put on hold for the next evening.
Evening snack was carrots and celery with ranch dressing, and then the first night of awards occurred. A rousing rap from a few of the girls was the introduction to our awards presenters for the week. "Chicken" John Engbretson and Ron Arrison came out in style with their surfer beach attire to present the evening's Sandcastle Awards. Several won smile awards, and special awards were held for a later evening. Lights out was at 11 P.M. and everyone once again settled down for a good nights' sleep.