Saturday, June 14, 2003

Please scroll down to view photos from today!

On the Road Again

As the title implies, today we arose early and hit the road!  We began by crowding into a hotel room and reading Psalm 121.  It is a Psalm that the Jewish people often would recite as they left the Temple in Jerusalem and headed for home.   The hills around Jerusalem were often dangerous places.  One of the reasons was that the poor and outcast of the time, in an effort to survive, turned to robbery; one of the best places to ambush people was out in the countryside, in the hills, when nobody was around to help.  So as they prepared to get "on the road again," they would pray the Psalm we know as Psalm 121.  I invite you to pull out your Bible and read the whole thing (it's not long).  But it begins, "I lift my eyes up to the hills; from where will my help come?  My help comes from the Lord..."

So it is that we prayed for traveling mercies, and we appreciate those of you back home who prayed for us as we travel.   We expect to be home on Sunday, probably around 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, we drove to New Orleans, and spent some time there before continuing on to Memphis.  In New Orleans, most of the group spent some time in a large shopping mall, although I went over to the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas for a quick "photo expedition."  The Aquarium is right next to the mall, and I just couldn't resist! (I miss my fish back home...and my family too, of course).  Some of the photos below are from my time at the aquarium, just for fun; the others are scenes from our time in New Orleans.   We ate lunch at fast food places (kids could choose which one of three right next to each other to go to), and then we had a late supper at a Cracker Barrel.  We finally rolled into Memphis at about 11:00 p.m., where we are staying at the Bartlett United Methodist Church's gym.  They have a full time "Director of Recreational Ministries" on their staff who runs the gym and all the recreational programs of the church.  The gym is large and impressive, with a walking track above it and a whole facility including game room, lounge, showers, office, etc.  Yet she told us that theirs is small compared to other churches in Memphis; some of them even have two bigger gyms with wood floors. 

We played some basketball until about midnight (boys beat the girls by a last second "prayer shot" in our game, but I think the girls won by actual score.  Ok, at our basket it was Rodney and Dustin and me against Emma and Leah and Andrea, and yes, they blew us away.  But the average age of their team is about half the average age of ours...) 

We're all looking forward to getting home!  See you Sunday!

Scenes from New Orleans....

Photos from the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas

Finally, as you look at the underside of a ray pictured to the right, remember....

Be sure to start and end every day with a smile!