We found a pumpkin patch near one of our churches one Autumn Sunday afternoon and decided to trespass and get some pictures!





Sometimes taking time to relax is needed, this afternoon it was

Singing for President Bush

Lesson learned today: when playing hang man, always use the same word twice~

After driving 10.5 hours yesterday, and getting an entirely short night of sleep, we were at the Ronald Regan house by 10 am, waiting to sing for the International Aid Summit. We waited for a few hours, and the kids entertained themselves by playing hang man and tic-tac-toe. I learned a valuable lesson from Hudson from playing hang man. He played two games in a row with me, and both times used the same word. This in fact, was quite genius, as it never in the world would have occured to me that he would use the same word twice. In final desperation, I asked him what the words were, and he in truimph, told me it was the same. Good idea i think, it fooled me!







After having coffee in a far too fancy tea cup, and lunch with the kids, they got into thier costumes to get ready for the performance. After going through security a second time, we were shoed into a holding area. The kids sang five songs, and we watched it on TV. After they sang, we watched the president of Liberia give a speech thanking Bush for his 40 some billion dollars he has given to Africa. It was special, to sit there with children who are from these poorest situations in Africa, and realizing that so many people are taking part in something so important.
After this, we were ushered into a rather dingy basement of a place, where we waited for a good 30 minutes before the president himself came for a picture. David, one of our boys, had lost a shoe somewhere in the mix, and now we were trying to place him in a position where the president would not notice his foot. For 30 minutes, we sat there, all posed and ready for our picture, just waiting for the man to show up. About 40 Secret Service people came through, Bush in the middle. He was nice, tall, as I expected him, and talked with us a bit about his family. He talked about his daughter getting married, how he cried like a baby and how beautiful she looked. Someone mentioned that we had two chaperones from Texas, so he began asking Amanda what county her ranch was in. She couldn't remember for the life of her, and afterwards I asked her if it was because she was nervous, but she said no, in fact she just couldn't remember.....


After a couple pictures, we were promised that they would send us a copy, the aunties and uncles in the back row, kids around the president. We couldn't take cameras anywhere near him, which i suppose didn't surprise me too much, but i was a bit dissapointed.

After that, we got ice cream and celebrated, and then took the kids to see the whitehouse. by this point, my feet in my boots that i just love were beginning to kill me, 7 hours in boots can do that to any person. So i asked Christine, one of our girls if we could switch shoes. She was more then happy to switch. :)
After that, we drove 6 hours back up north, heading back to finish up our church tour!

Thoughts after a 10 hour drive to Washington DC

I'm sitting here in Washington DC, thinking over the days events. We spent almost 11 hours in the bus today, and finished the evening with a reheasal for the children's event tommorrow. There are kids sleeping in the bed next to me, and as I sit here, although it's exhausting I am realizing what a gift it is to be content. To know that this is exactly where God wants you to be. My life is wierd. I think when I went home on vacation last week, I was reminded of how "different" of a life I live right now. My dad tells me, not in a bad way, but he says I could never do what you do. People tell us that all the time. As i was thinking over the vacation's ups and downs, I was reminded of a beautiful truth. When God calls you to something, He will equip you for it. As I look back on this year,it's really amazing to see the work God has done in my life, in these kids lives, and in our group. One thing I've learned this year is that God doesn't always call you to the easy things. And when you think something might be some way, it may turn out to be completely different. Tour has been hard and amazing, and fun and exhausting and fulfilling in ways that many people will never fully understand. It's been different then I thought, I've struggled with things I didn't know would be there, and been overwhelmed by blessings i never expected.
As much as touring can make a person so tired, when this happens... I've learned to stop, take a breath, and look at my kids. It's been over a year. Everyone in our group is still here, the children are still very happy. And everything about them, thier smiles, they're energy and crazy love for each other and our choir family shows one thing to me... restoration. This is a huge reason to thank my Lord. Wow, what a huge miracle it is, that God has brought us though 13 months of touring. Amidst long days, hard host families, stressful concerts and pressures that come from being in a tiny space with the same people constantly, here we are... 13 months in and things are still going well. What a reason to praise Him. and I see these children, who now have a future, one they could not have had before this, and it makes all the struggles completely worthwhile.
Anyways, all this to say, God never abandons those who fervently follow Him, He restores me, and gives me everything I need.