Road Trip Day 4, Willow Creek Church

We slept in until 8 am, but spent the next 2 hours trying to find shower facilities before going to church. We almost missed their last service of the day (Satan obviously didn't want us there - a car swerved into the van on the freeway, the bus got stuck in a parking lot and we had to unhitch the trailer to get it out, and when we got to the YMCA they wouldn't let us in). So we walked in to Willow Creek church hungry, unshowered (for 2 days), most of the kids in their pajamas and no one feeling very lovely.

The service was amazing - awesome, spirit-filled worship, authentic and down-to-earth message from Bill Hybels, and inspiring campaign to feed and hydrate children in Africa. I was amazed that a church that large (big as Keller auditorium with escalators to the two levels of balconies - they had 48,000 people there Easter Sunday). Kevin bought everyone lunch at the food court afterwards, and the church let us use their showers. They were the providing hands of God to us today.

This afternoon the kids attitudes started going downhill, so Kevin had a talk with them. I noticed an instant change as they tried to be more considerate of one another. We drove to a nearby Metra (train) station to go explore downtown Chicago, only to discover it was closed due to it being a Sunday. The kids all agreed it was best to go back to our sleeping accommodations, get caught up on homework and fix dinner. Kids did a good job of cooking except for Katherine's group who haven't worked well together from the beginning.

I'm missing Gracie's snuggles and Sovann's hugs and conversations. I miss the comfortableness of my own home, but also am enjoying the different pace and not having to make decisions all day long.

J.J.'s having a great time with Caeden (Shelle and Kevin's son). They ride in Shelle's van together most of the time, which is rigged with a TV that plays movies and PS2 games. We don't let them play for too long at a time and they enjoy seeing the country and journal every day. On my off driving times, I sit in the van with him and help him do math and read about each state as we travel through it. He's also listening to "The Jungle Book" on his mP3 player and he interacts with the other kids a lot, too.

Here's an entry from J.J.'s Journal...

"This morning I ate a peanut butter bar. It was a Sunday and we went to church. It was as big as a mall. We also took showers and ate lunch there. When we took showers it sprayed me so hard that it felt like needles. But it got my hair wet in five to eight seconds and got my soap so fast that I did not know that the shampoo was gone. While we were in the lobby waiting for the girls I learned a fun game. All you do is try to touch the other person."

(The game he's describing is finger fencing. Two players grasp hands with index fingers and try to touch the other person with their finger "sword." It looks rather funny, but the kids love it.)