On the Road Again...

Hey there again, this time from Kingsland, GA! We're on our way home, after a very full and exhausting trip. Parents - be prepared for your youth to want to crash when they get home! We've had a great trip, though. Tonight we had our final devotional time together, shared things we learned and wrote encouragement notes to each other. We also spent time reading notes from home (thank you parents!).

Well, though we're almost back, please continue to pray for our safe travel and leader patience (whew, you know it). We can't wait to tell you all our great stories and experiences! Thanks for all your prayers!

Quotes of the day:

• "ARE YOU ASLEEP OR JUST ALOOOOOOONE?!" - Mike (singing Underoath in the van at the top of his lungs)
• "People listen to people who listen." - Wes (in response to the question of why it's important to listen to people)
• "5 more minutes." - Erica (in response to every question of how long til we get there)

Erica Here Again

Hey all!

Well, we're nearing the end of our journey here at the DCLA Convention. Today was crazy busy (they packed all kinds of stuff into our day today), but it was one of the best days we've had so far (spiritually)! We had some great worship and went to an awesome seminar by Brock Morgan about how to keep our faith going when we get home. We also heard some great stuff from Louie Giglio and had circle groups again. We stayed late to hear some bands and now we're ready to collapse. :)

Tomorrow, we are going to be finishing up the convention in our "Lab Room" time, which the youth have all pretty much begun to really enjoy. Keep praying that the things they learn and do here go home with them! After the convention ends, we will be heading out to explore DC and take in some fireworks (they're supposed to be pretty good here... wonder why...?). :)

Stay tuned for more info about when we're going to be getting home and travel plans. We also have a pretty important devotional coming up on Wednesday night as a final bonding and drive-it-home time for our group. We really appreciate all the prayers and support! I doubt this trip would have been a success without your prayers!

Last, here are a few more quotes for you:

• "Girls, one day you'll find your prince, but don't go kissing lots of frogs in the meantime!" - SuperChick
• "You don't want me trying to make paper dolls... they'd end up accidentally missing arms or legs or something." - Lauren
• "Yes, the PopRocks were very POP-ular." - Erica
• "Lalalalala - HEY!" - Aaron

Erica's Blog!!!

Hey all! Well, Hannah practically told you every detail of our days here in DC, so that's about all the info you need (and then some). :) We're going through the book of John in our "Big Room" experiences, and it's been building. Today, we could feel the tension as we began approaching Jesus' death. Tomorrow, we have 2 Big Room sessions, so please keep our group in your prayers constantly - these are the most important lessons of the trip.

The youth all participated in "Lab Room" today for the first time, also. They got split into different groups with no one they knew and 7 brand new people they'd never met. Despite the pleas and worries and complaints before, they all came back with fun stories of the people they met and positive reviews. Trying new things is fun!!

Well, it's definitely time for bed. Time to be up in 6 hours!! Woo! God is pushing my envelope a bit with this "getting up early" thing. :) Things are going really good - don't stop praying!! :) Thanks everyone!

*~HaNnAh'S bLoG~*

Hmm...what to say about DC? Well...yesterday when we got to the Convention Center we got to listen to the David Crowder Band. They were SO good!!! After that we heard from a few speakers. After the conference Erica, Mike, Wesley, Aaron, Sally, Dillon & I decided to explore. We went to the White House where I made friends with the Secret Service men and the police at the front gate! =D Then we made our way to the Washington Monument and took the BEST pictures! They were SO funny. And just now Erica spilled my Dr.Pepper. I am NOT a happy camper! =( Anyway. Today we had lab which is when we get to meet new people. You don't have one person in your group that you know. I met a girl named Shannon, who also had a twin. I thought that was pretty cool! We did that for about 2 hours & then we got some hot wings from Hooters. After we had pizza. We ate both in the park...yeah. And then we went back to the Convention Center & had a girl lesson & the boys had an all boys lesson. Oh yes, FUN! Afterwards we went to the Exhibit Hall where we looked at all the t-shirts & stuff. Hawk Nelson & FallingUp were there signing CD's. I got a picture with the boys in the band. I know, everyone's jealous. *Not really* The late night concert was Superchic[k] which I didn't go to. Dillon, Sally, Mike & I were too busy waiting about an hour for the Sanctus Real & Hawk Nelson concert so we could get a good spot. We ended up in the back, but Wes, Dillon, Aaron & I were pretty close. Right next to backstage. Yeah, it was alot of fun!!! Oh, and Wes, Dillon & Aaron keep prank calling our room...I think I may have started it. Aaron says he's from the Secret Service, Wes says he's an...indian elephant or something from some cartoon & Dillon says he's Gir & something else. Typical boys. =) OH YEAH!!!! I almost forgot! The most exciting thing for me, was when Sally, Lauren, Amy & I got stuck on the Metro. Yeah, it was interesting. We were just about to get off with our luggage and everything. Erica, Dillon, Wes, Mike & Aaron had already gotten off waiting for us. The second I got to the door it closed. I was like..uh-oh. So we had to ride all the way to the next stop & the get off and board the NEXT Metro going back, and eventually we met up. Yeah, that was FUN!! And a few people in our group got stuck in an elevator. To make a short story shorter...we take stairs now.=)
<3HaNnAh

Wes' Blog

Well today was fun. We had fun. It was awesome and fun. We also had fun watching Sanctus Real, Hawk Nelson,and Toby Mac. I almost forgot about Superchick. Not only that I got a really cool hat and a Hawk Nelson shirt. I got autographs from Hawk Nelson and Falling Up. I bet you're jealous huh? Well we had fun. I also signed a chicken.That was interesting. Mike told he makes 1 million dollars at work........he should be giving more to the church huh? Well I have to go cuz Erica's gotta take a shower.......she hasn't taken a shower since we left tampa and that's all I have to say about that.

First Day

Hey all! I see a definite lack of comments on my lovely blog yesterday. Tsk tsk. :) Well, we're in DC now, and it's been a crazy day. There are so many youth here, it's just unbelievable. The Toby Mac concert was so loud and people were jumping so hard, the floor and ceiling both were shaking!!

We heard some great speakers today and got to experience some great worship. Please keep praying that our youth learn to worship... it's such an important part of our faith! During our free time, we took part of the group to tour around while the other part came to the hotel to rest. We walked a LONG time, but we were able to make the SS guards at the white house doors wave at us, lie down and look up at the Washington Monument and pose strangely all over the place for pictures. For example...

Well all, it's late and we're sweaty and sleepy, so it's time to sign it off. Here's a few last quotes to tide you over until next time...

• "It's like we're traveling on a magical fairy dust road." - Mike Hall (in reference to the sparkly tarmac)
• "What's worse than a sleeping bag?... A walking one!" -Wes Johnson
• "Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal!" - Hannah Johnson

Please keep the prayers and encouragement coming... we need it! :) Thanks!