The Bells of Christ Church Update Day Six

The Bells of Christ Church

Outreach Tour to Appalachian and the Carolinas

June 20-27, 2010

Day Six (June 25th)

A miracle happened this morning.  Everyone was up and on time, even the boys.  I want to state that again.  The boys were all up on time.  I am stunned.

We loaded up and headed to Raleigh, NC to spend a few hours at The North Carolina Museum of Natural Science and the North Carolina Museum of History.  We spent most of our time at the Museum of Natural Sciences.

The North Carolina Museum of Natural Science

• The dinosaur exhibit was  awesome.  There was a life size replica of a T-Rex skull.  There were a bunch of fossils and dino skeletons.  There was a life size replica of a brontosaurus-type mammal which was only labeled as a plant eater.  I still don't know what it was.
• There was a handful of animal exhibits, but after having just been to the Columbia Zoo those were a little of a let down.  And they had a couple of stuffed animals stuck in front of a painted scene, which is not that interesting.
• There were 4 or 5 enormous whale skeletons hanging from the ceiling.  The immensity of these bones was stunning.
• We headed upstairs to what was the most popular room of the museum.  It was a experiential learning room.  10 of us piled into the room and the museum worker sat us down around a table to tell us the rules of the room.  She pulled out a box with a stuffed squirrel and a stuffed bird side by side.  She explained that the room was full of stuffed animals and animal skins.  We could open any drawers and touch/hold any of the animals in the room.  Most of us found the room to be very interesting, but none of us knew what it was until we were inside.  The moment we realized what the room was about Elizabeth Dawson was mortified.  She explained later that she is not a vegetarian and she is not a big environmentalist, but the idea of picking up dead animals was disgusting to her.  For the next day every time I saw her I would say, "Elizabeth, how did you like the lovely room of death?" 

The North Carolina Museum of History

• When we first headed into the NC Museum of history there was a exhibit about the history of Jews in North Carolina.  There was a striking photo of 8 older Jewish folks with tattoos from concentration camps.  There was a shadow box that housed a few Jewish religious items.  The one that caught my eye was the tzitzit, which was talked about in "Velvet Elvis" a book by Rob Bell.
• The other area of the museum I visited was the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.  I did not have a lot of time to spend there.  The one thing I had time to notice was that Michael Jordon was not mentioned anywhere in the room, but Andy Griffith had an audio comedy routine about the first time he saw a football game.  That is messed up, seriously.

The concert was at a Methodist church in Raleigh, NC.  They were great hosts, and they served us nice deli sandwiches.  During dinner I made the mistake of pouring my chips out of the bag and onto my plate.  As long as I keep the chips in the bag, I can hide my OCD issue and I look a lot less crazy.  I subconsciously started stacking my chips in fours according to size.  I looked up to see everyone looking at me like I had two heads.  After a lengthy conversation about how insane, I am other people started to admit to either OCD things in their lives and pet peeves that are so sever they cause anxiety.

• I can't stand the sound of styrofoam rubbing together, and I do stack things in fours (chips, fries, pretzels, etc.)
• Matthew has a major irrational fear of having his eyes poked out.
• Alexia hates things getting in her face and especially people putting their hand in her face
• Heather hates having her ears touched.

It's official.  All the youth at Christ Church are nuts.

The concert itself was a smaller congregation than the night before, but many of them were handbell ringers.

Cole York gave her testimony.  She began talking about being raised in a Christian home, and confirming her faith through experiences with God through people and youth trips or events.  She boldly spoke of Christ as the only way.  And then she went on to talk about how the most meaningful expression of her faith is searching out God's beauty in the places she is, the people she is with, and even the music she rings.

Later on that evening during the handbell concert Mark Williams was doing the narration, and he talked  about the "lovely room of death" (he didn't call it that).  He spoke of it as a place where you could see the creation of God and understand how magnificent He is.  I agreed with Mark, but Elizabeth was unable to hide the disgust on her face as she rearranged her bells.

As the concert ended I was outside speaking to the bus driver, and he told me that a belt broke in the air conditioning.  He said that the bus would be fixed by the next day, but it would be a hot 20 minute drive back to the hotel.  Once again I saw God's hands on us, because we are allowed to sleep in on day 7.  If it would have happened any other day we would have been in a 90 degree van for hours or we would have had to cancel an event or a concert.

After the VERY hot drive back to the hotel.  The driver and I headed to a nearby grocery store to pick up breakfast for the next day.  Matthew Robertson decide to come come with us to the store to help out, and help out...HE DID NOT.  After being in the store for 30 seconds Matthew stole the shopping cart and ran away.  I kept hearing him giggle from one aisle away as I did my shopping and tried to carry all of the breakfast items.  After about 10 minutes, Matthew showed back up with the shopping cart full (and I mean full) of what Matthew continually called "Lady Diapers" and one bag of pork rinds.  I had to unload the cart back at the proper aisle in front of a female shopper, with Matthew laughing in the background.  To add to my embarrassment the female shopper jokingly asked me if I should change my diet.  Over the next few hours Matthew told the story over and over again.  I hope this boy finds a woman wonderful enough to know him, put up with him,  and still want to be his wife.

Mark Williams told us to please go to bed soon.  He said that even though we were driving home the next day, the youth needed to be rested and well for the home concert.  We obeyed him by doing a Cannon Ball and Belly Flop contest until 12:30, at which point we were told it was time to close the pool.  Then we played cards in a small conference room until 3:00 am.  Sorry Mark!

I'm tired.  Goodnight.