Children's Music Mission: Chattanooga Friday

Greetings from the Children's Music Mission, currently in Rising Fawn, Georgia.

There is a Methodist Camp here, Camp Lookout. Returning readers are no doubt familiar with it. I've been here before, including last year's Children's Music Mission and also each year for...longer than I care to admit...with youth choirs.

We arrived here around 9:40pm. That's not terribly behind schedule, actually. We always leave the church a little later so we don't get stuck in traffic.

Our adventure began at around 5:00 at the church, where we gathered and put our gear on the bus (a change from last year, and a good one!). We did a quick warm up, counted heads, and then headed to The Mansions, which is an independent living place in Decatur, just a few minutes from the church.

I'll admit here I wasn't good about taking pictures today. I had one of the chaperones take some while we were singing, but I didn't take a lot with the kids or during any of our other activities. You'll just have to settle for my vivid word pictures? But anyway, back to The Mansions.

We were set up in a large dining room. We arrived right on time for our 5:30 concert, and they were ready for us! It was a great audience. Very responsive and a delight to sing for. We even have a few members there, and it was great to see them. I'm looking at you, Ruth!

Our program this year is called "Sing to the Lord," which is based on one of our songs by Ken Medema. It's kindof a retro song, but I dig it, and I think the kids do too. There's not much of an underlying or subtle message...it's just a program about singing to God.

One thing that's fun this year is that Leanne is conducting a couple of the songs. I often wait until the very end to talk about Leanne and how wonderful it is to work with her. I'll just do that right out of the gate this time. We have the best accompanist, and nobody will convince me otherwise. Here she is in front of the group.

And after we sang, of course we visited a while.

I'm always surprised by which of the kids really get into this. It's never the ones you think it will be. There were a couple at this concert that I had barely said Go, and they were already gone. It's not always the talkative ones! 

When I announced to the audience that we would like to visit with them, the approval was audible. There were excited. We were excited. I wish you could have been here to experience it live.

Annnnnnddddd....that's the end of the pictures.

After we had visited, I pried the last few kids away and we got back on the bus. We returned to the church for dinner, which Ms. Elena had very graciously picked up for us. You may not know her yet; she's still fairly new to the staff. She's great. Really has a passion for kids that is evident if you watch her interact with them.

Then we got back on the bus to head to Chattanooga. Oops. One more picture.

This is a remake of a picture from last year (with a photo bomb added in the lower corner). Can you see the energy in those eyes (both sets)? I promise you it's there. We're touring 15 kids this year, but I swear for a while the bus sounded like there were 173.

It's now 11. The kids (well, at least the boys across the cabin from me) are sleeping. As far as I know everyone else is sleeping as well? In the quiet, I'm thinking about how many of these kinds of trips I've done. How many singers, how many stops, how many songs. I've lost count. I'm not sure how to explain it, but it doesn't feel to me like another one. It feels like the same one. Like a family that has been growing for almost 20 years now and grew again today. A family of kids and youth and adults knitted together by music.

Or maybe I'm just tired. I don't know. But I'm looking forward to tomorrow, which is a full day in Chattanooga. I'll try to do better with pictures so you can see more of what I see.

Be proud of these kids. I know I am.