After lunch we toured St. John's Church where Patrick Henry gave his famous "Give me liberty or give me death" speech. Our guide was dressed in wonderful period clothing. He gave us the history of the church and explained what happened there in the late 1700s. To be honest, I have never seen our kids sit that quietly. They were very respectful of the church and to our guide.
After cleaning up, we headed to Ginter Park Baptist Church for a covered-dish meal. The food was wonderful and our hosts were so welcoming. We rang and sang a concert for them. The kids sound better and better every time!
And then, my favorite part. We went to the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond for our concert for God. In some ways, it reminded me very much of our concert for God in New Orleans, and in other ways it was different. In New Orleans, it was our last concert before coming home. Here, we still have one concert left on Friday. We sang "Witness" and "Sinnuh Man" which Connor directed wonderfully. But after that, tears began to silently flow as we sang "Those Who Wait" and continued into "Create in Me a Clean Heart". Brian and Kendell led us in communion afterward, and the tears began to flow more readily. We then sang "In Remembrance". To be honest, we almost didn't make it through. It was precious to see our seniors so emotional about their last tour. Even more precious when siblings began to cry as well, and then friends. We sang with joy through "The Easter Song". But, as we closed with "God Be in My Head", we didn't make it. It fell apart. We stood in a circle, held hands, looked into the faces of those we love, and we cried.
We spend a lot of time together working, singing and playing. But there comes a time on each tour when it becomes more intimate. Tonight we cried because we realized we are family. It was a precious moment, and I wish my words could be adequate enough to describe it. They aren't.
The past few nights on tour, when it's time to get ready for bed, the kids mostly go to their rooms to hang out. Tonight, we spent it in the hallway. We had the best time laughing and fellowshipping together. It was such a wonderful time. Fortunately, we pretty much have the floor to ourselves, so hopefully we weren't disturbing anyone.
Enjoy the pictures. I'm so thankful to Mr. G for his wonderful art!
