Today was our last full day in Chicago and I believe it was the best one yet. Like Brian spoke about during his devotion time this evening, it was a day of surprises.
We started the morning at Northwest Baptist Fellowship. I do not have any pictures as we sang during their worship service. A big surprise came for me when I realized one of the pastors there was a friend of mine from high school! What a small world! It's strange to bump into someone you know half way across the country! We had a wonderful time of fellowship with them. Another youth group was there, too, preparing for a mission trip to Turkey. They led in worship mainly through drama. On our way out, one of the members let us know she had recorded our performance on her phone to take back for her husband to listen to. She was so moved! How powerful! It was a really neat morning.
We hopped on the bus and headed to Central Baptist Village Retirement Center. They fed us a wonderful lunch and then we had a concert there. It was by far our best one!! The kids sounded great (even after all the screaming at Six Flags). We do have a few pictures from that concert and you'll really see the kids letting loose on their favorite song!
Next, we headed to Navy Pier where we enjoyed dinner, rides and shopping. Finally, it was time for our Surprise Activity! We went on an extreme speedboat ride. It was AMAZING!!! We hit speeds of up to 60 mph, did 180 degree spins and got a little wet all while listening to rock music pumping through the speakers and watching the sun set over an amazing skyline. I believe the kids would tell you it was the highlight of the trip! I have some before and after shots of the kids (couldn't take them during the ride, though). They especially enjoyed our tour guide.
Our last stop was Buckingham Fountain (finally). I got a few nice pictures of the group in front of the fountain during the last little bit of light.
I'll be posting pictures of tomorrow at some point, but to be honest, probably not night tomorrow night. I'm exhausted! :-) But I will get them up at some point during the week. It has been an amazing week with these amazing kids. Each of them is special to me and I am ever thankful for having the opportunity to play, pray and minister with them. Pray for our safe travels tomorrow. Thanks for following the blog.
.JPG)