Today began with our normal routine at ReCreation. We had an early wake-up call, ate breakfast, and had a great time beginning the day worshiping our God! After worship, we headed into downtown Weaverville to the Brian Center for Health and Rehabilitation. We have had a partnership with the Brian Center for several years and our kids love getting to go and spend some time there. We split up into groups upon arrival, with one group helping with some cleanup projects, one getting to spend time in the Alzheimer's wing, and the third group went around and visited with some of the residents who had just finished up eating breakfast. Once they had completed their tasks, the cleanup group came and joined the others and enjoyed getting time to get to know some of the residents. It is a beautiful thing to see Middle School students jump into an uncomfortable situation and share about their lives and ask about the lives of the elderly residents they were speaking with. After a full morning of relationship building, our team was generously provided lunch by the Brian Center staff who were very appreciative that we had come to visit the residents, many of whom do not receive visitors at all. After we finished eating, we left the Brian Center and headed into the Pisgah National Forest to spend some time at Sliding Rock and Looking Glass Falls. Sliding Rock is a natural water slide and Looking Glass Falls is a waterfall that flows into a lagoon where visitors can swim and take in the view. It was incredible to be able to have an afternoon of fun with the team while at the same time being able to take in the majesty of God's creation. From Sliding Rock we headed to the May Family Farm, which was the special location for tonight's dinner and Porch Time. Megan May was an intern a few years and we have been blessed to be able to go to her family's farm and use their barn on our day off. At Porch Time we heard from Brady Wilhide, one of this year's summer interns, who spoke on "comparison vs. compassion." He spoke out of Acts 9, looking at Paul's interactions with the disciples right after his conversion on the road to Damascus. We talked about how so often we are like the disciples and compare people to who they were or what they have done and not who they are now. And each time we are comparing ourselves to others in this way, whether it be here on the trip or at home in Williamsburg, we are not taking an opportunity to show compassion towards that person or situation. After Brady's talk, we loaded up the buses and headed back to ReCreation, and had some great conversations about that topic on the drive home. Once back at the housing site, we had a little bit of free time before winding down for the night and heading to bed. We were grateful for our day off, but the team is excited to get back to work these next two days!
As a reminder, we are sending out text updates when we move throughout the day and to get those you just need to text "NCPARENT" to 41411. Not only do we send out updates while here in NC, that will be the main way we update parents about our eta on the way home on Saturday!
Also, tomorrow (Thursday, July 6th) there will be a prayer meeting in room 211 at 7 pm for all who would like to come!
