Three Trips in Ten Days

The past ten days has been complete bedlam for me. Let's recap:

June 26 & 27, I was in Florida with our church's middle school choir and hand bell choir, where we spent one whole day at Typhoon Lagoon and the next day, singing and ringing at nursing homes, before heading back to Georgia. 

Typhoon Lagoon was such a cool water park, and it gave me a self-appointed badge. With my visit to Typhoon Lagoon, I have now been to every Disney World park in the Orlando area. My next area to conquer is Disney Land, in California! 

I really enjoyed the Mid-High choir tour. To begin with, I usually spend my days with four and five year olds, so it was fun to get to hang out with an older bunch. What impressed me the most was that after we were finished with our performances, the kids would immediately go out into the audience and speak with the nursing home residents who came to see us perform. I can tell you that in Middle School, I would have NEVER been in a group who I knew performed in nursing homes. I would have never been comfortable enough to go out and visit with the residents. You probably would have found me with my nose in the corner, like an ostrich with it's head buried in the sand. 

But not this group. They went out and really showed the love and grace of Christ to these nursing home residents. For some of these people, this may be the first they've seen of young people in quite some time, and it made their day. So many of them commented on what our performances meant to them and how glad they were to have us. 

It's amazing, all of the things I've done in churches throughout my entire life-youth group, bible study, passion plays, church choir, mission trips, the list could go on. But this trip made a huge impact on me because I was so impressed by these courageous and loving middle schoolers. I had a great time and I really learned a lot from them. 

Right after returning from Mid-high choir tour, I packed my bags and headed for Tybee. We lived on Tybee Island for six years, and I really find it to be the place my heart calls home. When I drive across the causeway and the marsh air fills my lungs, I have to keep myself from tearing up because of the sheer joy my heart feels to be back where I belong. 

Shortly after my arrival, I got right back on the road. My fiance's grandfather passed away, so I drove to Cottonwood, Alabama for the funeral. 

My future sister-in-law, on her Facebook, said that she never really understood when people said "it was a beautiful funeral" until Pa's service. And I couldn't agree more with her. It was a full military funeral, complete with a gun salute, flag folding, and the playing of Taps, during which there wasn't a dry eye to be found. There was even a group of bikers who came to escort the funeral procession. I was honored to be a part of it, and very proud to see my handsome man honor his grandfather by wearing his dress blues and being a pallbearer. I'm always  proud of him, but that was really a tear jerker moment for me because I knew how much it meant to him and his family.

My handsome Airman 

My fiance, and my future sisters-in-law

So now, I'm back at the beach and enjoying the days before I have to go back home and get started on the long days of my summer job. But I cannot complain! It's extra money and it's pretty rare to be able to find one job these days, much less two! I'm looking forward to the summer, not just all the fun things and family trips we have planned but also just the feel of summer days. 

What are you most excited about this summer? 

Tell me in the comments below or in the Facebook/Twitter post!