Day 5. Greeneville: church, lunch, and the return trip

We woke this morning to another beautiful day and enjoyed our final hotel breakfast before boarding the bus for our last concert destination: Greeneville Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Greeneville, TN.  We arrived and filed into the spacious fellowship hall, which was already prepared for our lunch after church.  Those who were serving us had decorated the tables with white cloths, black crepe paper, and music note cut-outs—just a hint of the hospitality we were soon to experience.

We headed up to the sanctuary to rehearse and prepare for worship.  The pastor, the Rev. Jamie Lively, expressed how glad he was to have us taking part in the worship today, and emphasized that we should feel at home and part of things as we participated in the service.  Soon we were waiting for the service to begin.  We sang “Hark” and “All I Have is Christ” for the prelude, then sang several more songs for the anthem, offertory, and postlude. 

The text for today was Psalm 95:1-7, and the sermon was about the way God uses music to heal us.  Rev. Lively talked about how singing can animate those who are sick or in despair, and even help people to face death.  He reminded us that our singing on earth only anticipates the singing we will experience in heaven, when all different kinds of music will be joined together as we worship God forever.  At the end of our tour, as we prepare to return to school tomorrow, we were grateful to be reminded that the gift of music will continue to remind us of God’s goodness and grace—even when tour is over, even when we leave behind this group of people that we have sung and grown and learned with.  God will continue to sustain us with reminders of his truth, and of his presence in our lives. 

After the service ended, we were greeted by members of the congregation who thanked us for our music—one woman was so touched by “All I Have is Christ” that Ms. Kauffman gave this church member her copy of the music! 

We headed downstairs to enjoy a delicious lunch of lasagna, bread, and salad, and a table heavily laden with desserts! Fellowship continued around the table, and we celebrated the last ‘official’ meal of tour with a few impromptu performances from various groups’ Singing Valentines repertoire.  It was great to celebrate this last large group meal together in the company of the church members who had done so much to welcome us. 

After we cleaned up and changed for the bus ride, we boarded the buses for the first leg of the return trip.  We stopped once at a rest stop, and again near Harrisonburg for a dinner stop, where we enjoyed food, homemade ice cream, and some impromptu relay races.  The rest of the bus ride was filled with conversation, laughter, bus games, movies, prayer, and preparations for our return.  We arrived back at AACS around 10:15, where parents were eagerly awaiting the arrival of their students.  (And students, on their end, squealed with excitement as we exited the highway one last time to pull into the school!)  The parking lot was filled with happy reunions (and luggage) before we all dispersed to get some rest and gear up for the busy school week ahead. 

We’re grateful for the ways this tour provided evidence of God’s protection, provision, and faithfulness, and we look forward to seeing Him at work in the lives of students and staff as we all return to the school routine. 

PTL for:

-our bus drivers!

-a safe trip home

-the opportunity to worship with a community of believers this morning, and be enfolded into their church family

-beautiful weather for our whole tour (the only time it rained, we were on the buses!)

-the opportunities to spend so much concentrated (and quality) time together

-the chance to get to know new people, or get to know friends in a different way

-the many memories made as we traveled, played, and sang together

-the many reminders, large and small, of God’s goodness and care for even the details of our lives

-the ways that God will continue to work in our hearts, and in the hearts of those we sang for this week

Please pray for:

-REST and energy for the students and staff who are returning to a full week of school

-God’s continued work in our lives, hearts, and school community

-opportunities to reflect and see even more of God’s sovereignty in the details and experiences of the past five days

-the hearts of those who heard us perform—that the truths they heard would sink into their minds and hearts, and that God’s word would bear fruit in their lives, in His perfect time

-continued spiritual protection, particularly as we go into a week battling physical and emotional exhaustion

-the truths we heard and sang these past few days to penetrate our minds and hearts, and be present in our thoughts, shaping our reactions and decisions

Know that we are grateful for your prayers and support these past few days, and look forward to sharing more of our tour experiences with you!

Pictures from our day:

Just a touch of the beauty of our drives

 Sleepyheads on the bus

 How the teachers travel & survive on tour!