Space Academy!

10 Feb 2013

What a wonderfully quiet night’s sleep we all enjoyed last night.  Even though this RV park is full of RV’s, we didn’t see hide nor hair of a single person.  They must all be in hibernation, it was so quiet.  Hallelujah for that.

We were up before seven so we decided to find a church with an early morning service nearby that we could attend.  Google Maps is great for this kind of thing as it felt like I was a bird flying over the neighborhood spotting things nearby.  That’s how we found St. Luke’s Missionary Baptist Church with an 8am service.  Since Kaleb could check into Space Camp at noon, we didn’t want to attend anything later in the morning, so we disconnected our RV, battened down the hatches and drove the two miles down the street to attend.  They knew we were visitors, not just because we showed up in an RV, but because we were the only white folks in the building.  It was quite the service.

I’ve never been to a church service before where the ushers walk up and down the aisles passing around the Kleenex box, but this place got pretty emotional during the worship, so it was much needed – if not a little funny to watch.  What made it even more odd was that the ushers all wore white gloves.  The gloves were helpful as they were pointing out seats for the late combers, however.  The music went on and on and most of it was a free form type of singing without words on the overhead to follow, just people singing out their hearts to God with a real jazzy type melody.  Even one of the pastors, when he had us visitors stand up so we could be acknowledged and greeted, sang a little ditty “we want to welcome you…” over and over again.  We sure felt welcomed.

The pastor gave a great talk from Matthew 7, about not judging or criticizing others and I sure felt convicted by it.  Lord, forgive me!  When he was toward the end of his sermon, it was like he started singing part of it in a chanting fashion, so then the band picked up on the chant and it was another rousing time of jazzy music and worship while the pastor just kept on going with his sermon.  I’ve never seen anything like it. 

After all that singing, swaying and preaching was done, two older guys brought up two white folding chairs and put them in front of the pulpit, facing the audience.  The pastor then asked if anyone was ready to enter into a relationship with God.  When I’ve seen alter calls before, it’s usually the “everyone bow your heads” type and then someone raises their hands while “every head is bowed and every eye is closed,” but these folks were just the opposite.  They invited people into a relationship with God with every eye on the hot seat.  One woman came forward all in tears and sat in one of the chairs.  She was asked right then and there if she believed Jesus was the son of God and if she wanted to be baptized in a few weeks.  She sure did.  It was a Hallelujah Moment for the entire church.  Then more music before we were dismissed.  I’m glad we picked that church, as it was definitively a cultural experience. 

We stopped at an organic grocery store nearby on our way back to the RV park.  I was able to find a few more food items for Kory to eat, which felt triumphant, as he’s getting tired of eating the same thing over and over. 

The rain started hard after church and by the time we checked into Space Camp, it was an all out downpour, complete with lightening and the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard.  Every person I saw in the Space center museum was looking at their smart phones.  It seems people around here all buy an application for them that tells where the rain is hardest, where the lightening strikes and if there are tornado warnings.  Too funny, but also comforting to know “this too, shall pass” as one guy showed me the cloud we were under and how fast it was moving through the area.

So Kaleb got checked in to camp and so far - I love this astronaut training, as the first thing they have the kids do is make up their beds!  Kaleb had to put on sheets and blankets and get his clothes put away in a locker.  He’s in a room with three other boys, two of which are Christian homeschool kids.  One is from Florida – they drove 8 hours to get here, and the other is from Virginia – they drove all through the night to get here. And both sets of parents turned right around and drove back home, only to repeat the process again for Friday’s graduation.  I guess that’s pretty common in these parts.  I’m just glad Kaleb has something in common with these boys.  They are younger than him but both have a big love of science and their manners were impeccable as they both come from military families.  I hope some of that rubs off on him. 

Kory and I got soaking wet walking from the dorm area back to the RV so we were glad to just huddle down in the RV park, turn on the heater and dry out.  I don’t think we’ll be going anywhere at least until this rain stops.  I spent all evening watching four episodes of “Downton Abbey” as I’ve heard so much about it I had to see what the fuss was all about.  I’m hooked.  Good thing I have a week with high speed internet so I can get all caught up.