Sacrifice of Praise Tour June 9-11

I'm sorry this has taken me so long to post!

June 9

After a good nights sleep in our own beds, we were ready to go next morning!

We met at the church across the street from Ryan and Kelsey's house.

We traveled on some pretty fun roads!

Walmart happened to be one of our stops so Dad and KK loaded up on General Tso's chicken. Several people bought candy. The rest of our six hour trip to Emmanuel Christian Fellowship in MO was spent in munching. 😊

Our van load was a lot of fun that day!

When we arrived at the Community Center where the church was hosting the event, we snooped around, then headed to the picnic pavilion down the road to eat a late lunch.

Setting up the risers...

Our time of devotions and sharing were always such a sweet time! This particular time we did some singing. It sounded so beautiful as blended our voices in worship of Him!

These two were so cute!

It could get kinda crazy with only one ironing board along on the trip.

The youth from the church served us a yummy supper before the program. Thank you, guys!

It was so loud in that building after the program! This was our largest group of all. Most of us (all except Martha 😂) were completely peopled out. We were so ready for quiet and bed!

 There was a baseball game going on just across from the Community Building.

Jacinda and Vanessa, Kaylie, and Abi and I stayed with Marcus and Anne Brubaker. They had a feast prepared for us when we got to their house. I felt so awful that we were so uninteresting. All of us were zonked! Kaylie and I were both sick with colds and low grade fevers. Ugh. It was a miserable night! 

 June 10

We gathered the next morning at ECF's little church to split up into vehicles.

Dave H. wanted to take us all to a park where we could hike and burn off surplus energy. He found a large state park in the Lake of the Ozarks area.

Ha Ha Tonka State Park is a public recreation area encompassing over 3700 miles. It has numerous hiking trails and even boasts a castle's ruins!

I felt incredibly lousy that day. I'm pretty sure I had fever off and on, which made it worse. I was so disappointed to be sick!

The best photo bomb ever!

I was very disappointed in the castle. Really, it was nothing like a castle, but more like a manor house. If you want to see real castles... Never mind. 😉😋

Meredith and I walked back down the trail as everybody had disappeared and we couldn't find Kels. Alaina was very thirsty. I couldn't share my water with her since I was sick. All the cars were locked... It wasn't very pleasant there for awhile!

The trail was nice and shady, though!

The view was phenomenal!

The group that disappeared had gone to look at the natural bridge down one of the trails. I had really wanted to see it, but was feeling too sick. Poor Kaylie was pretty sick too.

I'm glad the others got to see it!

We didn't get around to lunch till about 2.

We were starving!

After driving for awhile, Justin's car started acting up. Everyone pulled off at an exit to check it out. How many guys do you need?

I'd never been to Arkansas before so it was fun to add another state to my list.

It was finally decided to stop at an auto parts store to get the car fixed.

While the guys worked on the car, the rest of us played foursquare.

 A bunch of us gathered in the big van and talked about all kinds of things!

Sarah was hungry so she walked over to Dominoes Pizza. 😀

Baby got into Janell's candy...

The blacktop made her socks disgusting!

Alaina was our little mascot throughout the trip.

Go, Mark!

Everyone agreed that this impromptu stop was our favorite of all. Probably because we knew each other so well by then and were very comfortable together. We had so much fun and so much sweet fellowship!

Turn your volume up for this one...

There's a story behind it. The guys were joking over our walkie-talkies that if anyone was afraid of tunnels they'd better jump out before this one. KK said that Meredith was probably scared, which she quickly disagreed with. So, Meredith and I decided (Ok, it was all my idea) to scream over the radios. Someone happened to be videoing right when we screamed. 😂

We didn't get in to Oklahoma till 11 pm or so. We were exhausted!

There were June bugs and other creepy things flying around at that gas station. Shivers!

They auctioned us all off to our respective houses. Meredith and I were sent to Lucas and Beka Kimberlin's house. Both of us were so tired we barely took the time to get ready for bed.

June 11

Jacinda found this saying... We definitely needed coffee that last morning!

The next morning, I got a text from Dad saying that we didn't need to be at the church until 8:45. I thought, great, I can sleep some more. Well, about 7:30 or so, Beka knocked on our door telling us that we had to be at the church by 7:45. Yikes! I flew out of bed, threw myself together, grabbed a muffin, then ran out the door for the car. Ugh. I hate rushing!

By the time we got to OK, our voices were shot. Most of us had colds, or else were just wore down.

The program sounded awful, in our opinion. Hopefully we didn't offend anybody. 😋

Those that wanted to, recited the verses they learned during tour. Everyone did an amazing job!

After service, we gathered to get a group picture taken. What fun! 

 The people there treated us with true southern hospitality!

Our van load, Ryan's, and Chupp's van load left after lunch. I almost felt like crying as I said goodbye to my fellow tour companions. It had been such a wonderful time getting to know people better, knitting hearts, worshipping and praying together, lifting up those that were discouraged, ministering to people through song and being ministered to.

The most wonderful group of people ever!

After a quick wardrobe change, we took off! After driving the first four hours, we decided we needed ice cream (and fuel). 😜

The first load was fun...

...But the second load was even more fun! Everyone wanted to ride with Martha so Matthias added an eighth seat and we all piled in!

Micah and Esther went home with Matthias to stay with them. Vlad and Martha came to our house. As we were driving home from Ryan and Kelsey's, the Fanton three came up with a good idea, why don't they come to our house and stay?! They live just down the road from us, but hey, it was almost midnight. Why not? So, all five of us girls piled into our room and crashed.

I am so glad I was able to participate in the first Sacrifice of Praise tour. I feel as though I grew spiritually through my experience. Somehow, it changed my perspective on music. Now, when I sing, the words mean something to me. I'm not just singing anymore, I'm singing to God. I can't really put it into words, but maybe you understand. 😊

Would I participate again? Absolutely!

Sacrifice of Praise Tour Trivia

Miles driven = 11,651

Gallons of fuel used = 664.67

Average price paid per gallon = $2.195

Average fuel milage = 17.53

Gas prices, high $2.55 and low $1.93

If Griswold folks walked the trip at five miles per hour it would have taken sixteen 24 hour days

If Cheyenne folks walked the trip at five miles per hour it would have taken nineteen 24 hour days

Estimated guest attendance in Cheyenne to Heavener = 725 people

Estimated CD’s distributed = 1200+

Hours spent asleep (just at night) = 1,848

Hours spent traveling, Griswold folks, 622  + Cheyenne folks, 709 = total 1,331 hours

Homes visited (host families) = 74

Meals consumed = 792

Snacks = we’re not telling :)

Wardrobe changes = 1,056 (includes jammies)

Ham sandwiches consumed = 248

Carrots consumed = 2,000

Water consumed = Gallons 

(note to self next tour, “No ham sandwiches or carrots”)