Day 2035. I had set my alarm for 9 am again. Last night, Tammy and Emmy came to our bed again, and Sammy was up early as usual, and there was quite a lot of noise before my 9 am alarm went off. I was very tired, as I got up. Soon we left the house together to drive to church.
We got there at about 9:40 am, so twenty minutes before the first session stated. I went to my table, and the kids came with me and grabbed some brochures to hand them out. But there weren't too many people there that early. Just before 10 am Randy took the kids to the kids' program, while I stayed in the sanctuary. At some point Randy joined me and stayed for a while - until our kids' number flashed on the screen, and Randy had to go back there again.
There was a half-hour break between the two morning session, but hardly anyone stopped at my table. When you don't speak at all, nobody comes to your table, that's just the way it is.
Just after 12:15 pm it ended, the kids came, and we went to the tent to have lunch. Tammy has had a friend from our church here and spent a lot of time with her, whenever she could. She was also sitting next to Tammy during lunch time, much to her delight. We'd had only two meal tickets but bought a third one, so we had three plates for the five of us, which was plenty.
After we were done eating, we went to the sanctuary, me back to my table. The kids were running around the room, having fun, and also did some distributing of brochures again. Sammy was enjoying the worship music, as the band was practicing, and was dancing with me and having fun.
At 2 pm the afternoon session started. Randy and the kids went to the special Kids' Missions Ralley together. I was sent some pictures of the kids "dressing up" there. They spent the next two hours traveling through the world as missionaries and having fun. I was in the sanctuary listening to the speakers there. When the last speaker finally finished just before 4:30 pm, all the kids came into the sanctuary and went up on the stage. I had gone outside and seen them wait to go in and took their pictures there. Tammy had put on a robe from another country, while Emmy had his Malian clothes on already. They then sang a simply song in several different languages and did a great job. Tammy was standing all the way on the left, and Emmy all the way to the right. Randy had Sammy in his arms and stood in the back. The meeting was over, and as Randy was leaving, the pastor stopped him and prayed for Sammy.
It was only 4:30 pm, but time for dinner. We went to the tent and got sausages, fries and a sandwich that we all shared together. This time we were sitting with another couple whose daughter is friends with our kids. After we had finished eating, we returned to the sanctuary. Once again the kids took brochures to hand out - Tammy, Emmy, and their friends. Then they also handed out cards from another table. All the while they were running through the whole room and having fun. At one stand, they were giving a little toy car - one for each one of them - that they then played with. Especially Sammy was enjoying it, and the young people from the table next to us were even playing with him.
The meeting started at 6 pm, and Randy took them to their program again, while I stayed in the sanctuary. As in the afternoon, I was actually falling asleep at times, as I was very tired and could not stay awake. It was better once the singing was over and the speaking started. The meeting ended around 8:15 pm, and I stayed at the table, as the pastor had encouraged everyone to go around the room and visit all the tables. However, still nobody was coming to our table. That's why we didn't stay long after Randy and the kids had arrived.
Some time after 8:30 pm we left the church, walked to the car, and drove back to the house. As it was earlier than it has been, it was time to take a shower - Sammy's first one since his accident. By 9:30 they were in bed, but at 9:45 they were still talking. Randy sat with them, while I was on the computer downloading my pictures and working on them, then writing my report. Now it's 1 am and time to go to bed. It's another long day tomorrow.
