The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

1 Kings 19:11-13

Today God continued to remind me that He is in control of this trip, and I need not worry about what does or does not happen. He’s already thought things through.

We started our day (Thursday) off as usual, circling up in the parking lot and then rolling to Sun Splash. Set up the nets, lathered up and then got settled. I did a lot more prayer and reading the bible. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but one thing about this trip that is different from last is that we have to be a lot more intentional with who we speak and what we’re doing. We have no free food to attract anyone, so we have to approach them for conversation. And if we don’t feel called to speak to someone, there’s really not much else to do. Last year, you could hide behind the grill or the food tent and just serve away, and not feel bad about not talking. But this year, you’ll either have to play volleyball, take a seat next to the van (where you’ll end up talking to someone) or just go off and read the bible and pray. I ended up doing a lot of the latter. A LOT. I don’t think I’ve ever read the bible so much in the span of a few days.

While the results haven’t been quite as evident as the previous years for me, it’s still been good. In the last few years of high school I really struggled with prayer, taking it for granted and even not praying at all. Coming to college has helped me a lot to re-ackowledge the power of prayer, and this trip has really pushed me far. At school, it’s easy to get caught up in the hub-bub, but here, on spring break, if I’m praying, that’s first and foremost on my mind.

I was able to talk with Henry a bit today. I caught him just as he as about to leave. But he sat back down and we chatted for 15 min or so. I listened a bit, and then directed the conversation towards a discussion on fulfillment and purpose in life. I wanted to ask him what made him happy, and if it really lasted. But he avoided the question a lot, and spoke more of what he saw made other people happy. He never gave me a straight personal answer. At the end of the conversation I asked if I could give him a book, and he wouldn’t let me. He told me he only reads the newspaper. So we’ll see if today (Friday) I can get him to take it.

Just pray for me today when I talk to him that God can truly speak towards me. Here’s a man, 88 years old, who in terms of the world has had a pretty good life. Long life, successful, lots of material possessions. He’s admitted he’s on death’s door, and I’m not sure how I reach out to him so that he can see that he needs something more. If he were to die tonight, he’d probably go to hell. And if you told him that, he probably wouldn’t mind. So just keep me in your prayers so that the Holy Spirit can lead me to speak to him in such a way that would affect change in his life, if it’s in God’s will.

Other than that short conversation, my day on the beach was pretty chill. I only talked to one more person, and older lady who was taking pictures. Everyone team member who saw her knew that I probably should be the one to talk to her. It took me a while, but I did muster up the courage. The conversation never got really deep, but it was enjoyable. I learned about her life, and where she had worked and what she was doing. It was a reminder to me that not every conversation has to get straight to spiritual things, and just to show God’s love in everything I do.

Earlier in the day, I had a conversation with Brent, and we discussed how his trip had gone so far, and how to make the things we learned on this trip sustainable. I was reminded how I always look for this really deep and spiritual conversations, hoping to share Jesus with everyone I speak to. But many times, that’s not in God’s will. Sometimes, he just wants me to show people that I care, and that there are people out there who are not bitter and angry and selfish. I need to stand as a lighthouse to the world, both in my speech and actions. Like the drunk guy last night. He obviously was in no place to hear about Jesus, but even in his drunken stupor, he could tell we were different, and doing something that most people don’t do.

For dinner, we went to Aunt Catfish’s. It was alright. Good experience, but my food was a little bit less than satisfactory. I got steak, and it was a little overdone. So it ended up being dry and ashy. But I know some other people got some exotic stuff like alligator and shark and frog’s legs, and just watching them was enjoyment enough.

At night, I went out with Lauren Bournique and Daniel Rodman. It was an interesting experience since they haven’t gone out at night quite as much as me, and I’d say they weren’t quite as adventurous at night as I usually am. There weren’t many people out at night, and we ended up praying a lot. Which is ironic, b/c the last thing I wanted to do that night was pray even more. But I think that’s where we needed to be, b/c one of the things we ended praying for was Lauren Vriezema and Danny Loudermilk while they were talking to what they later called the “biker gang.” I ended up hearing later that more people showed up, and they eventually split up 1 to 1, which was great b/c all of them had great conversation. We talked to one homeless man later, who ended up yelling at us before wandering off. He most likely had some mental problems. Later we chatted with Gary and Josh, who we’ve managed to see every night on the town.

So we’re about to leave for our last day on the beach now. Pray that God can continue to use us in the ways he’s used us this week, and that he can also start to bring closure to this trip for us. Help him to give us the words to say, and also the contentment to leave things in God’s hands. There will always be things we wish we could have said, or people we wish we could have talked to, but in the end God knows everything that’s going on, and has already planned out everything.

Starting off the day, I woke up on one of the couches in the conference room. Apparently last night I had just passed out from being so tired and just slept there. It’s wasn’t that uncomfortable, since I usually sleep on a couch in my dorm room.

Walked back to my room, made breakfast and took a shower. We met up in the conference room again around 9:30, and then headed down to the parking lot to circle up. We prayed it up, and then rolled to Sun Splash.

When I got there, I helped to set up the net on the beach, and then wandered back up to Sun Splash to find some people to talk to.

I wasn’t in the best of moods, so I just went down to the other end to read the bible and pray. I don’t think I’ve ever read the bible and prayed so much in the span of 3 days. I just didn’t feel like talking to anyone, or didn’t see anyone I felt like I could connect with. All I saw were old people or creepy men who were there just to stare at girls. I even had some time of rest and meditation (could also be classified under “nap”). I walked around a bit more, and then went back down to the beach to chill.

I was in a pretty nasty mood. A crappy mood would have been a gross understatement. I just felt like it was useless to talk to people, b/c I wouldn’t be able to make a difference. I knew it was all in God’s control, and nothing I did or did not do would help. I knew God would work out his will, with or without me, so why bother. I was also half wishing God would just come back so that all those creepy old men would just go to hell. I felt a lot like Jonah. I don’t think the two (my attitude and my mood) were related causally, but the combination made for a lethal mix. Gabbi tried to cheer me up, but that didn’t work.

I walked around a bit more, and eventually I wasn’t in such a bad mood. I wasn’t necessarily Mr. Sunshine face, but I wasn’t Debbie Downer. As I was wandering, Gabbi motioned me over really forcefully. She introduced me to Reynaldo, who was a Jehovah’s witness. I was thinking, “Oh boy, here we go.”

So I tried to talk to him, but personally, it was pretty frustrating. He would agree with anything I said, but when I asked him for specifics, or to clarify stuff, I wouldn’t completely agree with him. But it just went around and around in circles. It also didn’t help that he didn’t know his supporting scripture passages very well, and could identify the address of only about 50% of them. By the end, I think we ended up just praying for him, and leaving it up to the Holy Spirit to convict him. Walking away I was frustrated and sort of angry, but surprisingly did not sink back into my super bad mood.

I ate a quick lunch, and then decided it was time to take some photos of the others on the team ministering. Thus far, my photo intake has been far inferior to other years, both in quality and quantity. I’d probably blame that on my bad mood.

As I was walking back to the far end of the park, I saw “Robert,” the 88 year old man from the day before. I sat down and started talking to him again. He told me he had just been thinking about me: “I was just thinking about you; how I had never seen you before, and how I probably would never see you again. But here you are.”

So we sat and talked. The day before I felt like the conversation was there, but not that meaningful. I never really got to tell him why I was there, and explicitly mention Jesus. I’m not the type to shove religion down people’s throat’s, but if I’m talking to you for at least an hour, I feel it’s pretty easy to work spiritual stuff into the conversation. So today I was constantly looking for an in.

Today it was less of us talking, and more of me learning about him. I learned more about the prostitute situation, and it made a bit more sense when I heard more about it. She actually was living with someone else in the apartment complex, and apparently got kicked out. She’s into older men, and apparently picked him up, and not vice-versa. She’s also a drug addict, and pretty much was using him for money. But regardless, sex is first and foremost on his mind. Like I mentioned yesterday, he thinks marriage is 85-90% about sex. While I don’t disagree that it’s a major part of the relationship, it definitely isn’t 85-90%.

I learned about his weekly routine, how he rides his bike and talks to a judge and real estate guy on a regular basis. How he watches civil courts on TV (Judge Judy and the like) religiously, and how he’s seen most of the space shuttle launches at Cape Canaveral. I learned more about his wife (apparently, the 3rd one) who died 7 years ago after battling the after effects of a stroke. There I saw my in. I asked him if he ever wondered what happened after death. He told me the earth was created by a higher power, most likely UFO’s, and how after we died we would become part of a giant puzzle. Yeah, it didn’t make much sense to me either.

Then I asked him if he wanted to hear what I believed. He said he would, and I explained to him the entire gospel message. How when I died I would go to God and would have to answer for all the sins in my life. And how he would not let me in b/c of my past sins, but b/c Jesus paid for them all, I would then proceed to heaven. We didn’t really discuss that at length, but I made sure he heard it in its entirety. For me, that was such a burden off of my back, b/c I felt like the day previous I had been quite timid in my conversations with regard to the gospel message.

I had my camera with me, and he commented that if he had money, he’d give me some so I could send him a picture of himself. I told him I didn’t need any money, and proceeded to take his picture. He didn’t have any pen and paper with him, so I had to go down to get mine. When I came back, I was really excited to show that I remembered his name. When I said his name and asked for his address, he told me to forget what he had told me before. He then proceeded to tell me his real name and address. Apparently, the day before, he wasn’t sure about who I was or what I was up to, so he gave me a fake name. I’ve never had that happen to me, or even heard of it happening to anyone on the trip, but it makes sense. Why would a young guy like me approach an older man like him for some random conversation? Oh, and he thought I may have been gay and approaching him for “other” reasons. It makes sense it you take into consideration that he’s probably thinking about sex and women 75% of the time.

At the end I even got to pray for him, which I think he appreciated, even if he didn’t completely understand the concept. So please keep him in your prayer, so that I can see him again later this week and give him a bible to read.

By that time it was pretty close to 5, so we packed up and headed back. Dinner and debrief were pretty ordinary, so I’ll just fast forward when we went out at night.

There were 6 girls in the group, and 4 guys. We ended up doing an awkward split, b/c 3 girl’s wanted to get Cold Stone first. Lauren and Danny, Dan and Christine, Brent and Gabbi, and then me with Heather, Stephanie and Katie. I personally didn’t like it, since I think 4 people is a real awkward group, esp when approaching 1 other person, but I didn’t want to inconvenience any of the other people, so I just went with it.

While the girl’s were getting cold stone, I got a chance to talk to my dad, which was really nice. I probably haven’t talked to him for over a week, so it was good to tell him how the week went so far, and about how I was feeling. I had called him the night before, but he had gone to bed early b/c he had had an allergic reaction. Even though my mood had improved since the previous night, it was still good to talk with him.

After the girls came out, we walked towards where the clubs were. The girls talked to a bouncer at one of the bars for a bit, but it didn’t go very far. On our way back they talked to a man sitting on one of the benches at a bus stop. He said he was sobering up a bit, and on his way back to his hotel room. Randy was a carpenter working on a house in Daytona for about a month, and had a pretty rough life. He had two daughters, both of whom were in prison. He knew about God and Jesus, but seemed to think he’d done too many bad things in his life. With 4 of us and 1 of him, it was awkward, as I mentioned before. I stood off to the side, leaving most of the conversation to the girls. Heather did most of the talking, with Stephanie and Katie to support her. We ended up reading him the story of the prodigal son, which I think really hit him hard. He may have had some alcohol in him, but I think he heard that story and it really made him think. After Heather finished the story, he was just silent, and then told us he had to go. It was pretty abrupt. As he walked away, we were contemplating whether we should follow him, since he was still swaying a bit.

But God had some other plans for us. During our conversation with Randy, a different guy had stumbled past us. At first I thought he was faking being drunk to be funny, but by the time he got to the traffic light pole, Katie pointed out that he really was gone. We got him to sit down for a bit, but he got up again and scampered across the street. Let me tell you, that may have been one of the most amazing things I’ve seen all trip. The fact that he didn’t trip in the street, much less the curb was utterly astonishing. He wandered down the street and out of view.

By the time we were finished with Randy, the drunk guy, who we would later find out was Charlie, had stumbled back into view. He faceplanted onto the concrete pretty bad, which shook up Heather pretty bad. He was on the opposite side of the street, and I personally had no idea what to do. Heather was pretty concerned for him though, and wanted to get him somewhere safe before he ended up splattered all over the street. So we ran across, got him to stop walking, and tried to figure out where he needed to go and who could come get him.

We tried calling the person who he said he was with in Daytona, but she didn’t pick up. He told us he was staying at the Silver Sand Beach Resort, but at the time couldn’t tell the difference between his silver and surfer. At this point I had gotten really tired of keeping Charlier steady, so I told him to lean against a chain-linked fence behind us. Heather tried to get him to drink some water, and we sent Stephanie and Katie across the street to find out where it was. Lo and behold they found a group of Taylor students in there shopping as well. One of them lived in Daytona, and though he didn’t know where it was, got us the address of the hotel. We really didn’t know how far it was, but knew which direction our new friend Charlie needed to go.

So we started walking towards where we thought his hotel was. He had his arm around my shoulder, and I had to not only help support him, but prevent him from swaying into the street. Considering I was the only guy, I didn’t really have any other options. We walked him down past the Hilton, and at the point I got really tired. I’d say he was at least 200 pounds, if not 250. Not to mention he was super sweaty, and had the stench of alcohol on him like no other. I honestly can still smell him know. We had walked about half a mile, so we sat him on some steps so I could catch my breath, and figure out how far we needed to take him.

Luckily, there were some hotel workers on break, and one of the security guys helped us out quite a bit. He called up an ambulance to get Charlie checked out, while I went to get the van.

I came back with the van, and we picked Charlie up along with the rest of the people who had gone out. We found his hotel, and as we were taking him up the elevator, he kept commenting on how nice we were, and kept asking us why we were helping him out. We just told him that Jesus loved him and so did we. I doubt he’ll remember this tomorrow morning when he wakes up, but I think one of the girls may have slipped a track into his pocket.

Anyways, that’s the end of my exciting day. I then went to 7-11 to treat myself to a slurpee, which ended up being super disappointing b/c it wasn’t quite slushy as I expected. But it’s kept me awake, as I realize I’ve spent over an hour typing up this post. But I’m sure someone out there will enjoy reading it, if not me in a year or so.

Continue to keep us in your prayers as we make it down the home stretch. I know in previous years, this is where people start to get worn down, both physically and emotionally, and burn out. Pray that the weather can remain nice, and that people will return to continue all these great conversations we’re having. I probably should go to sleep now, since it’s 2:30.

My days haven’t seem to gotten drastically better. But that’s just from my perspective. I have no idea what’s really going on down here in Daytona, b/c only God knows. The sun did come out to play today though, and the temperatures, while not amazing, were comfortable and warm.

After getting the lunches packed and the vans loaded, we headed to sun splash. One van parked in the parking lot, while the other rolled down to the beach so that we could set up and have lunch easier.

We set up the volleyball net in the sand, and then I just relaxed for a bit. After 5 or so min a beach patrol truck pulled up and told us that we needed to move the net to the other side of the traffic lane (closer to the water) b/c we were taking up premium parking spots. While it did make sense, it was sort of stupid. We did end up moving it anyways.

I then went up to pray and read the bible. There were no trumpets, so blatant revelations, so I just tried to continue to trust God.

One thing I’ve been struggling with is just all the dirty old men that come to sun splash. There’s just there to look at the girls on the beach. It’s pretty depressing. Especially when you talk to them, and they know it’s wrong, but don’t care. That’s just the way they live their lives.

So I just sat and waited for the Spirit to lead me to talk to someone. I noticed an old man further down the park, and decided to try and talk to him. I took it real slow, sitting next to him first, and then slowly working up the courage to talk to him. The conversation was real choppy and one-sided at first, with me asking, and him responding. But he soon warmed up, and moved from facing the ocean to facing me.

The guy I thought would be a nice little old man wasn’t quite so nice. Not that he was straight up mean to me, but his lifestyle wasn’t quite what I expected it to be. He’s 88, and lives by himself. He’s retired, married twice, but his last wife died 7 years ago. He pretty much does whatever he wants, reading a lot, or going to parks and such. But the doing whatever he wants part relates to his sense of morality too. Whatever feels good, just do it. He’s even got a 30 year old prostitute. I never really took the conversation in a blatantly spiritual direction, but we did discuss marriage, and his definition of marriage was just sad. He said it was all about the bedroom, and it was just about a piece of paper. He seemed to think that those relationships where all about sex, and the commitment to working through problems and such wasn’t quite that important. While I was saddened by that, I continued to talk to him. The conversation wasn’t exactly a failure, but it wasn’t what I envisioned when I sat down.

After that, my view on the male sun splash attendees wasn’t improved much. Especially considering the fact that every 30 seconds or so he would take a look at some of the sunbathers below us.

I went back down to the beach, talked with Erika about it a bit, and then got a drink of water. I noticed 2 girls seeing how high our net was, but by the time I started walking towards them, they had walked away. Liz decided to go after them, and we played for about a game. They were from MIT, and on spring break. They left, but told us they were getting the rest of their friends.

When they all game back, there were about 8 or 10 of them. Most of the guys were from the same frat, and played on MIT’s volleyball team. Two of the girls were also on the women’s team. We played a couple games with them, and then sat down to talk. We were in a pretty big group, and while trying to move it towards a spiritual direction, they would just sort of ignore it. They were your typical college spring breakers, just down here to have fun, relax, and not really think. It was pretty disconcerting at first, but after they split up to go in the ocean and get some food, we were able to have some more personal conversations. Laruen, Dan and I were able to talk with Eugene, and while he tried to avoid our spiritual questions, they really pressed him for his beliefs. For me, it was really encouraging to see. I had already sort of given up on them, not wanting to press an issue they weren’t interested in talking about. He warmed up a bit, and did respond honestly to some of them. We didn’t get really deep, but I’m sure we have him some food for thought. They may or may not come back today, but I’ll leave that in God’s hands.

My prayer request for the rest of the week is that I won’t be so discouraged any more, and that I can continue to trust God in his all perfect will. I’ve lost some faith in humanity, and yesterday I just felt like it was all hopeless. Also pray that I can have a spirit of power and love, not of one of timidity in fear.

Anyways, onto the important stuff. We awoke yesterday morning to a pretty cloudy day. We were a bit apprehensive for what God had planned for us. We unloaded the food vans when they pulled up, and then made about 15 sack lunches for the group that was going to be headed downtown.

We circled up, prayed and then rolled out. One van headed downtown to find homeless people, talk to them and hand out some food, and the other 2 headed to sun splash. By the time we got to Sun Splash, it was raining pretty hard. I know that Erika and I were pretty discouraged, seeing no one out in the beach or even at the park. There were a few homeless guys there, and some members struck up a conversation. Liz went to go make him a sandwich, only to find that Ross & Christine had left the bread back in the hotel. Whoops.

Heather and Danny went across the street to talk to some of the people at the halfway house, but the Mortlands decided we should maybe try out some other sites. We went back to the hotel, picked up the bread, and then went to the mall further down the strip. Seeing that our prospectives weren’t much better, we were about to head to the indoor mall near the speedway when we got a call from Liz saying that people were starting to show up at the park.

We went back to the park, had lunch and began to set up our volleyball net.

From that point on, the day seemed to be more of a “normal” day at Sun Splash park for the people who had gone before, sans the large tent and free food. We had people down on the beach playing volleyball, others walking the beach striking up conversation, and some at the park chatting it up with whoever they saw.

For the veterans of years past, the day was a bit rough. We’re pretty set in our ways, and were used to the way things were last year. Beautiful weather, long lines, and free food. At sun splash, we had none. And we had to really rely on God, especially when we would try to compare our current experience to those last year.

—–

My story today is a bit on the boring side. I was pretty disappointed when the rain showed up, and even going to the mall felt sort of weird. I was glad when the sun came back and sun splash was repopulated.

There weren’t many people, and I ended up spending most of the afternoon in prayer. I opened up the bible in hopes that God would speak to me like he did last year, and he did. I read fro Isaiah 55, which was a great encouragement to me. Here are some of the highlights:

Verse 5:

Surely you will summon nations you know not,
and nations that do not know you will hasten to you,
because of the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel,
for he has endowed you with splendor.”

Verses 8-13:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.

Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD’s renown,
for an everlasting sign,
which will not be destroyed.”

And for me, having seen nothing but rain and clouds the entire morning, I was really touched by the 12th verse; “the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees in the field will clap their hands.” It was just a great reminder that God would continue to use us in great ways, whether we felt great or not.

At night, I went on the town with my bed mate, Dan Swartz. I knew he had had a rough day, so I was hoping for a really moving experience. Last year, Justin and I went out to town the first night, and ended up talking to 6 or 7 people, only having to sit at a park bench. They literally walked up to us wanting to talk with us.

This year, it wasn’t quite the same. One our way to the area where most of the clubs were, we stopped to talk to a homeless man. We ended up walking with him to a pizza place, buying him a slice, and just talking to him. He had been in the Navy, and then lived in New York as a construction worker. He then moved to Vegas, and was now in Daytona. He told us he was headed back to Vegas in 12 days, which I’m not sure if I believed. As another member on our team has said, it seems like all homeless people say that they’ve got their life in control and are headed to someplace to do something in the near future. Regardless, he has hungry, and something that we could offer him right there and then was some warm food and a listening ear. I know that it didn’t seem like the ultimate Daytona Beach night experience, but I have a sense of comfort that that is where God wanted us that night.

—–

Prayer:

- Please pray for our new members who have a sense of fear and apprehension as they begin to witness to people, some for the first time in their lives. Not that the veterans don’t have those feelings, but it seems to be sometimes overwhelming for the newer members

- Please pray for the older members who have the urge to compare this years trip with last years.

- Please pray for the girls on this trip. Daytona has a darkness about it, and no lie, sun splash is dirty old man central. Numerous guys will go there with binoculars, just to chill and enjoy the “scenery.” These are the guys we will be talking to, so just pray for the girls so that they can feel safe and protected.

- Pray for continued warmer weather

- Pray for people to continue to come out to sun splash

I’ll post some stories later.

Dan Swartz rockin’ out in the parking lot after our arrival:

Jim Baker playing guitar while enjoying the new scenery:

Katie Fore and Heather Murphy showing off their new “tans.”

Apparently Ben Waterman starred in Psycho:

My dinner at Woody’s Bar-B-Q, the sloppy woody. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that great.

Some photos from team prayer on Saturday night and team worship on Sunday morning:

Some misc photos from free time:

Future photos can be viewed at my flickr album here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thatkidwithacamera/sets/72157615767223190/

So after lunch most of the team headed outside to enjoy what we thought would be beautiful weather. Instead we were greeted by cloudy skies, high speed winds, and mediocre temperatures. And it just started to rain. What a way to enjoy Spring Break in Florida.

- My van probably had the fewest people in it out of the 3. It seated 12, and we had maybe 6-8 the entire trip. Starting off, we had 2 full benches the people could lay out on. Which was really nice.

- I slept a ton on the trip down. I’m one of the drivers, so I slept so that I wouldn’t be tired when it was my turn to drive. But Steve Mortland apparently never feels tired, so I didn’t get a chance to drive. Not that I’m complaining though.

- Villanova absolutely smooshed UCLA today. It wasn’t even close. I wouldn’t even call it a game, more of an exhibition.

- Our rooms weren’t ready right away, so some of us had to wait until 1 to move into our rooms. I was watching the end of the Villanova game and partly napping when some of the guys came back from the beach. I gave Dan the key to our room (1305) and he went to take a shower. He came back with a puzzled look on his face. He told me that there was already stuff in our room, and how there was a ton of food in the fridge along with a case or two of bud light. I was about as confused as he was, because Erika had told us that that was our room.

So I told Steve about the situation and headed down to the front desk to see what the problem was. While I was down there, the 2 girls who were residing in the room were in front of me getting their keys reactivated. When I went up to ask about it, Erika had called down. They looked over their records and realized they had given us the keys to the room next to us, and our room was really 1306.

Just imagine if they were already in their room and Dan had accidentally walked in on them. That would have made for a much much more awkward story.

- The first place a couple of us went to for lunch was a pizza place across the street, Stavro’s. Two years ago on the first night we were here there was some sort of incident there, and like 5 police cars showed up. So I already had some preconceptions that this place was a little bit sketchy. We walked over, and the doors were locked, so we were about to leave. A woman walked out from the back, and unlocked the door, and let us in. But after that she just walked back into the kitchen. She didn’t say anything, didn’t give us any menus; she just left us out in the front. It was really weird.

- I’m so glad our shower nozzle is strong. I hate taking showers where the shower head flow is just a trickle.

- I like our team a lot this year. Not that there was ever a Daytona team I didn’t like, but I feel like this year’s team will get along quite well with each other. On some of my previous years there have been a person or two which has sort of been on the fringes of the group, but I don’t see anyone like that (yet) for this year’s team. That’s going to help us a lot, considering we’ll be working a lot more closely with each other in smaller groups, as opposed to one large group in the past 2 years.

- UConn is having a field day with Texas A&M as well. It seems like the games thus far today have not been close, or surprising, as last night’s games.

- One of the popular activities of this afternoon has been napping. As of right now, there are 4 guys laying on the floor or couches in the main conference room. Countless others are probably sleeping in their room as well. That’s probably what happens when you don’t sleep at all on the ride down.

- While we are Wendy’s, Liz Chang wanted to take a group picture of the 6 of us that had chosen to go there for lunch. One of the guys in front of us asked if we wanted him to take it, and we gladly agreed. He asked us where we were from, and if we were on our spring break. He seemed pretty talkative, but we kept the conversation short. Back at the hotel, I realized that that would have been a perfect opportunity to carry on a meaningful conversation, and see if maybe we could plant some seeds. We were in line for a good 15 minutes or so. But we missed the opportunity and chose to talk amongst ourselves.

With this having been my 3rd year, one problem that arises is the sort of outreach mode mentality. When we’re on the beach or out at night, we feel like we’re in outreach mode. We care for people and want to hear about their lives. But when we are maybe out eating, or taking some time for ourselves on the weekend, it seems like we’re content to keep amongst ourselves. Even when perfect opportunities are presented to us on platters, we sometimes chose to ignore them, wanting to stay in our bubbles. I’m one of the first to admit that I’m part of the problem, and I just pray that the Holy Spirit can work in his powerful ways to divorce us of our selfish and scared mindsets. So please continue to pray that we can live our leaves in a meaningful and intentional way so that others can see and hear of God’s love.

“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”
- 2 Timothy 1:6-7

We rolled out from the DC around 6ish. We had to make a temporary pit stop to fill up the tires on one of the vans at Handy Andy. It may have taken 3 guys to figure out how to do it, but it got done.

The drive down was relatively uneventful. Learning from last year’s experience, we left at night, to cut down on the amount of bathroom breaks we had to take. Last year we left in the early afternoon, and ended up stopping almost every 2 hours for bathroom breaks. This year we mostly stopped to switch drivers, about every 3 or 4 hours.

We arrived at our home base, the El Caribe at about 11. Since then, we’ve had lunch, with several of us going to Wendy’s, and then most of the group members are out enjoying the beautiful weather on the beach.

Thanks for everyone’s prayers. We had a safe trip down with no accidents or incidents whatsoever. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we prepare to minister this week in Daytona.

—–

For those of you who have not heard yet, our Spring Break ministry will be a bit different this year from years past. The park where we had served food at for the last 2 years, Sun Splash, did not allow us to make a reservation. I’m not 100% sure about the details, but it has some to do with the amount of people we draw in, specifically the homeless.

So we’ve decided to continue to minister, but in a different form. We’re going to split up into a couple different groups. One group will go to where the homeless tend to hang out, with some bag lunches and possibly toiletries. Another group will set up a volleyball court and just hang out with whoever wants to play with us. And we may send a 3rd group just to talk to people at sun splash, sans food. But that’s just a tentative plan. Who knows what God has in store for us.

Afterwards, as I sat there, Justin called me over.  Harley and Dave, whom we had talked to on Sunday night, had stopped by.  We sat there with them and just spent time talking to them, which is what I think they needed.  They both were believers, who were struggling with a couple vices, and they couldn’t seem to just get past them.

I spent a little time at the table, and then I went back out to talk some people.  I met two older Italian gentlemen, Sam and Bruno, who were down here to get away from the cold of NY and MA.  I talked with Bruno mostly, about his life and his past.  We moved a little into spiritual things, but when I asked him about if he went to church, he said only a little.  We was sort of religious, but I don’t think it was anything major in his life.

After cleaning up and heading back to the hotel, I thought back on my day at the beach.  It didn’t seem to productive.  Two regular conversations, prayer and some helping out at the table.

But as we had our team meeting, I realized that God had used me in exactly the way he wanted to use me.  Robert, a man who Tot (Emily) and Amy had been talking to for several days decided to accept Christ into his heart.  And not only did we have one conversion, but Brett also led a 9 year old boy, Joel to Christ.

So at the end of the day, God knew exactly where he wanted me.

After everything had been set up and such, I went down to sit about halfway down the boardwalk. I didn’t feel called to talk to anyone, so I just sat and watched and prayed. Soon, lauren motioned me over as if she needed help.

She was standing with a college aged girl, and Lauren asked me why there was suffering in the world. I explained what I believed, how God had the option of making us robots or making us living beings, and by choosing the latter we brought sin and suffering into this world.

The girl, Rachel, asked was suffering our fault then. I said no, it was just something we were born with. Then she proceeded to tell me how here life had been overflowing with suffering. Her parents were murdered in front of her, having their throats slit. Her twin sister was raped and murdered in front of her, and just recently her brother had died in Iraq. He left behind a wife and two children, and to top it off, Rachel had leukemia.

At this point, words ceased to come to mind. What can you say to someone like this and have it truly be meaningful? As we continued to talk, she brushed off all our spiritual talk by saying, “Oh, but it doesn’t matter b/c there isn’t a God.” When we later asked if we could pray for her, she was apathetic, saying that it probably wouldn’t work anyways. We presented the case that if there wasn’t a heaven and hell, we had nothing to lose by following Christ, but if there was, we had everything to lose. She shrugged this off, saying she didn’t care, and hell couldn’t be much worse than what she had gone through.

We spent a lot of time just standing with her, looking out at the ocean. I felt that God didn’t want us to share the gospel with her, but he wanted us to be there so show her his love. Soon, Lauren would go back to get her a book, “God doesn’t believe in atheists.” We prayed with her, and Lauren gave her a hug before she left for the doctors.

As she was walking away, Lauren began to cry, and we sat down to talk. We prayed for Rachel again, and just shared with each other what was going through our minds.

And after Lauren left, I began to pray again. I cried out in anguish and frustration. I wanted God to change whatever plan he was trying to work in her life and just end the suffering in pain. I demanded that the devil loose his hold on her. I don’t think I have ever prayed with such emotion in my life. It was to the point where I was bawling.

Sidenote: I’m not a very emotional person. The last time I can remember crying is freshman year of HS. And that was when I had gotten hit in the eye with a dodgeball.

The image of Jacob wrestling an angel came to mind, and I wanted to do the same. After I had calmed down a bit, I went back to get my bible. I had no idea what to read, but I figured I’d find something good once I went back to sit down.

After I went back to the park bench I opened up my bible and started to read. I had no idea what I was doing, but I just started reading. Here’s what I read:

12 “This is what the LORD says:
” ‘Your wound is incurable,
your injury beyond healing.

13 There is no one to plead your cause,
no remedy for your sore,
no healing for you.

14 All your allies have forgotten you;
they care nothing for you.
I have struck you as an enemy would
and punished you as would the cruel,
because your guilt is so great
and your sins so many.

15 Why do you cry out over your wound,
your pain that has no cure?
Because of your great guilt and many sins
I have done these things to you.

16 ” ‘But all who devour you will be devoured;
all your enemies will go into exile.
Those who plunder you will be plundered;
all who make spoil of you I will despoil.

17 But I will restore you to health
and heal your wounds,’
declares the LORD,
‘because you are called an outcast,
Zion for whom no one cares.’

At this point in the reading, I just broke down. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. This was Jeremiah 30. I never read Jeremiah. And to think that I had just randomly opened up to this. I have never had to stop reading the bible because of an overwhelming emotion, and I have never cried while reading the bible, but both happened here. It felt like God was speaking directly to me.

18 “This is what the LORD says:
” ‘I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents
and have compassion on his dwellings;
the city will be rebuilt on her ruins,
and the palace will stand in its proper place.

19 From them will come songs of thanksgiving
and the sound of rejoicing.
I will add to their numbers,
and they will not be decreased;
I will bring them honor,
and they will not be disdained.

20 Their children will be as in days of old,
and their community will be established before me;
I will punish all who oppress them.

21 Their leader will be one of their own;
their ruler will arise from among them.
I will bring him near and he will come close to me,
for who is he who will devote himself
to be close to me?’
declares the LORD.

22 ” ‘So you will be my people,
and I will be your God.’ ”

23 See, the storm of the LORD
will burst out in wrath,
a driving wind swirling down
on the heads of the wicked.

24 The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back
until he fully accomplishes
the purposes of his heart.
In days to come
you will understand this.

That last sentence just sealed the deal. God was saying, “Timmy, you have no idea. You have no right to even think you know a thought of mine. I now EXACTLY what I’m doing, and in due time you will see too.

I went back and shared this passage with Lauren, and she couldn’t believe it either. God was speaking directly to me, straight out of the bible.

And as I think back on Rachel and our interactions, I felt that underneath her hard and lifeless exterior, there was a girl crying inside for love and for something to live for. When I asked her why she woke up every morning, she told us she didn’t really know. But by her continuing on through life, it was evident that she was still seeking. She came to look at the ocean every day, and she wanted, she needed, something to fill up her empty soul.

So please continue to pray for her, that God would just smother her with his love and that he would manifest his love in her life. I pray that the devil would stay far far away from her, and that God would bring people into her lives that truly care for her. And most of all, I pray that God would remind us that he is in control, and he knows EXACTLY what he is doing.

So here we go. I woke up a bit later than usual, at 9 and ate breakfast before heading to the conference room. I hung out for a little and then helped to unload the vans. Then, it was time to begin our work at Sunsplash park.

Now having spoken with some guys we met last year who went to Embry Riddle, I had heard that the volleyball courts at the park had been plowed over. But upon showing up, we soon found out that the entire greenspace we had been on was plowed over. We paused for a moment, looked around and decided to relocate to the other side, right behind the bathrooms. While it may not be as visible as the tent last year, this location has its own perks. We are near the bathrooms, and we have a direct ramp down to the beach where we can set up our volleyball courts. Also, there are more benches and seats nearby.

Besides the relocation, we had to deal with some not-so springy weather. The sun was covered by the clouds, and it seemed that Mr. Indiana wind had come down with us. For the better part of the morning it was cold and windy, but this would eventually go away by late afternoon. The weather dictated the amount of people, and although the beach was empty at 11, it livened up a bit and was hopping by the time we left.

The wind presented an interest foe as we tried to set up the tent. We had people there who’s explicit job was to just hold down the tent. It was ever so slightly entertaining, but also frustrating.

Once we were able to get the grills fired up (which also took frustratingly long), we went out to spread the word about the tent.

The first pair I encountered were a homeless couple, and I told them about the tent. Although the grill was not up at that point, I offered to give them some drinks. Arlin, the husband, was pretty friendly, but his wife, Fran, was a bit more cold. We talked for a little, and Christine Moser joined me. But after a few exchanges, Fran actually turned completely around. Taking the hint, I soon made my exit and moved on. I would later alert them when the grill was finished, and saw that others in our team would get to interact with them.

Today, I felt that God was telling me, “Timmy, today I am going to show you the body of Christ. And you will not be the mouth. You will be my hands and feet, and I will use you in whatever way I choose. But it will be perfect, even if you can’t understand it.”

So for most of the day I was walking around and telling people about the tent. Many times I felt that people would be brushing me, with an attitude that they didn’t need a handout. But eventually, some would make their ways to the tent where other members on the team would be able to talk with them.

A short rundown:

- the 4 college students who told me that it was “only 11:30” and weren’t ready for lunch. They would eventually talk with some of the other members

- The mother who asked why I cared if her family had lunch yet. She would eventually go with her family to the tent and get some food

- The father and 2 sons who I walked to the tent. Although they were leery at first, they seemed genuinely happy by the time they had left. They live nearby, so continue to pray that they can return and we can show God’s love to them

While handing out burgers and hot dogs, I was able to direct Liz Chang to a gentleman who she had a ridiculously good talk with. It turns out that she is one of his first Christian friends since coming to the US from Micronesia

And one of my last conversations was with Dave, a man who lived nearby. He attended the Methodist church down the street. He was out riding his bike, and along with Kendra, we were able to spend some time talking with him about miscellaneous things. Nothing spiritual or nothing deep, but we just showed him that we cared and wanted to spend some time with him.

We cleaned up and headed home, and I spent most of the evening resting. Not really by choice, since my dinner didn’t agree with my stomach. I ended up throwing it all back up, and spent the night at the hotel, talking with Brett, Matt, Justin and Erika. Although I missed going out, I felt that I needed to rest and get ready for the rest of the week. But I’m feeling better now, so please don’t worry.

Some prayer requests:

- better weather

- More people at the beach / park

- Confidence for team members to speak the truth

- The covering of the Holy Spirit upon the park and in our team members

- Contentment in our role as God uses us

- The softening of hearts towards our gospel message

As you can probably tell by the steady decline in coherence of my prayer request list, my mind is starting to shut down. So thanks for reading, and continue to keep us in your prayers.

PS: if you didn’t know already, the pictures posted to these daytona blog entries can be viewed here: http://flickr.com/photos/thatkidwithacamera/sets/72157604160826832/

Now, onto my recap of what happened to me on the streets of Daytona Easter Sunday night:

We rolled into the church at about 9:30ish, and we made our way downtown.  Me and Justin wanted a change of scenery, so we decided to go down where the clubs were.

The weather was pretty windy and slightly chilly, and there weren’t many people out.

The first conversation we got into went a little like this:

Man (M): You guys look like you’re up to no good.

Justin (J): Really? Why do you say that?

M: Well, you’re just walking around, sort of like me.  And I can tell that you’re up to no good.

So we talked to him a bit more, and eventually he got to the point:

M: Hey, I need some money for a bus fare.  Would you be able to help a brother out?

J: How much do you need?

At this point, Justin was looking to me a lot, b/c he didn’t really know what to do.  Personally, I never give out cash.  I will buy food or clothing or anything in person, but I will absolutely never hand out cold cash.  So I asked him where he was going and where he needed to be and where I could get a ticket for him.  He was vague, and changed his answers a couple times.  Once he realized we weren’t going to just dish out the money, he just left.  He didn’t even want to keep talking to us.

As we continued on, we spotted a homeless lady and told her about sunsplash park.  She didn’t seem like she was all there, but we reminded her again of it later, and hopefully she will show up sometime this week.  Her name is Miriam, so please keep her in your prayers.

We went down by the clubs, but didn’t see anyone we would be able to start a conversation with.

So we rounded the corner back onto the main road and began to head back.  Along the way, we spotted two more homeless guys and invited them to sunsplash.  And here’s where it gets good.

They were in disbelief that we would be handing out free food.  We convinced them that there were no strings attached, and that they just needed to bring their appetites.  Brad “Harley,” one of the men, asked if we need any help.  I told him that we were alright, and we had enough people to set up and clean up.  He pushed harder though, and told me he never liked taking free stuff.  He wanted to earn his way, and work for everything he got.

At this point, I just felt my heart speeding up.  I guess that’s how the Spirit talks to me.  I got all warm in my chest b/c I knew exactly the right question to ask.

“Do you of the one thing that you can NEVER earn?”

He looked at me, paused, and with a twinkle in his eye said, “No, why don’t you tell me?”

I knew that he knew what I was talking about, but proceeded to start sharing the gospel.  I say start, b/c I got about a sentence or two out before he took over and pretty much told me exactly what I was thinking about the gospel.  And he was DEAD ON.

I’m not sure if everyone of my readers (all 3 of you, thus far) have had any interactions with homeless people, but they’re not all crazy or not quite there.  Some are, but some are very intelligent people who have just had some circumstances go against them.  Harley was the perfect example.

He knew the gospel, and I think he truly believed it.  But he had some things not go quite his way and he had fallen into some very hard addictions.  He may be homeless, but he is no different than you and me in the fact that he is a sinner, he needs Jesus and he needs to be loved.

And as I continued to talk with Harley, Justin, went over and talked to the second homeless man, Michael.  Now this was Justin’s first really good conversation, and I could tell it was going well.  After Justin broke off into his own conversation, 3 spring breakers came up and talked with Harley a bit.

They had met earlier in the week, and we soon began to talk about March Madness.  They were Wisconsin fans, and soon our basketball talk was interrupted with Harley sharing the gospel, of his own accord.  I didn’t ask him, I didn’t even mention anything remotely related to the Bible, by Harley felt convicted to share on his own.

Soon our conversation moved on to spiritual things, and I began to share with them.  It didn’t help that the 3 college students were probably drunk, if not wasted.  But they sobered up a bit by the end, and we carried on some interesting and stimulating conversation.  I may not have convinced them of anything, but I shared with them my views and what I had read in the bible, and felt that I maybe had planted some seeds that would sprout later on in their lives.

I regret to say I didn’t remember their names in the hub-bub of it all, but I ask that you pray for these college students as they continue on to Tampa tomorrow.  After talking with them, I found that they had heard the gospel message, and knew all about Jesus, but didn’t feel that they need to move beyond belief at all.  I pray that God would reveal himself in a real way to them, so that they can truly experience what the Christian life is like.

I later found out that one of the fellows had his dad had pass away 2 weeks ago.  For him, the biggest question was is there a heaven and hell, and is there truly hard proof.  I could not offer him what he asked for, but I presented him with what I felt was a legitimate question.  If there was no heaven or hell, but we lived in anticipation of one, what did we lose?  Nothing.  But if there was indeed a heaven and hell and we lived as if there were none, what did he have to lose?  Everything.  And out of the 3 he was the most wasted, but I pray that once he sobers up he will thoughtfully consider this question.

And the story isn’t over yet.

While talking with this fellow, we had a man walk by and make a double take.  He asked in a hard NY accent, “Are you guys talking about religion?”  Upon my response, he asked what we were discussing.  I told him we were talking about the authenticity of the bible, but was soon cut off by the other college guy who said we were talking about if heaven and hell were really real.

Now this just stirred up something in this NY fellow, Kyle.  And he began to pour out his heart.  We learned that he had not grown up with the gospel, but God had brought several people into his life to speak truth to him.  He knew of Jesus and what he did for us.  And although he knew, he admitted that he still stumbled.  Upon asking us about our own problems, we admitted the same.

This truly hit him hard, and he just constantly gave us respect for what we were doing out on the streets and how we were living our lives.  He said that he was about to go to the club, and he felt that God had sent us to him to speak to him.  And he told us of how he had had these “3 page books” handed to him in NYC, and how some people would throw them away, but he always read them.  Although I had some tracts in my pocket, I didn’t think to give him one, but Justin, who was sitting beside me at the point, handed him one.  His face instantly lit up and said, “That’s it!  Stuff like that!”  He promised that he would later read it.  Although he is heading back to NY tomorrow afternoon, he said me might be able to stop by.

Please pray for Kyle in this important time in his life.  I feel that God explicitly send us out for him.  And even if I don’t see him later this week, I hope to see him again in heaven.

At this time me and Justin began to head back to the vans.  Justin expressed how amazing these conversations and how easy it came to him.  At the end, we didn’t even have to move, people were coming up to us to talk.  And for me, it was just so great so see God work in ridiculous ways.  Ways that I could never being to imagine.  I’m also encouraged b/c there were Justin’s first real conversations, and just to see him so excited was just so great.

Please pray that this fire will continue the rest of the week, and so that other members can feel the same joy and excitement Justin did.

It was a very cloudy morning, and although sunrise was at 7:24, we didn’t see the sun until about 8, 8:15ish.

At the end of the service, which was a nice quiet time to dwell on the significance of this special morning, I hung around the beach a bit. Christine Sullivan, Maija and Jackie walked around and looked for shells as I snapped happily away with my camera and sunk me feet into the sand until I was about halfway up to my shins.

I came back up to the room and read some news on the internet until Justin came over and asked if I wanted to go for a run, which I agreed to do.

That was a mistake, b/c my feet were hurting. I’ve got special running shoes that my feet need to be broken into (yes my feet need to get used to them, and not vice-versa). So I wasn’t able to finish my run b/c my feet were hurting so bad and weren’t really responding to me.

After showering and having breakfast, we all met in the conference room to head to church. We attended the 11am service at Crossroads Baptist Church. The people there were friendly, and the church was predominantly older and almost all white. With it being Easter, we saw quite the assortment of colored suites, with some group favorites being rose red, purple, all white and pink.

Another unique thing about this church was the way they conducted worship. I have never in my life sang worship as fast as they did. It was as if they were trying to set a world record of some sort.

Enough negativity though. The pastor was enthusiastic, and preached a solid sermon. It wasn’t earth shattering and wasn’t too original (the basic Easter / salvation sermon), but he did a good job with what he had.

We came back to eat a delicious Easter lunch with ham, asparagus, green beans and mashed potatoes. Afterwards most of the team went down to the beach and the heated pool to soak up the sun, while I stayed up to watch the UT game.

Dinner was an enjoyable time of team bonding with the usual assortment of yelling, laughing and flying food.

Afterwards we had a team meeting, prayed and had spent some quality time worshipping together.

Random note: One great thing about technology is its ubiquity now. With wi-fi and laptops, our worship leaders no longer need to worry about carrying along binders of tabs. They can just look up the chords online and play them right off of the screen, just as we did today.

And around 9 we went downtown for some good old street evangelism. More on that in the following post.

We arrived back at the hotel and met together briefly to discuss what had happened that day and to prepare ourselves for the upcoming week.

Afterwards, some of us, 13 to be exact, squished into one van and went downtown. We split up into groups of 4 (mine had 5) and just walked around. For the first half hour or so there was very little happening. Lots of walking, not much talking. We ended up back tracking, and once we arrived back at the band shell we split up into pairs, and went out on our own again. I was with Kendra, and Tot (Emily Hermann) was with Brian Perry, who we met up with. We switched partners and Brain and I approached two men sitting on a bench looking at the ocean.

I let Brian initiate the conversation, and it was soon evident that one of the gentlemen, Robbie, was not completely there. He asked us the same question multiple times in a row and seem really spacey. His friend Ken, however, was quite friendly. I maneuvered myself around so I could speak with him better and we started up a pretty good conversation. He had been a white water rafting guide and was currently in Daytona to escape the cold of Maine. He spoke of one of his most memorable trips, a ride down the grand canyon.

As he spoke of the rapids, and how he was scared out of his mind, I began to see my segway into the gospel. And just as I was about to ask him a more probing question, some other members of my team approached and started up a conversation of their own. It was almost time to leave, and they wanted to make sure I was beginning to wrap up my conversation. And while it was not their fault, I felt that I had been cut off at a crucial time.

I was about to turn the conversation into something more, and was abruptly halted. I would later return to talk to them, but it didn’t feel the same and I felt that I had lost my opportunity. Eventually, they needed to get something to eat and we parted ways.

And while this may have been a frustrating experience, I felt that it was a good start. I had gotten my feet wet and been able to start some good conversation, which is a difficult task for me. And while I didn’t really have anything to show for my efforts, I felt that God could use this half-conversation for his plan.

One problem I have is that I dwell on the negatives too much. On the entire ride back I kept mentioning how I was frustrated. It was evident that this would not be helpful for me throughout the rest of the trip. So please continue to pray for me as I move on through the week, so that I can focus on the positives, learn from my mistakes and move past the negatives.

This year, we left in the afternoon, as opposed to last year rolling out at night. Thus, with more waking bodies, we had more bathroom breaks. We also had more meals, and stopped by a whopping 3 different fast food places (Wendy’s, McDonalds and Burger King). By breakfast this morning, my body was crying out for something besides deep fried heartburn.

Although 18 hours in the van wasn’t exactly the best thing for my body, I really couldn’t complain about the ride down. No flat tires, no sickness stops.

We arrived in Daytona at about 6am, and stretched our legs by the hotel on the beach. We went to our third fast foot establishment for breakfast, Burger King, and enjoyed time not being in a moving vehicle. Some of the team went to see the sun rise, and we went back to the hotel around 8:30.

Since check in was at 4pm, only 2 of our rooms were open. I, and several other guys went into one room, and promptly went back to sleep. We emerged from our slumber at 11 and went down to the beach.

I ran and just enjoyed not being in Upland, where it is snowing at the moment. The rest of our team napped, tanned, played frisbee, football, volleyball, surfed and played in the ocean.

Now we’re currently waiting in the conference room, watching the Kansas State – Wisconsin game and getting ready to go to Sonny’s for dinner. Sonny’s is a barbeque joint that is a Daytona tradition.