Hello everyone! Day 2 has passed and it was another whirlwind of excitement, controlled chaos,
and a lot of walking.
We started the day by making lunches and grabbing breakfast before trying to head to the famous National Cathedral. "Trying" was the operating word in that sentence, because right as everyone started to leave, the cloudy skies burst with rain and we were forced back inside for about half an hour while we waited out the downpour. Thankfully, we had gotten started so early that it didn't put too much of a stretch on our time (definitely more of a stretch than we wanted though). And half an hour later, we were hitting the sidewalks to head to the train station. Unfortunately, the rain had not totally stopped, so we arrived at the metro station wet! We could all agree that it was not one of the highlights so far. We made it to the cathedral a tad late after a rushed climb uphill (another "yikes" moment) and were all struck by how beautiful it is. The stained glass portrayed everything from the birth of Jesus to George Washington to even a picture of the galaxy with an actual moonstone in it! That and how incredible the choir was kept the students from giving
into their sleepiness (I hope).
After that, we had lunch in a park and then made the journey to Arlington National Cemetry. The students were so respectful of their surroundings and everyone was in awe of how beautiful, huge, and sacred this ground was. I think most of them grasped how historical and current it was--soldiers from Civil War to our current War on Terror are laid to rest there. We had the privilege of watching the Changing of the Guards ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Our own veterans--Clay Blankenship, Robert Corley, and Tom Knippa--placed a wreath in front of the tomb. It gave everyone goosebumps and made the sacrifice of every servicemen palpable.
God bless the USA!
We made the hike back to the dorms for free time, dinner, and meeting. At our group meeting, we had a once-homeless man named Steve come share his testimony with us. It gave us some cool insight on how to interact with the homeless we will come across. And he was fun to listen to! The night wrapped up with some family group time and free time! We are so excited to hit our sites tomorrow and start doing work in DC! If the past 36 hours have indicated anything at all, it's that God is about to do work in this city
and we are blessed to be part of it!!
