FWDCON Day One

Today is Stitch Day, named so because it is in fact 6-26, and of course Stitch is experiment 626.  We were a little too busy today to watch anything Stitch-related, however we did plug in the ol' Stitch playlist that I've had for years now, which is a combination of songs from the soundtracks of the first movie and sequel as well, along with songs from the television show.  Plus, a great opportunity to wear the Stitch shirt that Mom got for me.  I wore this on our cruise where we saw the live-action movie, which was pretty good!

Anyway, the more important thing is that today was the first day of our Forward Conference, and Maddie was certainly ready for that.  New to it all this year is Nate, who we picked up this afternoon and brought down for the conference.  Our first stop before anything, however, was food:  we dropped by Zaxby's at Friendship Road there and had a nice meal, filling up before heading down.  Just a small note:  Maddie got the nuclear sauce here, and I tentatively tried some of that, realizing it is nowhere near as spicy as it used to be.  I remember the hottest sauce at Zaxby's was pretty rough, but this wasn't too bad.  Anyway, we had a late lunch and made our way down to the Gas South Arena one more time.

Unlike the sauces at Zaxby's, the temperature here was insanely hot.  The humidity was just ridiculous, and we knew something was coming again with the rain.  Maddie and Nate did get to enjoy a few rides outside, and tried out the games there too, but not for too long, because they were ready to head inside soon enough.

The storms were powerful, moving from north to southwest, an unusual direction, but the weather has been strange.  These storms caused power outages in Hall County and there they saw hail.  Another thing seen in the skies:  a meteorite.  No joke!  A fiery meteorite raced across the horizon, exploded with a thunderous boom, and landed somewhere south of Atlanta.  It was not a spaceship.  

Fortunately, the students were all inside by this point, and that was good news.  The Forward Conference began, and everyone had a spectacular time.  My Tribes character was introducing the different teams, and that was fun, and the place was packed.  It was actually overbooked.  Tomorrow may be even more packed, so we'll be sure to get in the door to get those seats.  Maddie and Nate were seated just where they wanted to be, and they enjoyed the music and the message and of course all the Tribes games.  Uncle Reggie was there, Sadie Robertson, Anna Golden... it was a great, great night.  Here's a few of my favorite photos from this first day:

I was with Camille writing a good bit today, sitting up in the volunteer area at the arena.  We got done a lot of Day Two for Summer Xtreme, and met a lot of volunteers too, which was nice.  We met some online campus members, people who were only here because their kids were watching KidPak online, which was humbling.  One guy, Troy, was from Charlotte, North Carolina, and he was starstruck seeing Camille, Isaac and myself, going over to get a selfie with us so that he could send it to his daughter who was currently inside the arena.  He introduced us to his wife later on, who was gushing about our children's ministry online.  Another guy, Russel, was from Hazelhurst, such a long ways away, but anxious to spend the weekend here in service.  It's just amazing to see and meet these folks. 

Anyway, afterwards, we left and there were no problems getting home.  It was a great first day, and we were ready for a good night's rest, as tomorrow we'll be there early to have a fantastic day at Forward Conference.