FWDCON Day Two

Second Day of the Forward Conference!  It's a long day down here, or in my case, back-and-forth.  We started early picking up Nate and heading down, although rush-hour traffic got the best of us on I-985, so we had to do some driving along Buford Highway.  We got down in time though, and Maddie and Nate were there for the first session.  It was a great time for all the students, and meanwhile I was writing with Camille. We were talking with a lot of volunteers too, meeting new faces and hearing stories and testimonies.  It was encouraging.  Even more encouraging were the stories about KidPak, from grateful parents or students themselves that remembered us as they were growing up.

The break came about noon, and so I took Madde and Nate over to the Mall of Georgia, where they hung out a good while.  They met the other Edge students there, but of course Maddie was hanging out with Nate for the most part, eating and shopping.  They were in a store we all like called Box Lunch, a place for geeks with a lot of fun stuff in it - and that's when Maddie spotted this Spider-man t-shirt.  As she was debating with Nate how much it was and how she was going to be able to buy it if she could borrow some money perhaps from him, that's when a stranger took the shirt from her and walked over to the cashier.  Shocked, Maddie was wondering what was going on - and that's when the stranger revealed that he had a "buy-one, get one half off" discount, and that he was going to do a nice gesture for her:  he was going to buy it for her!  That was very sweet.

During all this, I had actually gone home to see Mom.  We had a meal together, and got to spend some time together before I turned around and drove back to the mall, picking up Maddie and Nate, and then heading back to Forward.  Sure enough, another storm was bearing down on us from the north.  Maddie was in the big crowd that was clamoring to get inside - it was sort of a crazy thing when those doors first opened and kids were pouring through.  Watching from a safe vantage point, Pastor Parker from KidPak in South Carolina turned to me and joked, "This is how Mufasa died."  Maddie and Nate had just gotten inside when a bolt of lightning struck very close by  - it was enough to stop the folks working the metal detectors at the entrance, and suddenly everyone was trapped out there, unable able to get inside.  Fortunately, that storm just stopped and didn't advance upon us any more.  The line started up again, and everyone got inside, safe and sound.  And dry.

We were upstairs with the volunteers for a bit, writing a bit - currently we're finished with page one of day three of Summer Xtreme.  Got a ways to go though!  The arena was full tonight, but Camille, Isaac and I snuck into the area behind this huge curtain, in other words, directly behind the stage.  We got to hear everything, and when the altar service started up, we got to sneak over somewhat and see and join in with the massive crowds of worshippers.  It was a memorable night - an incredible day, with Bethel music, Pastor Franklin and more.  Just your usual Forward Conference, right?   Here's a few of my favorite pictures taken by the staff of this unforgettable experience.

Everyone holding up their "light of the world."

Wilson is the prize for the Tribe Wars, just in case you didn't figure that out.

A lot of themed costuming here for fun!

So many worshippers.

We got home late after that, and pretty tired too.  Everyone got to sleep pretty quickly tonight, after telling stories of our day of course.  Tomorrow we start early again, one more day of the conference!