Velocity - Day 5

Today's big event was the annual battle of helms deep. It's a crazy event that's evolved over years to become what it is today. It involves water noodles, water balloons and flour bombs. It's become a tradition. It's a kind of capture the flag and becomes all out war. The name of the event comes from an epic battle in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, as do the giant hand prints we've got on our faces. We combine it with a little Braveheart William Wallace war-paint and we have a blast. The only problem with putting paint on your face is getting it off. I've had no less that 40 people come up to me and ask me if I'm wearing blue eye-shadow because I have no idea how to get it off my eyelid. Sometimes, you've just gotta be pretty. Here's a picture of my wingman Zach and I after battle, covered in flour, water and paint.

I took one of our kids to the hospital afterwards after someone ran into his hand. The X-Rays showed that he'd broken one of the bones in his hand. We got in and out of there in under 3 hours, which was impressive. The student's fine, but he'll probably need a cast. Two years ago when I went one night with one of our students, we were there until 1AM, sitting across from a convict in a jump-suit and shackels and never ended up getting in to see a doctor.

While we were gone at the emergency room, we had our annual gallon of milk contest. The goal is to try and drink a gallon of milk in one hour. Sounds moderately easy, but it's impossible. The milk curdles in your stomach and builds up to a point where it causes explosive projectile vomiting.

We had our final session tonight, where the speakers did a great of tying everything back together and summing it all up. About 40 kids helped the band tear down the gear and do in 30 minutes what normally takes 10 hours.

This one's gonna sound strange. We played a game of basketball tonight that was a picture of the church for me. There were 12 of us. It was an intergenerational mix of leaders, high school and junior high. Some were great, some stunk, some were utility players. Everyone played. People celebrated each other and were celebrated. People laughed, helped each other up when they fell, and worked as teams to play the game. People volunteered to be picked last in the lineup so that others wouldn't feel left out. It was this oddball collection of guys playing, some who'd never played before, some who were great. We had so much fun doing it, and felt so connected doing it. No one made fun of another's abilities, height, or quality of play. I was so proud of our group and how they reflected a picture to me of what the church should be.

We're packing stuff up now, getting ready to head out tomorrow morning. We're rolling out early and it feels like a long ride home, but I can't wait to see my family.

You can see the rest of the pictures from today here.