Craig made the decision on this trip that we would use Sunday as a day of rest. In past years, we used Sunday as the travel day – we would all leave after church services, usually about noon on Sunday, and use the afternoon and evening to get to our site and get set up. Since we were staying local this year, we could use Sunday as a day of rest and relaxation. I was a huge supporter of this – on last year’s trip we had a rough time with sickness, with several people getting quite ill. It was my hope that taking a day off would help people stay better rested and healthier (and that indeed was the case – we only had one case of a girl getting ill and going home on Sunday evening – everyone else stayed healthy). This was probably our healthiest year on the trips I have been on, and I think taking a day of rest was instrumental in this.

Nate and I started the day out on an errand run – we had to go to town (Ravenna in this case) to get bread for lunch. Since we were in town anyway, we stopped by Dunkin’ Donuts to pick up hot chocolate and a breakfast sandwich for me, and a coffee and sandwich for Nate (and a tea for Rachel). Not a bad deal for running an errand. As it turns out, that little run was very useful to me as I used it several more times during the trip to jump-start my mornings (I went there three out of five mornings).

We got back to camp and scouted out the chapel space. It was a nice facility, including having a built-in projector. The only problem was that we could not find the heat, and it was about 50 degrees in the room. This was a concern to me since I was supposed to play guitar for worship (on Palm Sunday ,no less). Now, I am an adequate guitar player as long as I know the songs. Sadly, most songs I know are from 15 years ago. Nonetheless, I prepared two songs that I thought would be okay – I did not have time to get more ready. I had found out on Friday afternoon that I might be needed to play, and so Sunday found me trying to warm my fingers up enough to play. The kids came in at about 10:00, and I played my two songs. Happily, I had lots of help vocally from some talented students, and I think the playing went well enough – not good, but considering how stiff my hands were it was okay. It had amazed me that you could go anywhere with a group of 25 students and not have a guitar player in the group, and it happily turned out that we had a good guitar player in the group who came forward after the speakers to play one more song and then played for worship times the rest of the week.

But back to the service for Palm Sunday. We had two of the adult chaperons speak. My boss, Jim Gaul, spoke briefly on the freedom and joy he feels at Easter. He mentioned how he was raised Catholic and had come to believe that he had to make sure his good deeds outweighed his bad deeds. When he finally heard a clear presentation of the Gospel, he realized he could not earn his way into heaven (by doing more good than bad), and he embraced the freedom (from guilt and sin) that God gives through the Good News. This freedom brings joy to the life of the believer, and Jim encouraged us to live in and experience that freedom and joy year-round.

Ami (“Dubbs”) then spoke about Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. She talked about all the various signs that announced kingship to the Jewish people – the king (Messiah) was supposed to come from the Mount of Olives, people spread their cloaks for the king, runners/messengers were sent ahead of the king (the two disciples sent to get the colt), the king was supposed to come on a donkey colt, and was greeted by cheering crowds. All of these exciting things happened, but the crowd still turned on Jesus just a few days later. She used that as an illustration for our lives – if our Savior was not above hard times and suffering, then we should not be surprised when they come on us as well. Christianity is not a pain-free existence, but it offers joy. The crowd turned on Jesus because they were expecting the wrong kind of Messiah (king). They thought Jesus would lead them to victory over Rome, when he in fact led people to victory over sin if they would follow him. Dubbs warned us not to expect the wrong kind of Messiah – Jesus had pain and troubles, and we are not above our master, so we will have pain and troubles as well. But Jesus will supply the joy we need.

After the closing song (which I did not have to play), we had free time. I decided to use that time to go running. Usually I take Sundays off from running, but it had been several days since I had run, and it was a pretty day, and there were several guys going so it would be a social time. So, I went off with Jim and Nate and a student, Matt. We went trail running, which was very muddy and fairly slow, but fun and interesting (and supplied good bantering). We got back to the camp after about 4.5 miles, and Nate headed inside, but Matt, Jim and I put in two more miles on the trails. I felt good, and I was glad to get out running again.

  I got back and showered in the apartment. I then headed over to the chapel and set up my Wii (which I had brought along) so that kids could play if they wanted. I then went back to the apartment and napped for two hours. Nate woke me up and told me we were moving things into the main center (the college girls had left). I gathered my things and moved them, and found out that the male chaperons had given me the (one) private bedroom. I was touched and very happy. I operate much better on a good night’s sleep, and the private bedroom worked very well for me. Much later after the trip I found out that Dubbs had been sleeping on the floor in her room because of overcrowding. I wish I had known – she could have had my air mattress.

I spent a little time playing games (I won in a game of Blokus), and then I got ready for church. We were all going to Nate’s church for a fellowship dinner that his church combined with communion and a foot-washing service. I had never been to a foot-washing service before. We got to the church and headed into the basement, where the fellowship hall is. I got there a bit later than everyone else – I had stayed behind to make sure the girl that was ill met up with her father okay (which she did). We sang a few hymns (they were very nice), and then listened to some scriptures. The group was then divided into men and women, and we went to different rooms to wash each other’s feet. This involved sticking your feet in pleasantly warm water and having the person next to you scoop the water over your feet. It was novel to me, but it was okay. I got to wash the pastor’s feet – he was sitting next to me. After we washed our hands, we headed back to the hall and to an excellent meal. The meal was made up of various casseroles that were passed around. We ended the evening with communion. It was a very good service. I also got to see a couple of people who used to go to my church but whom I had not seen in about eight years. They had always been very kind to me, and I was happy to see them again.

After church, we headed over to Strickland’s Ice Cream. Strickland’s sells custard, which is a high-fat soft-serve ice cream. Craig was using trip money to buy everyone ice cream, so we all lined up. I got a turtle sundae, but I ordered a large (we were supposed to get smalls). I told Craig I don’t do small, and we agreed he would not take my ice cream money and I would not take his gas money (for the use of my car). Gas for ice cream always works in the Riordan economy.

After we had all had our yummy treats, we headed back to camp. We had a hang-out time where people talked and played games, and I used the time to type up notes. It was a great day of rest.