Events of Sunday, September 12, 2010

Caitlin and Ben did some research about this little town of Elkhart. It is the home of the RV Hall of Fame Museum and Library. Half the nation’s RVs (and half the nation’s band instruments) are made here. Caitlin and Ben also searched online and found a church near our campground called Winding Waters Church. We joined them for their morning worship service. A congregation of about a hundred, we felt thoroughly welcome before we were even seated. News travels fast in this church: the pastor welcomed visitors, including “a family from California traveling in an RV.” He joked that an RV instinctively returns to its birthplace. Later, there was a time to “meet and greet” and we met dozens more. The songs were mostly familiar to us, and I sang with abandon. In a series called “(re)thinking church”, Pastor Mike preached from 2 Corinthians 7. In it, he exhorted us to move from mourning the past to anticipating the future. After the service, we spent more time talking with friendly church members who invited us to return for a church dinner.

We drove back to our campground and had a delightful lunch. From Barry’s Bagels in Ann Arbor, we chose some new flavors, including vanilla & cinnamon, spinach & feta, and pumpernickel. Good stuff. The afternoon we spent reading, playing games, napping, blogging, tossing a football, and hanging out.

In the evening we returned to Winding Waters Church for the Church Cookout, hosted by pastor Mike and his wife Joy. We feasted on hot dogs, BBQ pork, potato salad, and some fabulous cole slaw. We had the opportunity to share more details about our traveling adventures and plans. Also, I gave a tour of the rig to two RV experts, and they offered some excellent maintenance and upkeep advice. We then returned to our camp and enjoyed watching our “Facing the Giants” DVD.