Trip Pictures

Here are some of the many many pictures that I took on our Lake Junaluska youth trip. I will post pictures of our whitewater rafting trip later after I get the pictures off the water proof disposable camera.


The beautiful scenery of Lake Junaluska, NC.

More beautiful, breathtaking scenery.

On Friday night they had "Tacky Night". Here are some of our kids in their tacky finest.

Laura, Ashley, and Cindy. Laura made a lot of really good friends while there.

Laura and Ashley.

Laura was called up on stage because she was the "tackiest" from our church. She competed with the other churches, however ended up losing to a guy in a dress.

Mama ducky with her baby duckies on the lake.

There were a few ducks around the lake.

I thought this swan on the lake was so beautiful.

Jim and I. Also known as Mom and Dad to the kids. They started calling us Mom and Dad after a couple of days and I started calling a couple of them as my surrogate daughters.

This building known as Shackford Hall was where all the worships were held. It was built in 1923 and a beautiful building. I loved the huge columns out front.

There is a cross on a hill that is lit up at night. On Saturday night, all the kids walked up the hill to this cross for a worship service. It was quite an experience that I will remember forever. At the end of the service, we sang "Pass It On" and shouted out "Praise God" at the end, which echoed off the mountains several times. It was so cool.

Picture of all the kids during a worship service. I think there were about 250 teenagers from all over the southeast.

The kids during worship.

Jim and Brandt during worship.

Our kids during a talk back time after worship one night.

Laura and Lanie on our last day wearing their "Love Wins" t-shirt.

I can't tell you how much this past weekend affected me. Not only was it a spiritual experience, but I loved seeing how our kids bonded with each other and the other kids. I loved how I bonded with the kids and was able to help them work through some of the stuff they are dealing with. There were a couple of girls who live in a group home for girls. They have been shuffled from foster home to foster home. Jim and I got close to Brandi, a girl who has been in the foster care system since she was 8 years old when her mother ran off. She started the weekend off as a very angry young girl who did not want to join in anything. She is a very wounded 14-year-old girl. But as the weekend went on, that tough exterior started to dissolve and I actually saw her smile a few times and stand up and dance to the silly songs. My heart broke for her and when we got back last night, I realized that all the other kids had nice homes and families to go home to, but those two girls had a group home with no loving family. Jim and I have vowed to try to get her to come over for dinner sometime or just to hang out.

I know that we were there as chaperons to try to keep boys from the girls and keep them safe, but we both went away with an amazing spiritual experience that we will never forget.