Florida Retreat Chaos
If I were to write a book about ministry, there would be many different chapters with a lot of outrageous stories like kids setting my driveway on fire or how kids hustle. One of the chapters would be dedicated to taking families to Florida.
I wanted to jot down some thoughts about the first adventure to Florida.
I think some might want to question why a retreat to Florida. Why not just do one in Michigan? Isn’t that easier? Here are a few reasons why:
It is not just about the destination but the journey to get there. Teaching families that it is possible to find cheap flights opens the door to a lot of possibilities that you didn’t think were possible. Flying on an airplane was a first for every family on the trip. I think flying is a big milestone and something that everyone needs to experience.
It is about family. Family is the most important thing to kids and it can lead kids to trauma and pain or love and greatness. I believe by doing bigger trips, it helps to build trust to speak into the lives of kids and parents. I could probably have had parents do devotions with their kids in Grand Rapids but I don't think I would have had the full attention of parents.
I believe worldview expansion is important. It is not the only thing, but I did include that in the mission statement for Community Kids for a reason.
Sometimes when I go to places I have visions of what it would be like for kids to be at the place. I have been to Florida several times, and it is now routine for me to make a trip down there each year. Sometimes when I sit on a beach during the middle of the winter, I picture what it would be like for a family connected to Community Kids to be there, or when I am at the airport, I picture what a family from the neighborhood would be like in an airport. I love it now that we are at a place organizationally where the visions I have for the community can be a reality for the good and bad.
Creating memories that last a lifetime is something I love doing. There were a lot of memories made, and here are some of the most memorable moments from the trip.
The Airport
Airports have specific rules, laws, and unwritten codes of conduct. Here are a few of the rules the families broke.
TSA travel security questions. I made sure that families knew to travel only with small hygiene products or else they would get tossed. I don’t think that message came across as we went through security. The security officers kept on stopping different people in our group. I was hoping that there wasn’t any weed or any really illegal stuff. As they opened the first bag, they took out what must have been 32 ounces of shaping gel. The mom said, “You can't take that.” I quickly intervened and told the mom, yes, they could take that. Sure enough, every bag from moms had lotion, hair products, and perfumes, which were all confiscated. I felt bad but there was nothing I could do.
The code of keeping quiet in the terminal was broken. Everyone usually stays by themselves in the airport and is occupied with their laptops and headphones. I don't really like that code and knew that Community Kids would disrupt that. I loved the looks on people’s faces when you have kids talking across rows and seats of people. When it came time to board, the families were so excited to get on board that they all skipped the groupings. The anxiety was kind of high among parents, so when kids tried to act up in the line, they would get an earful which was heard by all the people in line.
The code of not talking across aisles on airplanes. From crying and shrieks of fear at the beginning of the flight to jokes made across aisles. It was a very fun flight for the families, but for passengers looking to relax and maybe catch some z’s, they were probably not able to with the amount of yelling at every sign of turbulence.
The Hotel
I usually try to do a lot of research on hotels when I go somewhere. I feel like I haven't let people down, finding something both affordable and nice. I thought the hotel was going to be perfect for us. Right on the beach. Clean. It had sailboats and kayaks we could take out on the Gulf. Little did I know, there were a bunch of timeshare retirees at the hotel.
That first night management must have been called around ten times because of noise levels. I didn’t even think we were being loud. I just kept apologizing and said we keep it down. The pool area was open til 10 pm, so the kids wanted to swim, but it’s hard for kids to keep quiet when swimming.
The next day, at the pool, I didn’t apologize to management, but instead, I kept on having the kids apologize to the retirees after they would do a cannonball right next to them. The retirees acted like the pool was for lounging. We were like, “Nah”. It’s for playing.
The second night at the hotel, there was a younger retiree crowd partying at the pool. They were all drunk. I thought to myself, “Good, the retirees can’t be mad at their own people.” We ended up making friends with a few of the drunk adults in the hot tub. The kids quickly took over the conversation, and to my surprise, they started holding a Bible lesson right in the tub. Imagine a few kids teaching some adults who had too much to drink Bible songs with motions. It is a sight to be seen. I was proud of the kids. There was a guy after the Bible lesson that said he was the hot tub police, and the kids could be as loud as they wanted in the pool area!
Clearwater Beach, Excursions, and Bible Lessons
For any excursion or group activity like Bible lessons, it was hard to gather everyone. It was like herding cats. I thought being a camp counselor for kids was hard, but some parents were just as bad. Some people want to walk fast, some slow, and some don’t want to walk at all.
I would say everything seemed like it was a little out of sync. If there were someone mad that we didn’t stay on schedule, they would have been angry the whole time.
There were a couple of moments where I felt things got in sync, and what I felt made things worth it. It was when I got to share the Gospel and a Bible Lesson with their kids. It wasn't an elaborate Bible Lesson, but I feel the kids love having the parents share. I told the parents that I wanted them to continue teaching the kids Bible and praying with their kids after the trip. I explained, “It is good that you give me the opportunity to teach your kids, but it's best when you can share about Jesus with your kids.”
Nearly missing the flight home
I may not share this story, but it is good. I always make sure that we get to the airport early in case of any problems. I didn’t think there would be a significant issue like the one we had trying to get on the plane home.
Long story short. There was a parent who bought weed down in St. Pete. They didn’t want to throw it away, so they attempted to smoke it all outside the airport without me knowing. They told me that we all could go ahead. For some reason, I took the parent’s bag with their kids and said we would go through TSA to get to the gate while you did what you needed to do. I don’t know why I took their bag. Sure enough, I got a call from the kids' parents in line, and they explained that the one parent was actually smoking weed and was now lost. I was halfway through security with the bags being run through and sure enough, TSA yelled over to me to check something inside the parent’s bag who was out smoking. I thought to myself; there could be drugs, a weapon, pretty much anything. I was trying to think of excuses why I had a bag of stuff that wasn't mine. The security officer pulled out a big black box. It looked like a lot of weed or cocaine could fit in that box. I was sweating bullets by this time. He opened up, and sure enough, it was a snow globe! Whew! That is it, no problem. I called the parents and said we had to throw away the snow globe, but they did not want me to because they just bought it. So I had another leader return to security, break the snow globe open to get all the liquids and return to the gate. It was such a memorable scene.
So we got the snow globe through but still had to get the parent out smoking through security; I thought hopefully they weren’t arrested by now. I called them to try and direct them to the gate. I could tell they were higher than a kite when directing them. The Tampa airport had main floors and trains. I thought the parent could get lost and miss the flight. The boarding began for the flight, and the parent still wasn't at the gate. I told one leader to stall the airplane, and we would all get on the flight. Thankfully at the last minute, the parent came up. Praise the Lord!
Overall I thought the trip was good because it will be etched in memories for a lifetime. I remember when my family went to Florida when I was younger. It reminded me of that. I feel like the Ramsey side of my family would fit right into the chaos. My mom would have also added to the funny stories. The chaos is one of the things I love about this ministry. It keeps things interesting and creates good memories.