Charlie Seymour Jr and the Church Mission Trip Part 3 - Heading for Davidson, NC

Faith, a smile, and a happy heart - we used all three during our Sunday - Friday journey with Middle School students, gathering from churches from near Philadelphia; outside Washington, DC; Nashville, TN; and Davidson, NC.

We stopped over night to pick up some more students, pastors, and parents to begin our caravan to North Carolina.

When lunch time approached, and our gas tanks were emptying, we stopped at a Chick fil A. Our kids really enjoy the freedom to roam around a bit and fill their stomachs.

There was another group of kids in the restaurant when we arrived. All neatly scrubbed and wearing similar t-shirts, these 7-11 year olds were busily chowing down their sandwiches. I asked a chaperon about the kids and was told that it was a group of foster children.

I admit a lump grew in my throat.

Thinking I was speaking just to the counselor, I said, "awww… gee, I'd love to take one of them home with me."

"Please take me," said an 8-year old boy, jumping up from his place at the table.

My heart sank. I had been moved by the children but now had allowed my loud voice to carry to tender ears and get his hopes up.

I gave him a hug.

Then one by one other kids asked for hugs. I think I hugged 17 children before their counselor reminded them that they were on a schedule and had to keep eating or they'd miss their play time.

I offered my card and said if there were anything I could do to help publicize the great work that this group was doing, they should contact me here at RaisingGreatFamilies.com… but I haven't heard from them.

Back in our vehicles we poured and set out on the last leg of our journey.

Arriving in Davidson, our tired group was greeted by a lawn FILLED with plastic flamingos. It turns out the church had used these in a fund-raiser… any time someone in the community made a contribution, the flamingos started to populate their lawn. Soon the town had a whole flock of plastic flamingos all over! What a great way to show the success this campaign was having.

More about the fun and devotion we experienced… in my next episode.

Charlie Seymour Jr.
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Charlie Seymour Jr is the founder of RaisingGreatFamilies.com, FathersAndTheDaughtersTheyLove.com, and ILearnedItAllFromMyKids.com. He is also working with his daughter, Liz, as she publishes her own website and releases her first solo CD: LizSeymour.com. Charlie is a Social Marketer and Community Builder and often consults about marketing through his site, GetThemOffTheRaftMarketing.com. He's a prolific writer, including blogs on each of these sites, his book Dream Inc (32 Philadelphia-area Entrepreneurs and their Million Dollar Secrets For Success), and articles about Social Marketing for national and regional publications including NSA Magazine (for the National Speakers Association) and Spotlight (for the American Association of Community Theatre). He's the father of two daughters and lives in Wallingford, PA with his wife, Pam.