On Saturday, May 26, LOL was in their third day of performing in the Burlington, Vermont area. Initially, we were scheduled to perform at a minimum security prison, but that was cancelled at the last minute. We were fortunate to get a slot in the Essex Junction Memorial Day parade. This is perhaps the largest parade in the state of Vermont... it was huge. We scrambled to put together a juggling parade formation, and the kids pulled it together very well.
Our chickens, Coconut and Hannah, were in the parade with their owner, Makayla, and they drew as much attention as the jugglers. Amanda and Erica carried a banner made by the team the night before the parade. Hannah (the human, not the chicken) and Lucy performed illusions, and the rest of the team juggled. Seth did phenomenal high throws with his diabolo, Joey and Erik juggled machetes throughout the parade, and Tyler and Matt juggled fire
for the first time ever in the parade. Actually, they warmed up with them while waiting for it to start, but it was their first day juggling fire in their careers. R-Lo was taped byy a local TV news show doing fire devil sticks. Even Mrs. Mills, Mrs. Smith and Jona-Lynn, three chaperones, juggled in the parade.
After the parade, we had lunch and loaded up our vans for a trip to Tunbridge to visit Sue Thomas. Ms. Thomas was the first profoundly deaf FBI agent, and the hit show Sue Thomas FB Eye was based on her story. The show ran for three seasons and continues as reruns today, focussed on her unique role of lip reading of suspects from a distance without their knowing. The real Sue Thomas is even more inspiring and personable than the actress from the show. (
http://www.suethomasfbeye.com/Pages/Biography.aspx )
Sue, a devout Mennonite and 'peace church' Christian, is building a retreat center on 113 acres in rural Vermont. We visited with Sue, explored the grounds, helped clear brush, cooked hot dogs over a fire, and did an impromptu show for Sue, her assistant Deb, and a work team that was there the same day. Sue had recently lost her service dog, who helped her both with her hearing loss and her MS. She asked us to pray that the process of getting a new service dog would be sped up from the normal two to three year process. Two of our 8th grade girls, Hannah and R-Lo, are devout Sue Thomas FB Eye fans, and they prayed for her request right then on the porch.
The highlight of our visit at Sue's was having our worship time on her lawn overlooking the pond and island. Sue didn't hear Brandon's guitar work or the group singing, and she may or may not have been able to fully lip read my devotional thoughts that I shared with the team, but she was blessed to see the first worship service held at her yet to be completed 'center'.
Our visit to Sue's was one of those deeply spiritual moments for the entire team that is hard to explain in words. Sue's goal is that people will someday encounter God in the silence of the woods, and I think her vision began in our hearts that day. We were all well aware of God's presence in that place Saturday.