Sunday "To Whom and Where do I Belong?"

Sunday alarms always come early that first morning in Gulf Shores. After spending all day at a track & field meet followed by a bus ride until 3 a.m., we have a lot of droopy eyes at the morning church service. After a time of heartfelt singing Dr. Glen Van Andel began a series of discussions about the prodigal son. Dr. Van Andel asked us to think upon "To Whom and Where do I Belong?" throughout the week. He'll wrap up this devotional series during next Sunday's service in Kentucky before the final leg of our journey back to Calvin.

We spent our first afternoon relaxing on the beach and napping the day away. The gulf is restless and the massive waves (red flag), combined with weary bodies preparing for Monday's training session, kept most of us out of the surf for the day.












As dinnertime approached another Calvin Gulf Shores tradition began to take shape, condo dinners. We have 10 condominiums with 9 students in each. Everyone spends some time in the beginning of the trip negotiating shared dinners. As expected, most of these pairings are based on gender, men to women's condo and visa versa.

This year we have the added bonus of a mixing pot approach to rooming lists. The athletes signed up in groups of three and then the rooming lists were built with the idea of mixing athletes from different events.