We started Monday morning ‘late’ after sleeping through our alarm after a too-late-night. Thankfully my youth-sponsor Tina called to ask us if we wanted the case of water she had leftover for our trip home! All of our teens and our two adult leaders were ready for our meeting-up at 7:30 and we were just waking up! A quick packing job and getting ready for the day got us out of our room and downstairs by 8:10 and we were off to Universal Studios!

We enjoyed the park with Mike & Tina and instead of waiting in lines to enjoy rides, we simply walked the entire park and then enjoyed a great lunch at Bubba Gumps Restaurant!

Mike, Tina, Jake, and Ali had to catch a flight in the afternoon so they left us at the park and the rest of our group went back to the Dr. Seuss area to enjoy it with Ella! We took some great photos, made some great memories and headed back to our vehicle. We left Orlando at 3PM.

With a mere 1300-miles to drive our trip home had begun!

The first 12-hours were ‘cake’! I was awake, having conversations, and the Mt. Dew was doing the trick! Into the wee-hours of the morning, however, things got much more difficult. I found myself too-tired to continue on, so I pulled over at an exit, pulled back onto the on-ramp and onto the shoulder for some quick nap-time. Everyone in the van was asleep until that moment. Ella woke up chipper-as-ever and Jess too. Jess tried to quiet Ella enough for me to find some moments of rest. It wasn’t working. I closed my eyes for 5-10 minutes and we got back onto the road. In another hour-or-so it was again time for me to pull over. I found a gas station, refueled and spent some time roaming their convenience store. Back on the road, it wasn’t long until I knew I needed to stop again.

I found another exit-ramp, though this time there were signs telling me that it was illegal to park along the on-ramp. It was back on the road.

We made it to a rest-area somewhere in Illinois where I quickly parked, wrapped my head up in a blanket and dozed for close-to an hour. I had originally thought it was only 20-minutes of sleep but a recalculation turned it into an hour-or-so! After that quick of a nap we were back on the road to finish the remaining 300-or-so miles.

We finally arrived in Mukwonago just after Noon, turning our 1300-mile trip into a 22-and-a-half-hour journey.

The trip-home was the most-difficult driving I’ve ever experienced. We hit high-winds, snow & ice, and of-course my exhaustion.

We are glad to be home and encouraged with the commitments our students made at SETAPART ’07!

Photos are on FLICKr.

Wow.

What a weekend.

Family Force 5’s concert began just a moment ago – I must run out and see them LIVE…

But first I wanted to update quickly here on stevansheets.com

This convention has been incredible!

In just a few hours it will be over, we will pack up, and head home (not after first enjoying Universal Studio’s Islands of Adventure tomorrow!)

Please pray for us as we embark on the return-trip THROUGH THE NIGHT!

More convention-thoughts after the journey!

Check out this adorable baby:

We got into Orlando just before 4PM EST yesterday afternoon! The convention doors opened at 6PM and we seem to have not slowed down a bit since then!

Last night Efrem Smith kicked SETAPART off in a real-way with some hard-hitting content with hundreds of students responding to a call to be SETAPART.

This morning Marilyn Lazlo spoke about some of her experiences in Papua New Guinea and again hundreds of students responded to being used by God in ANY capacity!

Our students seem to be enjoying themselves and Ella has just about had enough already! With the constant moving around she is WAY off of her ‘normal’ schedule but she’s a trooper and so is Jess! It’s a new role I’m playing in being a Youth Pastor/Leader AND a Dad/Husband at this convention!

We’ve heard that there’s plenty of snow in Wisconsin waiting for us! We’re sure enjoying the sunny, beautiful weather here in Orlando!

Pictures are at my Flickr account.

The trip yesterday was fantastic.

747-miles on day #1 isn’t bad! We made excellent time, our rental-van CAN get up and go!

We led the entire way after meeting up with our caravaning youth group from Spooner, WI in Beloit, IL for breakfast!

It’s amazing what a 700+ mile road trip can do to a man, let alone his family and a group of teenagers! I am sitting at the edge of our bed at the Holiday Inn Express ready for another full day of driving! We’ll be driving through Atlanta today – hopefully at the “right” time. It’s 4:30AM and we’re getting on the road in 45-minutes!

Day 1 photos are here.

In a mere 8-hours, me, Jessica, Ella, and the four-students that are going with us will jump into our rental van and head South! We will stop for the night in Chattanooga, TN for a few hours of rest before finishing the trip on Friday. The convention is Friday, Saturday, and Sunday!

What will take place over the many miles we are about to travel as well as the hours spent in communion with God will be life-changing for numerous students and youth leaders alike! I anticipate a moving of God’s Spirit like we’ve never experienced at a youth convention before!

I will, of course, be blogging regularly from the confines of our hotel room at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort. I also have the “job” of putting regular updates on the main convention website in the form of the SETAPART BLOG:

Check back here (and there) for updates from the trip!