Driving to the Chicago Midway airport, I reflected on some of the sweet memories of our trip. Here are a few that you can read about in my previous posts.
Category: Our Grand Midwest Tour
Before I share with you this last stop on our tour, I find myself looking back in review of our previous adventures. And I realize that every moment, every wonderful new discovery of the places and people we visited, has been provided to us by the grace of God.
After a quick two-hour trip up the road to Columbus, we reunited with dear friends, Rich and Vera, who we can practically call family having lived in the same home for four years, next door for another year, then up the street for four more years. It’s difficult to put all the life we shared together into a few words, but I think the word, “celebrate” sums it up.
To get to Cincinnati, we decided to wind our way through the peaceful, rolling green hills on the back roads of northern Kentucky. I began to really enjoy driving but I knew Cindy enjoyed it, too. So we needed to find her driver’s license—not only to share the driving but also to get her through airport security and onto the plane back home!
Here’s a mathematical equation for you:
God * (Christ * (Bruce + Carla)) = Given to Hospitality!
If you can recall from your school days algebra, that means that Bruce plus Carla’s welcoming ways are multiplied by God’s love working in Christ in them.
Driving away from our “farm family” in Illinois, it was only a few miles before we were in Indiana where we discovered (after an extremely thorough and prayerful search) that Cindy did not have her driver’s license. But we were thankful to God that she had gotten a good deal with the rental car that allowed for two designated drivers.
Driving our rented car from Chicago’s Midway airport where Gene and I were joined by sister Cindy, we watched the scenery around us change from the concrete drab of the city to the waving greens and golds of the farmland. At the first stop in our visit to the homeland of my mother’s mother, we joined up with Christine, a second cousin.
Returning from the market to pick up a few things for Grandma Ruth (Gene’s Mom), we were greeted by Debbie (Gene’s sister) and her sweet dog Mongo. I think of Debbie as a “renovator.” As long as I’ve known her, she’s put her heart into helping renew and restore animals, houses, and people, whenever and wherever she can.
We met Steve and Ana at Chevy’s Fresh Mex in a western suburb of St. Louis, recognizing their white van from last year’s visit which was already parked in a handicapped space up front. After a joyful reunion with our friends, the hostess and manager kindly helped us navigate their two wheelchairs into place around the table.