Life Happens

Traveling is exhausting. In the last two weeks, I’ve been home a total of three days in between two different trips.

The first trip began in Chicago, visiting our youngest who attends Moody Bible Institute. We stepped off the city train and found Son waiting for us. Amid the hugs and joyous exclamations, a tall stranger approached and began singing our son’s praises, telling us what a great son we have and how we should be proud of a young man like him. Impressed, we walked away asking Son, “Who was that?”

“He’s a homeless guy I see on the street.”

Not quite the answer we expected.

Aside from being greeted by a homeless man who thinks the world of our son and the fact that I dropped my driver’s license on the plane and didn’t realize it until we were at the hotel, we thoroughly enjoyed meeting all the students and a few faculty members there at MBI. I’m amazed at the creative avenues used for spreading the Good News, as evidenced by the variety of goals among the students. I have great hope for the next generation!

We also discovered our son’s handlebar mustache gives him some notoriety. When Hubby made his usual 5 a.m. Starbucks visit, the barista didn’t recognize our son’s name but knew who he was because of the mustache.

One of the ministries developed by the students is called Free Prayer. Several students go out to various Chicago street corners on Friday and Saturday nights with signs offering free prayer. They engage anyone who stops to chat with them about spiritual or personal matters. Their location near several bars brings quite a bit of traffic. But these students provide a component of love and care to many who are lonely and discouraged. In addition, the students try to follow up with the people they talk to, encouraging them to become involved in a church that can meet their needs.

While in Chicago, we enjoyed deep dish Chicago pizza (yum!!) and a chocolate cake shake (good, but crumbs in your shake takes a little getting used to). And our last day saw high winds and sleet. Many of you may have seen the news about the winds blowing waves from Lake Michigan onto Lake Shore Drive. That was the day Hubby and I dragged our suitcases about a mile through downtown from the school to the car rental agency. At some point, with the wind blowing sleet against us, Hubby asked if I was doing okay.

“Yep!” I said. “I’d rather be doing this in this kind of weather than 95 degrees.”

I’m still a Wisconsin girl at heart.