Today was an amazingly fun day. We started out the day going to worship with my son and his wife at the church the hubby and I went to in college.
At the end of the service, we were asked to reflect on what God has done for us. Here is a quote from my son's blog post I read last night that sums up part of what I was thinking:
The fact that we are all born so screwy and "jacked up" and that God still sent His Son, Jesus Christ to "live the life we should have lived and die the death we should have died," to borrow a common phrase among my friends, is mind-blowingly comforting and humbling.
That (the Gospel) in and of itself is enough to be thankful for.
But I was also struck (to the point of tears) with thinking about how that church was where my hubby and I began worshiping together as a couple. Almost 30 years ago. And there we sat today with our son and daughter-in-law. Worshiping. Together. They both love the Lord. I whispered that to my hubby and said, "What more could we have asked for?" It made both of us cry.
For lunch we went to a Chinese restaurant. It's a tradition. I'll explain.
When the kids were growing up, the hubby and I felt that we should not celebrate Halloween in the traditional sense. We had no desire to answer the doorbell rings, so we decided it would be fun to go out to eat. I remember thinking and thinking about where we could go so the kids wouldn't have to see scary costumes. I finally came up with going to a Chinese restaurant since the Chinese don't celebrate Halloween. It became a tradition for us. We even continued it for the years we lived in Singapore. Caleb and Megan went to eat at a Chinese restaurant the year they were at the same college together. Sooo to wrap up this long explanation.... after church this morning we were trying to figure out where to go and I remembered there was a good Chinese restaurant in town and Caleb said, "Well it is Halloween." That sealed it for us.
And yes, it was as good as I remembered.
We spent the afternoon giving Caleb and Amanda the "How and Where We Fell In Love Tour of Campus." And even reenacted our first kiss. (Ummm...that really wasn't a chore to do....) (and I'm so glad he kissed me that day 28 years ago.)
The Bench is looking a little beat up. I hope they don't take it away. Ever.
Then we wandered around campus for a while.
And then, as if that wasn't a great day so far, we said good-bye to Caleb and Amanda. Wait that didn't sound right.... After we reluctantly said goodbye to Caleb and Amanda, we sat in the car a bit and tried to think of what we could do next. I rattled off several suggestions and the last one was, "We could drive to the tiny little town my mom grew up in and look at the farm my mom grew up on and the farm where my uncle lived." I think it's been at least 15 years since I had been there. My sweet patient hubby thought that sounded great, so off we went. We drove around the town my mom went to school in, and after that minute-and-a-half was up, we drove by my uncle's farm and then the farm my mom grew up on.
My uncle's house. I will tell you my aunt would not be happy to see the condition of this house. She was from the south and had the outside redone and it looks looked so much like a Grand Southern Mansion.
Then we drove to where my mom grew up. My cousin and his wife live there and farm the land. And an even better bonus... they were home! So we got to have a wonderful visit with them. They were gracious enough to let us wander around the house so I could run down memory lane. I must say, that I am pretty sure that my cousin has somehow made the house a lot smaller that it was when I was a little girl. Isn't it funny how we remember things in our minds eye the same size as when we were small?
The house is 90 years old. It's a 1920 Craftsman style home with a lot of really neat details on the inside. I enjoyed myself thoroughly looking all around and going through the memories: from the sink that used to be in the mudroom with the Lava soap laying on it that my grandpa used to wash his hands, to the beautiful built-in buffet in the dining room where we hung our Christmas stockings (that were Grandpa's red-heeled socks), to the squeaky stairs we would sneak down on Christmas morning. I even remember my grandma standing on those stairs waving at us as we arrived for a visit. That really is amazing since my grandma died when I was 2 1/2.
I am really grateful for my hubby being willing to go to those places with me today. Very sweet of him. It was a great way to end my October Photo Journal.
Happy New Month!
Happy New Month!
