Day 6 of Thankfulness

This is a tough day to write down something I am thankful for.

This morning I learned that the person I have been friends with for the longest time in my life passed away. She and I met when we were in the 7th grade. She had cancer. She learned just 6 weeks ago that it had spread all over.

When I learned the news I went running to my hubby and he cried with me.

I will write more tomorrow about my friend of 38 years.


I am thankful for...
...my husband's tears of compassion.

Day 5 of Thankfulness

Apparently yesterday was Flower Day.

Did anyone else know that?

Fortunately Hubby did (whew!) and he brought flowers home for me.

I am thankful for...
...my sweet, thoughtful, hubby
...the beautiful flowers he brought home for me

Day 4 of Thankfulness

^{Romans 8:35, 36-39}

 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

I am thankful for...

...the love of Christ 

...the fact that nothing can separate me from that love.

Day 3 of Thankfulness

This is a model of the city of Chicago.

A couple of days I go I mentioned something about the Chicago River having a history in our family.

Hubby's great-great grandfather, C.J., used to live in Chicago. C.J. was born in England and left there when he was 17. I think he lived in New York at first and then moved to Chicago in 1869. There he began his business of making canvas awnings and tents.

When the great Chicago fire came in 1871, C.J. saw that his "business could be destroyed by the fire, The small stock of cloth which he had on hand and the few sewing machines which he had been able to buy were all that he possessed. Wrapping the sewing machines in the tent cloth, he dumped the entire stock out of a window into the Chicago River and anchored it to a post with a rope. After the fire he drew his stock, practically unharmed, from the water and resumed business in the street. The fire had created such a demand for his wares that he sold all that he had in short order." (Quoted from C.J.'s obituary.)


A year later, C.J. became a Christian after reading the words from John 6:37, "...whoever comes to me I will never drive away." After this he gave himself whole-heartily to the Lord's service. He still ran his tent and awning business, but he spent several nights a week preaching on the streets of Chicago. I've read that he was possibly one of the first to start a mission for homeless people in Chicago, charging a nickle for a cot for the night. And if someone didn't have the nickel, he provided it himself.

In 1887 C.J. moved to Kansas City. "But business was not his object in moving. His object was threefold, First, to print and circulate all the tracts he could, Second, to give all the money he could and Third, to preach the gospel to all he could. The business was only the means to these ends." (Quoted from a copy of an article we have.)

Before C.J. left Chicago, he "selectively approached seven or eight employees and invited them to come with him to Kansas City. He wanted capable tent and awning workers, but it appears that the chief qualification for going to Missouri was their agreement with him on spiritual matters, and their abilities in gospel outreach. Several were excellent singers. One of the men's wives...was an outstanding children's worker." (Quoted from an article I found online about him.)

C.J. had a successful business in Kansas City. His factory had scripture on the walls. His catalogs had scripture across the bottom of every page. He was very concerned about the souls of the people who worked for him. He conducted street meetings. He worked hard all his life. He stated that there was plenty of time to rest in heaven.

I write this here because C.J. is our son's, Caleb namesake (C.J. stands for Caleb Jason), and I admire him and his dedication to our Lord.

I am thankful for...
...the legacy of C.J.
...for the generations of Christ followers
...for this story to be a part of our family

 (I see my husband in the kindness in those eyes.)

Day 2 of Thankfulness

Today is kind of a chilly rainy day so today I am thankful for my new slippers.

I have finally retired my ten-year-old slippers. I've been looking for some new ones for several years and finally found these at Target. I wasn't sure how crazy I was about them at first. I bought them because they fit and didn't have a super hard sole. The more I wear them, the more I like them. What isn't to like about brown cable knit and faux fur??

Conclusion:
I am thankful for...
...warm toes on a chilly day.
...Target.

Day 1 of Thankfulness

In honor of the month of November, I have decided to write a post every day about something I am thankful for. Thirty Days of Thankfulness here we come!

Last weekend we were in Chicago. Such a great city. Our friends, Jackie and Russ,  who we met when we lived in Singapore, invited us to join them for the weekend. We lived in the same neighborhood in Singapore and we went to the same church. We even taught a 10th grade Sunday school class together one year. Jackie had her own car, (most of the rest of us ex-pats only had one car for the family) so she graciously gave me (and others) rides to a lot of activities. We spent quite a bit of time in the car talking and talking and talking. Jackie is the one who asked me if I wanted to take a quilting class with her. So it's her fault, or better yet, it's because of her that I fell into the world of quilting. I am thankful for that.

Anyway...enough back story.

We started off the weekend seeing a friend of our son's. Stephen is going to medical school in Chicago and we were able to find a couple of hours to get together with him. We bought him supper and watched him eat and peppered him with questions. While he was trying to eat. Nice, huh? It is always good to spoil a college kid. We didn't eat with him because we had plans for some great Chicago pizza with Jackie and Russ.

Stephen's meal cost us more than any other meal we ate that weekend, thanks for the "gift" the city of Chicago left us on the windshield of our car. Yippie Skippie. I guess these small town people sometimes forget that in actual big towns, sometimes the city wants money to park a car on their streets. **Sigh**

Anyway.....

We found Jackie and Russ' condo (They have a condo right smack on Michigan Avenue).

Here's a view from the roof of their building.

We dumped off our stuff and headed out for pizza. The pizza was fantastic and the company was even better. It was so good to see them and start getting caught up on each others lives and all our kids.

Saturday we walked down the street for a lovely brunch that we even ate outside, it was such a beautiful day. (That's Russ and Jackie and my hubby.)

 A couple of shots from their condo... Quite a view, huh?

 

The afternoon found us on a Chicago River Architecture Tour.


(Remind me to tell you on another day about how the Chicago River fits into our family history.)

Here's some of the pictures I took.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(And yes, that was just some of the pictures I took on the river tour.)

That evening we had Asian food (appropriate, don't you think, since we met in Asia?)

Saturday night we saw a play on Navy Pier and had some classic Chicago popcorn afterwards.

Sunday morning we worshipped at a branch of Willow Creek Church.
Check out the facility:

The church met in some auditorium in downtown Chicago. It was a wonderful worship service complete with a message from Bill Hybels.

Conclusion:
I am thankful for...
...a fun weekend in Chicago.
...my friend Jackie. I cannot say how much she meant to me during those three years in Singapore.
...being able to see Stephen.
...my hubby who does the majority of the driving on our many road trips.

The Peach, The Turd and The Apology

I know I have gushed and gushed and gushed (and gushed) about my hubby on this blog. I know that gives the impression we have a peachy-keen marriage. (Yes, I used the term peachy-keen.) So what I have to say may come as a shock to some of my readers.


Sometimes our marriage is kinda like a moldy peach. (Oh, these fruit analogies just might not be working.)


What I mean to say is, sometimes our marriage can be ugly.


Earlier this week was an example of that. I won't go into detail. That's not something I do. (We both remember advice we were given during our premarital counseling sessions to be aware of how we speak about each other to other people.)


I'll summarize it by saying we had a fight and I pouted. A lot. For too long. The next day I knew I needed to apologize. I was out running errands and thought I should leave a candy bar with a note in his car at his work.  As I was thinking about what I would write, an idea came to me.


Here's the note with the candy bar I left on the front seat of his car:

(The note reads: I'm sorry for being such a turd.)

Please, some one out there tell me they know the movie from 1980 that involved this candy bar being mistook for something other than a candy bar... anybody?? Go to this link to watch the scene and tell me if you know.

By the way, Hubby says it made him smile and agreed that it was the best apology ever. He ate the candy bar and thought about it being a turd the whole time. :)