Grandparent's Day in the City

With temps still in the 70's, my parents and I had headed downtown Chicago this morning.

The last time they were able to come meet up with our family in Chicago, Tyler was a freshman at Moody. A lot has changed since then!

He married Lara, graduated from Moody, began work at Intelligentsia, started his master's degree at Trinity Seminary, and is about to become a dad!

Today is actually the due date of their son, but since he hasn't arrived yet, Tyler is still working. And good thing because Bapa (my dad) needed coffee from his barista grandson this morning!

So fun that my parents could see him there this morning.

Next we drove over to Moody to see another grandchild!

After seeing Claire's apartment in Jenkins Hall, we went over to Plum Market, where Claire works on Saturdays, to enjoy lunch together.

After saying goodbye to her, we ran errands. Important ones.

You know, like great-grandparent gifts for Judah! :) So fun to have a reason to look at little people things again!

I love that I caught another hug happening back at Moody just a few hours after the other hug.

This time it was Caleb's turn to see his grandparents!

And Caleb's turn to make an espresso for Bapa!

Once he was off work at Joe's, the coffee shop on campus at Moody, we all headed over to have dinner with he and Haley.

Since Caleb and Haley will be moving from Chicago in December after Caleb graduates from Moody, this was my mom and dad's one and only time to get to see their first home. I'm so glad they got to have an evening there!

And it's always fun to watch Bapa and Caleb have a good time with each other!

As I was driving my mom and dad to various places today where they could see their grandkids, I couldn't help but think ahead twenty years or so. How I hope that I'll get to visit Judah, and any others that God may bless us with! I know my parents are loving seeing their grandkids, and I know I'd feel the same way!

Still no sign of Judah's arrival, even though today was his due date. But we know he'll be here soon!

Gifts and Guests

This morning, while visiting Lara at their home, I had the joy of witnessing one of the sweetest gift giving moments.

We stepped outside for a few minutes and before we knew it, her 90 year old neighbor lady stepped out of her house too. She called over to Lara to say she had something for her...well, for Judah, really!

How precious is that! A baby blanket knitted for him by dear Rosa. Such kindness! I loved hearing her talk about her life, some of her stories, and of her love for her own daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She's quite a lady!

This evening another gift, in the form of guests, arrived on a plane.

My mom and dad flew from Eugene, Oregon to spend time with their grandchildren while we await their great-grandson's birth!

They came bearing gifts too...a little special somebody from my brother, Uncle Mike!

He remembers that Tyler loved Tigger (because it started with a "T"!) as a little boy so thought it appropriate that his son have one of his own!

While tomorrow is the due date, we don't know when he'll actually arrive. But for sure, Judah is well loved already and much anticipated by all!

Goldie

Friends of Tyler and Lara are letting those of who are here awaiting the birth of Judah stay at their house.

But part of the deal is that we take care of their dog, Goldie, while they are away.

Twelve years old, and blind, she's a Golden Retriever with the sweetest personality, and some spunkiness still left in her, as exhibited this morning while she hung out with me.

Any guesses what's going on in that photo?? I'd just stepped out of the room for a minute, leaving my coffee and a muffin on the table. As I walked back in, I watched her swallow the entire muffin, paper and all, and then search for the crumbs left on the floor! Grabbing my phone, I captured the "evidence" of her spunkiness!

Nice of her to avoid spilling my coffee! A devoured muffin was better than cleaning up a mess. I now know that even though she can't see, she can smell! Lesson learned.

She doesn't like to sleep alone so is in my room with me tonight. Yes, I'm a softy when it comes to dogs. Especially an old lovable one like Goldie!

Yes, that's her blanket that she sleeps with!

If I can't have my little Cavalier, Kaylee, with me, I'm glad to have another faithful companion keeping me company while I'm here in the States!

Meanwhile in Europe

While I'm here in Chicago, enjoying time with our kids and waiting for the birth of our grandson, Dave has been on a 'not-so-fun' adventure back to Europe.

He started out at 6:30 AM, Florida time on Saturday morning, headed towards Norwich, England to speak at a pastor's conference there.

Unfortunately, a heavy fog rolled across Europe just as he was leaving, a fog that has caused significant travel delays across the continent.

Including numerous flights Dave was supposed to be on.

After 54 1/2 hours of travel, from Florida to Norwich, England, he finally arrived this evening.

The time it was supposed to take? 22 hours.

Poor guy!!

After layovers in Frankfurt and Krakow, with those flights having been delayed by hours, he spent a short night in Amsterdam. But not until after he'd spent hours in line at the airport, trying to rebook with ticketing agents there.

Of course that's a tough job for them since they have no control over the weather. All they can do is make educated guesses on when flights will resume.

At his first rebooking they told him there were no seats available until late Monday night. I'm not sure what happened since this whole story has unfolded by texts between us, but somehow they got him on an earlier evening flight.

He found out when he got there it was the only one to have made it. The one after, the one he was supposed to be on, had been cancelled.

The ride that was supposed to have been waiting for him at the airport wasn't there when he arrived (he'd been in communication with the conference so they said they'd send someone for him). So he took a taxi. For an hour! And finally arrived at the conference center.

With just five minutes to spare, he joined the group of pastors for the first evening program.

Thankfully he doesn't start speaking until tomorrow morning. I'm praying his brain is awake enough to have something to say when he starts!

And that his missing bag shows up. As of right now, they don't know where it is. Hope he had a change of clothes in his carry-on!

In Their World

City of Chicago, 6:45 AM, Monday morning.

After spending the night with Claire, she and I were up and out early, heading for the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority).

The city is bustling at that hour of the morning. I'm sure many have already been at work, perhaps even for a few hours, in an attempt to beat rush hour!

Why were Claire and I amongst the rush hour crowd??

Fresh, warm, gluten free doughnuts at Do-rite in the Chicago Loop!

When in Chicago, it's just one of those things that must be done! Claire and I have been planning it for a while, anticipating the fun of getting there and back before her first 8 AM class.

After a quick stop at one of her favorite coffee shops, Intelligentsia in the Loop, we rushed back to CTA.

Do you ever have those moments where you feel like you're in a movie? That's how I felt this morning, like Sandra Bullock and the crew for "While You Were Sleeping" would pop out any moment!

As we rode the train back, crossing the river and heading towards Moody, I delighted in all the sights and sounds of city, and the joy of sharing them with Claire this morning.

We made it back just in time for her Systematic Theology class - the first Moody class that I've ever sat in on! Just one session left me with profound thoughts on the attributes of God, the topic of this morning's lecture by Dr. Clark.

I accompanied Claire to one more class, then left to go downtown again, this time to see Haley at work at Peet's Coffee!

My day ended back at the house north of Chicago where I'm staying right now, visiting with these two!

Thankful to the Lord for precious times of connecting with and being in the same world as my kids.

Beautiful Chicago Sunday

This morning started with a drive to be with Tyler and Lara at their church in the city of Chicago.

As you can see, Judah's still safe and sound inside his mommy!

It was wonderful being with Tyler and Lara at their church, especially to see the recitation of the Word - in this case, a long passage in Isaiah done from memory by this woman. What a powerful tool of communication! It makes God's word really come alive.

Also loved seeing the body of Christ reach out to them as they enter this last (we hope!) week of pregnancy. Several prayed over them at different times throughout the morning. You always love knowing that others are caring for your children.

After saying goodbye to them and taking a drive across the city, I began part two of my Sunday.

Over on Mozart street I met up with Caleb, Haley and Claire who'd just returned from their church near Wheaton.

After yesterday's torrential downpour, Chicago put on its best clothes for this Sunday which meant we could take a walk through their neighborhood.

And go out for lunch together!

Living overseas during most of their college years in the States, it's a gift to have some "normal" days to do things like this. I certainly soaked it in!

After saying bye to Caleb and Haley, Claire and I popped into Tyler's Intelligentsia to say hi for a minute. Just because I could!

He had a break so took it with us. I loved watching these two talk and couldn't resist jumping up to capture a photo.

It's so special to me that our kids have been here in Chicago together during their college/seminary years, to share life and keep growing in relationship with each other.

The last joyful part of the day was spent at Claire's apartment at Moody where I got to live a little bit more of normal life by spending the night! It felt much like home as she did homework and I did a project during the evening as we sat in her cozy living room.

She was finishing a paper on this book!

But this time it was her making dinner for us, brewing tea for me and preparing my bed! She's a great hostess! "Thank you Claire for having me stay with you!"

My heart and soul are filled up after a sweet day of being with all our children.