Beautiful Sunday in Chicago

This morning as Dave and I drove to Grace Church of DuPage, we realized that it was an anniversary of sorts. It was twenty five years ago that we first came to this church.

Back then, a young woman from the first military chapel youth group we led in Karlsruhe, Germany was attending Wheaton College, as was Dave. She enthusiastically told us about the church she'd started attending the year before as a freshman, and invited us to come our first Sunday in the area.

It was the only church we ever visited! We were embraced our first Sunday there, and kept going over the next year and a half as Dave worked on and finished his Master's degree. When we left to return to the mission field, they commissioned us, prayed for us, took on a portion of our support, and have been a part of our lives, our family, and our ministry all these years.

It was a joy for Dave to preach there this morning, and deliver the message God laid on his heart for this dear body of believers.

After a sweet luncheon and a rich time of prayer, we left this afternoon nourished and filled up from these long time friends.

"Thank you Grace Church for your loving engagement in our lives and ministry all these years!"

I took Dave to the airport soon after, dropping him off at O'Hare for a flight to Minneapolis where he has a meeting tomorrow. Then I got to go downtown to meet up with some of my dear family!

Our nephew, Justin, was in Chicago this week-end with his fiancée, Ellen, who ran the Chicago marathon today!

I was so glad he messaged me to see if we could meet up before they headed back to Boston, where they live. I picked up Claire this evening and we joined them for a bit at a restaurant. Newly engaged, it was so delightful to hear some of their engagement story in person, and of course to congratulate Ellen on the huge accomplishment of finishing her first marathon.

In every way, it was a beautiful Sunday here in the Chicago area.