Such Joy

When I landed in Chicago on Tuesday, I asked Claire (who had picked me up) if we could stop by our favorite coffee shop in Wheaton before she dropped me off at our hotel.

Lo and behold, a friend I hadn't seen in years was standing at the very same counter ordering coffee too!

Barb and her husband have been missionaries in Mexico, but were living in Wheaton when we first met in a church nursery with our babies 23 years ago. It was the hugest delight to reconnect and get together a few days later at the same coffee shop where we couldn't stop talking for several hours!

And so goes this week in Chicago...a delightful mixture of the dearest of people to spend time with.

I stopped by the JV office one day and had another "lo and behold" moment when my nephew walked in! He's a junior at Wheaton college, which is just down the street from our stateside office. That was a fun surprise.

And then our JV board chairman was in the office that day too so had a really nice time catching up with him.

While the board had their Thursday night dinner together, Amy Ellenwood and I had the joy of taking Sylwia, our Poland country leader's wife, out for dinner here in Wheaton. It's crazy that we have to come all this way to get time together! Such joy being with both of them.

Earlier in the day, Amy and I were working on JV things together at a coffee shop when Claire texted and said, "Are you anywhere that I could stop by and say hi?" So she did!

And I also had the joy of stopping by yesterday to see Claire at the home where she babysits this sweet little girl one day a week.

In the midst of all this, Dave had his JV board meeting yesterday, and we went downtown Chicago for dinner with one of the board members and his wife last night!

It's been such a wonderful and full week of being with dear ones we love!