WINDY CITY ADVENTURES

I'm back to full-force reality since arriving home from a week in Chicago. Had a great time of fun, relaxation, culture, fine dining, shopping, sight-seeing, and silliness. No responsibilities, except for myself, took a little getting used to but I soon adjusted! Some of the highlights of my trip include: Second City comedy club, a William Morris art exhibit at Northwestern University, tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio in Oak Park, and a day spent at the Art Institute of Chicago. All wonderful experiences for me.

Meaningful on a different level was our visit to the neonatal intensive care unit at Rush Medical Center where Mindy works. It's kind of difficult to describe, as it leaves you at a loss for words. I was hit with so many things as I walked through the unit, stopping by each baby's isolette. The first thing is how beautiful or cute the babies are and then it hits you what their circumstances are: the challenges of being born too early or born with physical anomalies, the sorrow of not being cherished, the horror of a mother's attempt to abort herself. At the same time, you are absorbing the surroundings of monitors, alarms going off warning of imminent death; lights, wires, and tubes; staff busy working on babies so tiny and frail; young parents looking unsure and uncomfortable. It is all pretty overwhelming. But even in the midst of all that, there were glimpses of God's Presence: scripture passages taped to the walls of isolettes (including the card we attach to the knitted hats we send with Ps. 139:13-14), a mother's Bible on top of her child's isolette, and the evidence of His creation in these precious children. I have always had an appreciation of life but this experience certainly deepened it.

I hit the ground running, back in the Northwoods, with a to-do list a mile long and a lot of catching up to do...but it was worth it!