Our Trip to Chicago!

Chicago! It's my kind of town! We HAD soooooo much fun! I haven't gotten a chance to download pics yet, so I found this beautiful one on google. It was AMAZING to be walking down the streets among the skyscrapers!

The favor of the Lord.....

We had a wonderful time- much needed family time. We love Chicago (we are Illinois natives and "Chi town" is "old stomping ground.") We try to get back every year or couple years. We were so blessed on this trip- God was so GOOD to us!

I truly felt like a blessed daughter.

People everywhere were so nice- the weather was beautiful (even when it rained!), the food was incredible.......

One example that stands out was on Friday. We had been everywhere that day- Millinium Park, walking Michigan, gazing at the Chicago river, shopping, Buckingham Fountain (walking to all of these places!). It was getting late in the afternoon, but wanted to fit in the Field Museum. When we finally made it there, it was 4:10. They stopped selling admission at 4 and the museum closed at 5. We were so sad. And, we had to use the bathroom! We had been on the go all day and just trekked for an hour to the museum and NEEDED one desperately!!!!!!

So, the gentleman let us go in to use the bathroom. I took all the little ones inside while Brian, Andrew and Abigail waited in the lobby. When we walked back and began heading out, the man called me over. He said no one ever comes back from the bathroom when he lets them go in, but sneaks in. He said because of our honesty, our whole family could come in....for free!!!!!

There is a free trolley that runs a route around the major attractions. It is a great way to get back near the hotel for aching feet.

On the trolley ride, I was pointing out to Andrew the Lord's favor at the museum. It was then that our trolley driver began telling the trolley that there was something amazing happening. She was sure her passengers were not "getting it", so she explained that traffic was UNUSUAL! She said that normally it took at least a half an hour to move through stop and go traffic from the museum campus to the loop. We were "blowing through".

She went on and on....calling the passengers her "good luck charms." I just smiled, telling my family that we weren't "lucky," but favored of God!

Sometimes it is hard for us to think of ourselves as this, but we are children of the Most High God! We are blessed beyond measure!

As parents, we, too, enjoy blessing our children. I LOVED taking my girls to American Girl and the fellas to the Lego store. We loved to see the excitement on their faces as we rode the big ferris wheel at Navy Pier. We wanted them to have fun at Ed Debevics. We enjoyed watching them have a BALL splashing in the fountains. We wanted to bless them. Our Father wants to bless us.

"If you then, being evil (sinner)
know how to give good gifts to your son, then how much more does Your Father in
heaven want to bless you."

Here is what God wants me to share with you the most, though. Being blessed, being His child, Him loving us, being a Christian, does NOT mean that nothing "bad" will ever happen to us. We live in a fallen world. Life circumstances WILL happen.

On the last day of our vacation, when we thought we would be going the Museum of Science of Industry, we checked out to find that our van had a flat tire!!!!

So, our plans changed completely and our vacation ended.

But, God was still watching over us. Brian put the spare tire on, we made it to the suburbs to a Sears where we got a new tire, and went on our way back home.

Thanks, Lord!