Hoosier Land

The first leg of the trip has been FANTASTIC!

We left extremely late on Monday afternoon in order to escape the deathtrap that is Chicago rush hour traffic. Although now that I think about it, maybe that is just was my subconscious mind coming to the rescue in order to cover up the mass hysteria that ensued Monday morning in the cleaning and packing the remainder of our home before our showing at 12pm. This “forced “ us to leave later than desired! Yeah…. that’s the ticket!

 Due to the late departure, our arrival time into Warsaw Indiana was a triple espresso induced 1:30am, and I suppose the trip to the Apple store in Milwaukee did not get us there any quicker! HA! In any respect, we were in HOOSIER land! The majority of all of my relatives from my mother’s side of our family reside in this town, and every time I return, some strange new memory seems to creep its way out from the Bermuda Triangle section of my brain.  Case in point: In visiting with my 3 cousins, Jim, Tom, and Mike, it was brought to my memory an event in which, while spending my summer in Warsaw fishing on Chapman Lake, I hooked my cousin in the abdomen with a fairly decent size lure. Blood was present at this event, and although it was not specifically mentioned in the tale that was being told, I am sure there were some blood curdling screams had as well by my poor, helpless, hooked cousin Tom.  Here is what boggles me: You would think this sort of event would not escape from the retaining wall of your mind. You would think that event like hooking someone with an extremely sharp set of hooks would forever be “there” with you in memory. I have had a lot of fishing conversations since then, but for whatever reason I misplaced this fishing story. I do suppose though it was a much more traumatic event for Tom than I, as he was the one being yanked around the pontoon boat by the stomach. On Tuesday evening, the coffee and laughter filled stories shared between us were excellent, and the food was classic Warsaw grub; Sloppy Joes, chips, dip, and POP. The night capped God centered conversation and prayer with my Aunt Leanne really highlighted this portion of the trip though. She and I both had an inward look at “soul matters”, and with family members, which whom you rarely are around and “comfortable” with, it can sometimes be intimidating. Not so in this case. The barrier, if there ever was one, was broken down almost instantaneously, and throughout our conversation that evening, we had a serious look on how and what was pleasing to God. We talked about how our lives were matching up with His word, and what we could do with His help to be more effective in our service to Him. It is simply amazing how God can make certain times and situations so conducive to really focus and meditate on Him and His will with others. This was that time, and it was quite heart warming. Leanne and I capped the night off with some great prayer, and we bid our farewell that evening as she and her husband were both leaving early in the morning. 

After this. we headed to Fort Wayne to visit my Aunt Kathy, who is possibly the hippest and best home decorator in the Northern Hemisphere. I am convinced her DNA possesses a hypersensitive feng shui strand, which is clearly seen in her wonderfully laid out domicile. We introduced her to Chik fil A breakfast biscuits, where in her reply was ”I never knew one could eat Fried chicken for breakfast!”. Yes you can Aunt Kathy…yes you can.  We then headed down to Wapakoneta Ohio to visit my G&G Rosengarten and my Uncle Tom.  My grandfather is currently in the hospital, and frankly is not doing very well. From what my grandmother said, he was having a pretty good day while we visited. He remembered Madilyn right off the bat and played with her, as he was able.  The nurses said that he had been talking about his time in Okinawa Japan during his physical therapy session that afternoon. He had been giving them a little grief, which seemed to be a good thing in their eyes! He is having a rough time, so please pray for his comfort. Giant hugs from my Grandmother is always at the top of my list, and plenty of hugs were dished out during our visit. She is a huggin lady, and I dig it.

We left to go see my Uncle Tom, who recently just got a new scooter and cell phone to match. The story that I got from his visiting attendant was that Tom is required to take the cell phone, wherever and whenever he goes “cruising”, so that if he gets lost or runs out of juice he can call to be picked up.  Needless to say, Tom is “jacked” to have his scooter and cell phone, and he is using it to it’s full potential. Uncle Tom is one of the most inspirational people I know.

Madilyn has been absolutely incredible on the trip! We have been putting her through the ringer, and she is really showing how lovely a little girl she is.

The road to Perth is becoming more real everyday, and the anticipation to be there is building right up along with it. Melissa and I have been praying so much for the group there over the past few months, and through the last few days she and I have had some incredible focused conversations around evangelism ideas, young children’s needs, and just settling in with everyone there to see where we can be of service. It has been great. Love that woman.

Knoxville is the next journey on the trip, and lets just say there was enough ROCK and baconbratcakes to go around for whoever wanted it! New updates to come…

Again, Mel and I hope you can get some encouragement and laughs out of our trip. Please feel free to comment or request posts you may be interested in discussing.

Here are some pictures of the Indiana/Ohio Visit:

                               This is the Winona Lake Shops and Eatery in Warsaw Indiana:

Some guys I found to jam with in Warsaw...

My lovely girls enjoying the sunshine!!

Madilyn diggin her ice cream!

Ice Cream Shop

Zachary boys from left to right: Mike, Tom (aka my twin), and Jim

NOTE: Tom's stomach seems to have healed just fine from our fishing incident

Big Wally burgers and Tenderloins....please wait while I wipe up my drool.

Melissa getting a Granny Rosengarten hug.....LUCKY!

                                                                              

Uncle Tom about to hit the town!

Our little trooper...on the road again!