Remembering Grandma & Grandpa

This past weekend we took a quick trip to Chicago to visit my son at his internship. It was definitely a fast trip, but great to see him and what is happening in the church where he is serving this summer.

On the way back, we stopped in Thorntown, IN – the place my grandparents used to live, where I spent many Thanksgivings and the town in which they are buried. It didn’t strike me that we would go right past their exit as we traveled back and forth to Chicago, so it was an unexpected bonus to the trip.

This was the first time I’ve been back to Thorntown since Grandma passed away in 2008 (hard to believe it has been than long). I like the fact that their headstone has not only dates of birth and death, but also their marriage date. On the back it has the inscription “Parents of David, John & Jay.”

A flower arrangement was placed on the headstone by my parents and uncle and aunt in honor my grandparent’s anniversary. Not sure how well the picture shows it, but the arrangement contains pictures of my grandparents. Thought that was a very nice touch. They would have celebrated 70 years.

Love the change to remember and grateful for the memories I have.

Remember Junior High?

A couple of things today got me to thinking about my junior high years. Today is my birthday, but I also started reading Kurt Johnston’s book Middle School Ministry Made Simple. I picked it up for $3.99 – it’s still that price so you should grab one!

In the opening chapter, Johnston encourages the readers to think back to their junior high years. He says it is helpful as we work with junior high students to remember we were a junior high student at one time, too! It was interesting to kind of think back to my years at Memorial Park Middle School and remember what those days were like.

Johnston pointed to a website – www.infoplease.com – that provides the top news and entertainment stories of any given year. I looked up some of the highlights of my 8th grade year in middle school (1981-1982). Here are a few:

President – Ronald Reagan
Super Bowl – San Francisco d. Cincinnati
World Series – St. Louis Cardinals d. Milwaukee Brewers
NBA Championship – LA Lakers d. Philadelphia 76ers
NCAA Basketball Championship – North Carolina d. Georgetown
John Belushi died of a drug overdose
Michael Jackson released Thriller
Popular moves were E.T. and Tootsie
MTV began airing music videos

Kind of wild to see what was popular then and what has changed. So, what do you remember from your junior high years?

9 Years Ago

I got a text from my son today reminding me of an anniversary. It’s one that we remember, but don’t really celebrate in the way you might celebrate a wedding anniversary or a birthday. Nine years ago this month Joe had a stroke which affected the right side of his body. When you look at him now, you wouldn’t really believe it. In fact, as I think back to that event, it seems a bit surreal.

We were at our junior high camp out and he wasn’t acting himself. We ended up at the hospital, came home, then went back to hospital. He ended up at Dayton Children’s Hospital, but made a relatively quick recovery. We found out over time how many people were praying for Joe during this time and know those prayers made a huge difference.

A lot has transpired in the past nine years and as always we’ve hit a few bumps in the road. God continues to bring good out of bad situations. Looking back, the stroke seems like a lifetime ago. I’m looking forward to the future God has for Joe and what He will continue to do with him.