A Weekend to Remember

As a Big Ten fan, I'm quickly losing interest in the Michigan State-North Carolina men's NCAA basketball championship game (A.K.A, a blow-out). So, while I passively watch the game, I thought I'd record some highlights from this past weekend...

1. Chrysalis (the stage before a caterpillar becomes a butterfly) is a Christian retreat for teenagers. The metaphor serves to remind us of Jesus' ability to literally transform anyone that's open and willing to be transformed. From Thursday night until Sunday evening, Kristin served as a Chrysalis table leader. I'm sure she'll write about her experience soon. For now, I'll just say that I know she blessed many while also receiving many blessings herself.

2. It's just not the same when Kristin is gone, but it was nice to experience some special, one-on-one time with Sam, Chase and Ava. We played outside, ate at Taco Bell, visited the Wonder Lab and picked up some videos at the library...and, that was just Friday morning before Mom and Dad came down to spend a few days.

3. Mom and Dad arrived in Bloomington early Friday afternoon. It was a great visit with plenty of good conversation, good food (and "international" theme...pizza, tacos and Chinese), play time with the kiddos and movie watching (including the new Bond flick, Quantum of Solace). As an aside, it's great to see how good of friends Mom, both of my Dads and Kristin's Grandfather have become. We also had a surprise visit...

4. Kathy and Meghan, my sister and niece, decided to make a last-minute visit to take a "little" road trip from their home in South Carolina to Indiana. We were thankful that they decided to include a Bloomington stop while en route to Lafayette.

5. And, last, but certainly not least, there was Palm Sunday. For those of us that believe Jesus is "...the Christ, the Son of the Living God," Palm Sunday commemorates His triumphant entry into Jerusalem in the days leading up to His crucifixion and resurrection. It was encouraging for me to see Sammie's enthusiasm as she took part in a memorable palm-waving procession at church.

I'm missing a lot of details here, but the bottom line is that it was a special weekend, by all accounts. A weary Kristin and I enjoyed talking about the weekend late Sunday night. I'm looking forward to many other similar discussions with Kristin, about other memorable weekends (hopefully, with at least some involving all of the people mentioned in this post), in the future. Thank you, Jesus, for this special weekend, your love and your guidance.