Rita`s broken ankle

Navy Pier

     About 30 minutes outside of the city I hit a huge bump driving, and we all heard the worst noise ever. We pulled over and quickly realized a connection piece on the axel was totally broken. 

            We arrived in Chicago around three and spent about 30 minutes searching for mechanics and getting advice on whether or not we could make it 300 more miles to STL. At about five we finally parked and started exploring downtown. We stopped first at McDonald’s to get ice cream. As we walked outside and headed towards downtown we realized the restaurant we had been searching the Navi for was right next-door, and Courtney befriended a homeless man named Brian and we took him to get ice cream. It was the first time I have been in a city since God has changed so much of my heart towards the homeless and forsaken. My heart was heavy the whole time. Today we passed two girls sitting on a bridge with just a cardboard sign in front of them: 29 pregnant hungry homeless and in school. And the others read: 26 hungry homeless jobless please help. Tears flooded my eyes and my heart pounded in my chest. I just can’t understand, I can’t shake it. Of anything on this trip…I won’t forget those two faces. The four of us walking made some small talk and agreed it’s hard to give money when you don’t know how they will spend it. In my head I agreed, but my heart screamed no. My eyes saw Jesus bending his knee beside the forsaken and forgotten and meeting their needs. I pray I can understand how to love those people, especially those people, who desperately need physical and spiritual healing.

Ohio Street Beach

            We spent the rest of the evening exploring Millennium Park, The Lourie Gardens, lots of skyscrapers, the planetarium, and then we had dinner at Giordano’s. We headed back to Rita and then to our ghetto hotel in Bridgeview, IL. About five kids next door were throwing a hotel party (hilarious). Claus and I had a laptop party outside because the wifi (wiffy according to Christoph) sucked. Later Christoph met a random guy while having his laptop party who said he’d help us with the car and gave him beer. The rest of the night I wrote in my journal and wrote a poem, Christoph hat Guitar gespielt und Claus und Courtney haben geschlafen.

            Today we awoke to the sound of policemen busting the neighbors in the hotel (tells you how ghetto the place was). We showered, Christoph and Claus had left over pizza for breakfast, and then we packed the car and headed back to Chicago for a full day of sightseeing. We parked Rita and set off for more adventures. We walked down the main strip to the Ohio Street beach. Unbelievably, we found a wooden carved and painted toy boat, named Rita! We all cracked up and later put it on the dash, where it remains. Of course we made a pit stop at McDonald’s for Eis. Wir leben Eis J Next stop was Navy Pier, where we walked and shopped and Claus bought a ton of incense. Then we went to Chinatown for dinner. Court and Christoph bought $1 bags of fortune cookies, so we are still eating them and reading lots of great fortunes! After dinner in we got back into Rita and are now en route to STL. We will hopefully make it there, despite the tornado warnings everywhere. Tomorrow we will get Rita worked on and explore downtown and definitely go to Chill (frozen yogurt)…probably for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Hopefully we will go to tent city and hang out with the homeless there for at least half a day, and daddy is going to take the boys shooting. So either way, lots of adventures. I will write about them in a few days!

Giordano`s Pizza

The joy of the Lord is my strength.

Nehemiah 8:10

Great is the Lord and abundant in power, his understanding is beyond measure

Psalm 147:5

“Your time is always here”-Jesus

 John 7:6