We enjoyed some great time with our new friends, the Mullers, and shared stories over coffee till late, chatting about shared experiences and concerns about our land of birth, SA. We are so excited and thankful towards the Lord because on August 25th, Kobie, I and our son, Albert, will become Canadian citizens! The Mullers are almost through their process to become Americans. We had a great night's sleep between real sheets - the first for me in 6 weeks. Lovely subdivision they live in....so spacious and not so crunched up as the Canadian developers insist on creating to save a buck.
Sunday morning broke crisp and sunny, with the promise of turning into a wonderful day. The well attended celebration service at Crossroads CRC was beautiful and the jazz band playing exceptionally good! The worship was a total delight, as the musicians played strong and confidently...real masters of their art. The pastor delivered a good message. His wife has been diagnosed with Lou Gehrigs disease and really needs our prayers as she is struggling. Eight of us were asked to take up the collection using our helmets lined with foil. More than $3,000 were collected to be divided between the ministries at the ministry fair. All the cyclists wearing our yelllow shirts paraded into the audutorium together. Always heart warming to feel the unity and the positive enthusiatic spirit, blending into that sea of yellow sunflowers! What an amazing privilege we have!!! Time is flying by too fast...
Crossroads is a lovely CRC church with a very nice well equipped building, and a thriving youth ministry. The hospitality we experienced here was truly amazing! Saturday night a movie "The flying Dutchman", was screened. After a very nice lunch of bratwurst and salads, there were various trips and activities scheduled, like to see the wetlands, and prairie preservation projects. I stayed since I promised to clean 3 bikes for my friends. The dirt and wet sand clung all over the dirty bikes and it was quite a job, but I enjoyed doing it for them as an encouragement. Also caught up on my blogging a bit, using the churches' Wifi.
Another good night at our friends and Monday morning dawned quite chilly. We had prepared and put all our stuff in order yesterday, so Kobie could leave early with Art Smit, his navigator, to mark all the turns with orange marking paint on the roads we are about to cycle. The ride was nearly perfect in all respects. I started on my own at a leisurely pace and enjoyed the solitude, peace and quiet. The roads were nice and smooth...and the landscapes generously treed and lush green. Many more horse farms, and many acres of corn and soy. Enjoyed seeing the Americans living the American dream. Noticed some controvercy locally about the whole corn to ethanol issue, as some negative picketing signs were erected across from a big ethanol factory. Some huge trees grace the landscapes and the streets in the towns we passed through. A scrumptious lunch of beef on the bun, salad and ice cream brownies were provided by the CRC in Delavan. Quite a spread and we appreciated it all so much! Around the state line nature was really spectacular with immense trees and homes hiding in the forest and under the tree generous canopies.
The town of Woodstock is very picturesque with a marvellous cobblestoned town square with one-of-a-kind buildings. Some movies were made here, I heard.
Just outside Delavan near the state line between Wisconsin and Illinois a special moment awaited us cyclists. Four residents of the Inspiration Ministry Centre for adults with disabilities handed out bottles of ice water. Phillip and Sarah, severely challenged, in their wheelchairs touched my heart deeply as I saw heaven in their eyes as they cheered us on, so excited to see us all stopping by. Chad and Lori handed out the water. Sarah is unable to speak or focus her eyes, but so affectionate and laughing from ear to ear. I so appreciated the dignity and respect that they were treated with by their caregiver, Linda. Kobie and Art had dropped in much earlier to phone from there when unsure about the route, and when the staff learned about our mission, they decided to share what they had on hand with us....water, their special selves and all the love in their hearts! (see www.InspirationMinistries.org). A tremendous blessing for us indeed, and the highlight of the day for me!
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