Sunday Gratitude – 24.VIII.2025

Just in time for the first week of school for a couple of my kids, the weather has turned cooler, and the last two nights have had the faintest chill attached to them. Where did the summer go? Granted, it *has* been very short for me, and we did manage to go outside some and have “adventures” going to the movies.

I was out with my three youngest for day out yesterday. It ended up being a LONG day, but it was nice doing it kind of as a full-day trip. We got to our destination and back safely, and even though I forgot my cell phone, we found where we needed to go. I even got to show my kids what we did in the days before the internet, which included stopping and asking people for directions. (I actually did this twice, and both times, I was within about two miles of the destination, in one instance, even on the same street!) On the way home, we even managed to make it to the Cedar Crest Ice Cream Parlor in Manitowoc. The ice cream is incredible, and it’s small, but a memorable place to visit. I am very grateful the trip went well; I don’t like expressway driving by myself, and I ended up on I-43 with an erratic truck near me. It got to the point where I got off just so I wouldn’t be on the same road. On the state highway I exited to, about 20 minutes later, we drove up on a police incident that had spilled out on the road, briefly stopping traffic. Younger son got to see police dealing with a very tough situation, and while it wasn’t pretty, there’s part of me that is grateful that he does have some exposure to the hard stuff when he’s young, and in this case, he and I got to talk about it some.

I am thankful to the lady at McDonalds, who, seeing the balloon on a stick that my youngest was carrying get carried away by a gust of wind, (carefully) drove halfway the neighboring grocery store’s parking lot to grab it before it was gone for good. My youngest had started screaming bloody murder and had to be pulled back from running across the lots without looking, and even her brother wanted to run for it, which I forbade him from doing. I tried going after it, but with all the other things in my hands, I could barely jog, and here this lady not only saw this, but decided to take the time to help. It was an amazingly kind thing to do, and as we were back in the car after this and my kids were discussing why a total stranger would do this, my youngest commented, “Maybe she likes God”.

I am grateful that the first week of school for my two youngest has been so far, so good. They also seem to think that riding the bus is the best thing ever. It is going to require a level of coordination to get them to continue to not miss the bus (especially when their older siblings are in school) but to not have to do this drive every morning and evening is incredibly helpful for my sanity.

I am grateful to have been able to bike to Bible study this week – there and back is about 14 miles. It felt really good as well. That was Thursday. On Saturday, I grabbed the bike and something was obviously not right with the rear tire. I am not sure what happened, but if the tire was loose or something, I’m very thankful that I didn’t have the issue on the road. I’m trying to learn how to take care of the bikes better and learn basic maintenance, but in this case, I think I’m going to have to take the bike in to get looked at as well as tuned up. I’m grateful, though, that I’ve got kids who are really enjoying the bikes as well, and I’m already thinking of things we could possibly do next summer.

I accidentally cut someone off while driving the day before the trip, and it shook me a fair amount. I am supremely grateful that there was no accident or anything, just someone supremely annoyed with me.

I am really thankful for friends and people around me; I feel under pressure from a number of sides, and while I’m not trying to borrow trouble, I’m also not wanting to wander around unprepared.

Thank you all for being here. It means a lot. I am thankful for you all.

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