drove to Chicago...

Despite the fact that I was once desperate to get away from the noise, our postage stamp of a backyard, the graffiti, the outrageous sales tax and the rats in our alley and that I love my little town, my quiet, slower paced, non-urban, Indiana neighborhood, when we drove into Chicago on Saturday and saw the skyline, I felt my pulse quicken because they're beautiful - all those buildings, all that extraordinary architecture, all those memories of fumbling into adulthood, falling in love, becoming a mother.  

It seemed significant that my first official "Close to Home" speaking event was taking place in this very city, at the very parish where I learned about, and eventually converted to, Eastern Orthodox Christianity.  It was surreal, to tell you the truth, coming back years later and within this particular context.   No other location on earth could have filled me with such melancholy. The parking lot, the fellowship hall, the cracking stucco, the deep red carpeting brought to the surface so many long forgotten emotions. Oh the hurdles we've leapt as a couple, as a family. How remarkable to look back on a decade's worth of breakthroughs, sacrifices and trials and realize, from this present vantage point, that what had seemed at the time like a series of chaotic and random events was in all actuality an orderly yet mysterious divine master plan in motion.    

We walked into a room of mostly familiar faces and after many affectionate greetings, I delivered the talk I had prepared on, "Being Orthodox in a Non-Orthodox Society." My small audience was supportive and attentive and smiled encouragingly, even when I paused, when I totally blanked out for a minute or two. I spoke on fellowship, on the importance of us reminding one another, every single chance we get, of our eternal aim.  I was very uplifted by our discussion afterwards (we certainly need one another, don't we?), attended vigil and had a lovely, lovely dinner out in Greek town with old and new friends. On the ride home, I couldn't stop smiling. Nothing, I was reminded this weekend, is more satisfying than both giving and receiving Christ-like love, than filling our minds and hearts and our souls, our conversations, with less fluff and more substance. Thanks to all of you who came and to those of you who were thinking of me and praying for me from afar!  I've been beyond blessed by your kindness and generosity.