A Day Trip A Few Hours Northeast of Here....

Two days after Thanksgiving (Saturday, November 28), my friend, Sarah, and I traveled up to Kansas City for the day to visit our friend Lisa. Several posts ago, I made reference to Lisa in that she's been up in Kansas City for several weeks undergoing a Stem Cell Transplant for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

For the previous two Sundays, our Sunday School class at church pooled some money together to give to them for whatever expenses they might want to use the money for....

So, Sarah and I left bright and early in the morning for the 3 hour (or so) drive.

First, we stopped and purchased some balloons and a card for Lisa. Here's Sarah -- modeling with the nice balloons.



We had told Lisa we wouldn't be there until after lunch, and so first -- eating lunch. Sarah and I both agreed that we would eat at establishments we did NOT have locally. So, we managed to find a Jose Pepper's. Mexican food is always yummy!

After we were seated, we decided we should have some guacamole as an appetizer. Personally, I thought this guacamole was pretty good! I'd recommend it if you ever go to a Jose Pepper's. Here's the interesting part of our experience, though. They placed hand sanitizer at each table for you to use. Perhaps that's common now (Marc and I don't eat out too much). But, that was a first for me.

Yes, this photo is to show the hand sanitizer, but it also manages to show the guacamole.



I must digress from the point of this post for just a moment -- I'm all for sanitation, killing germs, being clean, etc. etc. etc. But, every once in awhile, I feel we've gone too far. Are we losing the opportunity to build up our own immunity in our bodies?

Who knows? Those thoughts just really crossed my mind as I sat at a restaurant where hand sanitizer was given at the table :)

Overall, I enjoyed the restaurant and the shrimp taco I ate. I'd recommend it for a change from what we have around here. You'll have to talk to the other Sarah for her opinion.

After eating, we headed to Lisa's aunt and uncle's house. She and her husband Mark are staying at this house for recovery -- until she's released by her doctor to return home.

So, with the balloons in hand, we headed inside.

We sat and visited with Lisa & Mark for close to three hours. It was good to see them both. It was wonderful to be able to present them with the balloons, card, and money from our Sunday School class.

We also presented Lisa this devotional book.



Our friend Jess has mentioned this book on her blog. This book has spoken to her, and after speaking with Jess about this book, we decided to give it to Lisa as well.

We're sure Lisa was tired after our visit. So, at that point, we left.

Lisa -- if you're reading this -- know that we're all praying for you down here. We're hoping you guys get to return home soon!

Sarah and I decided that we'd been sitting too much that day. Before the three-hour trip home, we needed to walk around a bit....

So, how about a trip to Oak Park Mall?

It was packed with people, of course. But, Sarah and I both managed to find a few things. For me, a new coat (of all things) and a cute shirt for Luke (it'll be his Christmas shirt -- so stay tuned for future photos, I'm sure). You can ask Sarah in person what she purchased.

Finally, we decided we probably should head home. We were already going to be getting home later than what we had told our husbands.

Again, we wanted something we couldn't get here to eat for supper. We had seen a sign earlier for Chick-Fil-A. You know -- that wonderful chain of restaurants that exists primarily in the south. Wichita does have one, but it's on the Wichita State University campus -- not exactly convenient for us.

When filling up the car with gas, we managed to find somebody who could give us good directions to one. It was a bit out of our way, but we did it anyways.

Here's the lovely photo of myself in front of Chick-Fil-A.



We're both sooooo glad we went out of our way. It was just such a wonderful experience. The food was good! The service was fantastic. The employees were courteous. The restaurant was clean. One of the teenage employees even came out when we were through eating and took our trays for us. He then offered to refill our beverages -- which we definitely took him up on.

It was such a wondeful experience that I did get on the Chick-Fil-A website to compliment the staff.

By then, it was time to head home.

It was a fun trip to take even though we both would agree that we would have done anything to not have had to make the trip. We wish Lisa didn't have to endure cancer. We wish she wouldn't have had to be up in Kansas City for close to six weeks to undergo treatment.

Lately, it seems that God has really been laying on my heart that suffering is part of the Christian life. We always want life to be easy. Just because you are a Christian absolutely does NOT make you immune to suffering. I know that God's glory will ultimately shine through all of this cancer ordeal. Only God knows what the overall plan is for this....

Here's a verse that's been running through my mind so much lately. In fact, after returning home on Saturday evening, this was the verse I wrote in my journal. I also shared this verse this morning with my Tuesday morning Bible Study Group.

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. Romans 8:18-19