Our family took a road trip this past weekend to Summum, Illinois, so that Todd could preach his very first sermon in a little country church there. One of Todd's friend's dad is the pastor and so graciously allowed Todd to fill in for him so that Todd could gain some preaching practice. He did a great job, and we are so proud of him!
We decided to make an adventure out of the excursion and drove during nap time on Saturday to the home of Western Illinois University: Macomb, Illinois. If you're wondering why we didn't spend the night in Summum, well....let's just say that Summum is small. Very small. Like Strang, for all you Geneva folk. Macomb is like York.
We arrived as nap time was ending and checked into our hotel. I love staying at hotels, even ones that verge on just the right side of seedy. It must have been Girls State Softball somewhere close by because there were a whole bunch of softball girls staying at the hotel with us. What great memories that brought back! Oh, the nostalgia.....
After we got ourselves situated, we headed over to the park located right across from where we were staying. This park was classic - straight out of my childhood at Geneva Elementary School. I didn't even know there were still parks around with metal playground equipment!
The girls had a good time checking everything out, although most of the stuff, with the exception of the swings, was a little out of their range:
On the way out of the park, the girls inspected the flowerbeds:
Iris, our little flower girl, thought they were great!
From the park, we headed down to main street Macomb for some supper at Pagliai's Pizza:
One of the quaint things about Illinois towns, we discovered, is that many of them have well-preserved town squares. We had lots of fun strolling about peeking into the unique variety of shops and enjoying the nice (cooler!) evening.
We finished up our prowl by letting the girls explore the interesting sculptural playground in the square:
We finished up our prowl by letting the girls explore the interesting sculptural playground in the square:
On Sunday, we headed over to Summum so that Todd could preach. Like I said earlier, he did fantastic! Everyone at the church welcomed us heartily and was so friendly. Todd couldn't have hoped for a better first experience!
We had a good time driving around and seeing what that part of Illinois had to offer - which was mainly cornfields (a lot!) and small towns. We felt right at home...
We had a good time driving around and seeing what that part of Illinois had to offer - which was mainly cornfields (a lot!) and small towns. We felt right at home...
9 comments:
The original Pagliai's was originated in Charleston, Illinois where Justin is from! It's one of our must-haves when we go back there.
Congrats to Todd! I bet you are all so proud of him.
that is SOO great!!! i'm not one bit surprised that todd did awesome!!!... macomb is (sort of) in the area of where i grew up (in iowa). i know several people who went WIU. i'm SO glad you guys had fun!! way to go, todd!! we're proud of you too!! meghan, you're an AWESOME preacher's wife:)
It looks like you guys had a great time. I can't wait to hear more about it. We knew Todd had it in him!
What a great "first time". My grandpa's a retired pastor, and I always love hearing him preach! It really looks like you all enjoyed yourselves! I always like getting away for the weekend, even if there's business involved.
Oh Todd- we are sooo proud of you! I wish we could have been in the audience to support you. What an incredible start to this new journey you are heading out on. I love that you had such a wonderful time in the small towns (I, too, love the 'quaintness' that borders on seedy in some hotels). You'll always be able to look back at this weekend as the beginning. I'm so, so proud of you both. Really, I can't tell you enough how proud and I hope you know how much we love you both and pray for this chapter of your lives. *sniff* I'm getting a little teary, so I'll be done.
How exciting for your husband! I love small towns.. I grew up in a very small town ...the "small town feel" is something that you can not even describe to someone! The pictures of your girls by the flower beds are classic! Your kiddos are adorable!
Congratulations Todd and Meghan
on Todd's first sermon! Wish
we could have been there. I'm
sure you did a super job. I was
impressed just sitting in on your
Bible study class last summer.
What a great adventure that must
have been for the whole family
just visiting the different towns.
Vicki- Todd posted his sermon on his Mindbloggler website if you're interested in hearing him preach!
Thanks Meghan. I will certainly
listen to it. We are very proud
of Todd.
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