I got together with some of my fellow World Racers from the midwest, on Oct 27 & 28 in Chicago to hang out and go to an REI garage sale, where we got some fat deals! They just sell a bunch of returned stuff that’s either damaged or just used. I got a full size backpack for $65!!! it’s usually $195. I love deals!!!!!
- we hung out
- walked A BUNCH!
- ate at ed debevic’s, where they are intentionally rude to you.
- went to navy pier
- played on a beach
- watched ‘Over The Hedge’ at Stacy’s friends apt
- andrew and i ate at a himalayan restaurant where we had powdered milk balls
- emilie and i bought a meal for two homeless guys, and one asked us to pray for him
- jimmy talked to another homeless guy and paid for his bus fare
so yeah, it was short, but it was great! great to hang out in a different atmosphere and talk about the trip and have fun!
and it was really cool too, to talk to those homeless guys and buy them food. I remember back during this past summer sometime, I went to a Tigers game (with emilie and my friend John and his wife Carrie) and as we were walking back to our car, i saw a guy sitting on the curb with a cup for money, and i felt something inside tugging at me to go back and talk to him or something……I kept walking though. I now have to realize that I’m pretty sure that was God telling me to go talk to that man. And I failed.
But this time in Chicago, I turned back and talked to this guy. His name was Lester i’m pretty sure. I don’t remember all of what happened, but I asked him if he wanted some food, and he said sure. So we ended up going to a hot dog place. on the way there though, we saw another homeless guy sitting on the sidewalk. i was talking to lester, but emilie and i figured we might as well ask this guy if he wanted something to eat too. so she asked this other guy if he wanted some, and he kinda didn’t know what to do at first. He ended up coming. His name is Varnee. they both ordered some italian sausage things or something, we each talked to em for a bit while we waited for the food. and when we were parting ways, em and I were talking to varnee and somehow brought up The World Race and what it was, and he asked,
- “Are you guys Christians?”
- “Yeah.”
- “Would you pray for me?”
- “Absolutely.”
so we prayed, and it was great! and it’s funny, but probably 10 minutes maybe before we met lester, em and i were on the opposite side of the street walking, and we somehow noticed that hot dog place and just mentioned something about the name of it and kept going. and then we meet those guys, and that exact place was a perfect little cheap place to get them some food. God foreshadowed for us!
and it was cool, but i felt really at ease during that whole time. i felt good. and i’ve done a few mission trips and stuff, but not much volunteering type stuff at all. i mean it’s always been a little intimidating for me to go out and intentionally do stuff like that, like on a mission trip or something. But it almost felt easy and natural this time! and I’m quite sure that’s a really good thing! And i don’t mean this pridefully or anything, but for a second, as we were asking varnee if he wanted to come with us and get some food, i kinda felt like Jesus as he was going around and recruiting his disciples and telling them to just follow him. 🙂
but anyway…….HERE’S SOME PICTURES!!!!
emilie at the beach (i’ve known emilie for a few years now. we went to Spring Arbor together. I found out about this trip thru a mutual friend that told me emilie was doing this trip.)
andrew and erin at the beach. (andrew is on my small team, and erin is on the media team with me)
wuddya know, we’re walking! L-R: Stacy, Bri, Emilie and Andrew
Ed Debevic’s Andrew, Jimmy, Emilie
we’re small i know, but i thought the skyline was important too (i’m in the middle)
John Hancock Building (“John Hancock??…..It’s Herbie Hancock.”)
