Since the kids had Columbus Day off of school & my brother was flying home for a visit from California, the kids & I packed our bags & headed to the Chicago Suburbs to my parents’ house. Dwight had to stay behind for a Disc Golf Tournament, work, and to watch the dogs. Since the Chicago Marathon was going on that weekend, we decided to go to Brookfield Zoo instead of Lincoln Park Zoo. I love Brookfield anyway – it holds a lot of childhood memories for me! Anyway….my brother’s friend happened to have 6 FREE tickets, so off we went!

It was amazingly HOT for October in Chicago!! Low 80’s and very sunny! Not the best zoo weather, but it was still pretty crowded. My mom bought the kids their own disposable cameras & we had a great time seeing all the animals & taking pictures of them. The BEST part for me was Tropic World, where the gorillas are. I love the gorillas! They always crack me up! Usually it’s hard to get a good view of them because of the crowds, but my family & I found a good spot & started watching them. All of a sudden, one gorilla walked to the end of his “mountain” nearest to where we were standing, turned around, reached his hand behind himself, and proceeded to FILL his hand with poop!!! As if this weren’t funny & gross enough, people started fleeing upon thoughts of an ape flinging poo, but instead he turned back around & proceeded to EAT IT!!!! So gross!!!! You could hear the collective groan of 50 people when this happened. Of course the kids thought it was hilarious!!! And that is why the gorillas are my favorite animal at the zoo – they are the most entertaining for sure!

On Monday, we packed up & headed home a little bit early so Nick could go to his friend’s birthday party. Now usually, we make a pit stop at the halfway point between my parents’ house & mine, but this time Jess had fallen asleep & I wasn’t going to make the stop. But at the last minute, something made me take the exit anyway. When we got out of the car, I could hear a loud “whooshing” noise & Nick said it was coming from our car. I had blown a tire. (Actually, our front tires were pretty bald & we were gonna get new ones before Winter, but I guess they couldn’t wait.) Thankfully, Nick had that party or I would have been leaving after dark. Thankfully, something made me pull over or things could have been much worse! As it was, it was no fun being 1 hour away from my parents & from Dwight. I just wanted someone to rescue me & fix it all. So I called a tow truck & got towed to the station where they replaced both of my front tires. I am so thankful that God led me to pull over. I know He protected me from harm.  Earlier that day, I felt the Spirit tugging at me to do something uncomfortable. You see, my 87 yr. old Grandma is living with my parents because she isn’t doing very well & they are taking care of her. Well, she was complaining about how long her nails were (obscenely long) because she can’t cut them herself. My momdidn’t really want to cut them because it is her M-I-L, and she just felt weird about it, so she asked me & I initially said “no”. Then I felt the Spirit tugging at me. “Do this service for your Grandma.” “This is what taking care of the widows is about.” “You may not get another chance to see her again & this is an act of love.” Now I don’t really feel like I guilted myself into doing it, but I feel like I was responding to the Spirit’s voice. I may have made my Grandma happy, but I feel so good about listening & obeying the Spirit’s call too. And so maybe I was spared a worse fate by being open again to the Spirit’s voice. I just pray that I will be continually receptive to His will even when it is uncomfortable or inconvenient!