The Fence

A little over a week ago, I had the opportunity and privilege to bike the Green Bay Trail out on the North Shore for the 1st time. What a nice, smooth, flat trail! As I was driving home exhausted from the 20 miles of steady biking, God used an event to help illustrate some important truths...

We were on our way back, just turned our bikes around heading back through Highland Park. As we approached Highland Park High School, my brother Dan started to croon out a version of “Doe a deer” which I had never heard before. The lyrics were quite unique to say the least and I believe the origins of the song were circa “The Simpsons.” As I was trying to embrace the brilliance of the epic lyrics of the song, I didn’t realize my bike was headed for a narrow, yet deep groove in the pavement. My bike connected with the groove, I got stuck in it, and ended up falling to my left and into a fence...

Sometimes we ride along on our walk with Jesus on “auto-pilot.” When the apostle Paul said in Ephesians 6:14 “Stand” he truly was urging the church in Ephesus to stand guard and put on the whole armor of God. We may have received victory over a sin area in our life, but does that mean we can put ourselves on auto-pilot, not watching for the distractions around us and the deep, narrow, groove of temptation to fall back into sin on the path we are riding on. When we don’t stand we are more likely to fall into things, situations, that we shouldn’t be in. We get caught off guard sometimes, taken by surprise, because we are so use to just pedaling along without a care in the world. When really, we need to keep vigilant and keep our spiritual eyes open, knowing God’s Word and standing firm upon it.

As I looked back on falling into the fence, I thought of Jesus. Like he was catching me so I wouldn’t completely fall off of my bike and spill out onto the road. Do you know what I’m talking about? Has Jesus every been there for you when you were tempted, tried, ready to fall flat on your face? He is there experiencing it all with us and trying to help us get back on the right track, out of the groove we got ourselves into.

There is a song called “Jesus Be a Fence” by the popular gospel artist, Fred Hammond. “Jesus be a fence all around me everyday. Jesus I want you to protect me as I travel along the way. I know you can, I know you will, fight my battles if I just keep still. Lord be a fence all around me everyday.”

I didn’t escape the fall without a couple black and blue marks on my knees and right hand. I don’t always completely escape my fleshly desires and my sinful nature gets the best of me...this results in the black and blue marks of consequences for my actions. And those black and blue marks don’t go away right away! Sometimes it takes a long time to heal and every time you look at those marks, you are reminded of how you fell. We need to be reminded sometimes so we can learn and grow in our walk with Christ. Our God is so gracious and merciful! We can come to Him, black and blue, and in His humble kindness, He listens to a sinners heart and chooses to forgive them. He listens to our cries and comforts us, bringing us peace. He is love!

And so I looked again at the bruise today and thought, thank you God. Thank you for allowing me to experience the fall so that I could know how much you love me. This bruise will not last forever, but for now, it’s a sweet reminder of an Awesome God.

20 miles of faith-driven running

Prelude: Isaiah 43:7 says- "everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made." I was brought to tears about a week ago as I read this very verse in the context of the Beth Moore study, "Breaking Free." What does being created for God's glory mean? God's glory has 2 awesome truths. One is God wants to make Himself recognizable to us and number two, God wants to make Himself recognizable through us. Then I was hit with 1 Corinthians 10:31 "so whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God." Seeing those two verses back to back had such an impact on me and the weight of God's truth was written deep within my soul as I prepared for the 20 mile run, the longest run of the Honolulu Marathon training.
Why: A lot of people have asked me why I'm doing this. Why am I running a marathon. Something I've never ever could fathom I could do. Is it for health? Not really. I'm a member of Lifetime Fitness and can get on an elliptical 5 times a week and take it easy on the joints or just train simply for a 5k. Why put my body through such immense amount of discipline and stress for an end result which could be achieved by simpler methods? Am I doing this just to say "I've run a marathon"? Nope. I think I've done enough crazy things...jumping out of a plane, interning with the Porter County Sheriff's department, tee peeing houses, etc. to just say that "I've done this."
Background: I'll have to retrace my steps from when I first got involved in running in order to fully explain the phenomenon that is taking place in my life. I started running back in 2004 with a small group of friends from Harvest Bible Chapel. My roommate at the time, Kim and a girl from our small group, Lisa and I had never ran any type of organized race in our lives. We decided to train together for our first 5k. Depending on how long you've known me, especially those from the college days and prior, you probably don't think of the word "athlete" and the name "Ramona" being in the same sentence unless you're talking about someone who is an athletic supporter. Unlike music, the arts, shopping, and gabbing, God has not gifted me in the athletic department. The closest thing to me being compared to an athlete would be through dancing and even that is probably questionable. I am very unable to venture into the land of running without any type of help.
God's help: I'm always blessed and humbled to have experienced some tough times in my life. God has prompted and lead me to do things I had no ability to do. 2 Cor 12: 9-10 "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." It is such an awesome thing to surrender your inabilities to God and let Him work through you to use you in a way you never thought you could be used. It's during these times I have the opportunity to clearly see God at work. There is no way I've been able to run even a block without God's strength and motivation. Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through him who gives me strength."
Surrender: Goodness. I've had to give up my agenda in order to train for this. But bigger than that, is my pride and what I want out of this. I can be competitive. I want to perfect my technique. I want to be fast. I want to run this marathon in a certain time. I then realized that the time I need to invest in the training for the things I want out of this journey are not important and fall short of what I need in order to finish the race. I realized that I must be disciplined in spending time with God first before I head out to run. I can't expect to have enough fuel to go more than 2 blocks before I poop out if I haven't been fed a serving of God's word. It was definitely a struggle to let go of the days I would reach Lake Arlington and know that I had yet to have time with God prior to my arrival. And so, I traded the physical training for spiritual training first. 1 Timothy 4: 8 "train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." I trusted God that even if I missed a day of running, that He would be faithful to give me strength and endurance for the next run as long as I had committed myself to spending time with him first. Let me tell you, He has! The 20 miles came after 5 days of resting in the Lord.
Metaphor: My walk with the Lord is very similar to what I've experienced through my days of running. It requires training. It requires discipline. It requires surrender. It requires obedience. It requires humility. It requires patience. It requires trust. It requires faith. Hebrews 12: 1-2 "let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before him endured the cross scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Why Part 2: I want God to be recognized through this. Soli Deo Gloria- to God alone be the glory! He deserves all the recognition for this. He should be awarded the medal.
Conclusion: The 20 mile run was amazing! Something I never experienced physically coupled with the most awesomest time of worship. I am grateful that the Lord has blessed me with SoHee and Stacey to run with, keeping each other encouraged through out the whole run. We sang worship songs the entire 2nd half of the run. With my hands lifted in the air, we ascribed to the Lord the glory and honor due to his name alone and sang the "Revelation Song." I was definitely on a runners high, praise God. Singing his promises and about his attributes helped me finish the run. I could sense his presence surround us so strongly. God is sooo good!
Thank you God, thank you!

The Chicago 1/2...Marathon or Monsoon?

Here is how yesterday’s Chicago ½ Marathon went…

It was raining like a banshee yesterday…no surprise. I was wondering if I was going to swim 13.1 miles instead! I should have borrowed Michelle Thomas's inflatable kayak:) There was a very steady flow of rain and it got stronger as the day continued…

I woke up to my cell phone alarm clock singing "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns and Roses at about 5am. Why 5am? That's a bit early and after going to an awesome Lilly Goodman/Jesus Adrian Romero concert the night before, I wanted to wake up, sing and play my guitar instead of run. Tired from intaking 4 hours of sleep, I rolled out of bed and began to get ready for the race. My fabulous spectator friends, Julie and Jeffery and I left en route to a Starbucks at 5:40am to meet up with runner Stacey and spectator Kenny. Unfortunately, we ran into a road closure at Dempster on the way but were able to get back on track through guidance from a GPS and detour signs. After meeting up with Kenny and Stacey at a Starbucks in Skokie, we decided to condense cars and all piled into Jeffery's truck like one, big, happy family. The Edens expressway was very clear, praise God, and we didn't run into any other road closures due to flooding. Now keep in mind while all this is happening, it continues to rain and rain and rain. We arrived in Chicago at about 6:30am near the exit ramp for the Science and Industry Museum.
After the car was sitting in a line waiting to get off the ramp for 5-10 mins, Stacey and I jumped out of the car and begin to walk a mile to the start line. Because we both drank loads of water, coffee, and I had one of the 5 hours of energy drinks...we needed to pee like banshees! It didn't help our situation that it was still raining. On the way to the start, we stopped at the closest group of port-o-potties and waited in a long line of about 10 people deep. I think at 7:15am we had just reached the front of the line. By about 7:20am we were back on our way towards the start line, walking when we finally heard the National Anthem begin to play….Eeek! Where is the start gate? Even though we were under pressure to find the start line, we still made sure to give props to God and say a prayer as we continued on our way. Eventually, we found the start "mob" and began walking to the back of the pack. At this time, we probably only got a 2 min stretch before we started. Not good:( We needed more stretch time! The start gun finally was shot and the mob of runners began to shuffle towards the start little by little. It took us 11 mins to cross the start! The rain continues...It was very encouraging to see familiar faces cheering us on after mile 2 like Julie, Jeffery, Kenny and then at mile 4, the one, the only, Cari Grobart. She even managed to take a little cell action phone pic! There were lots of spectators with cowbells….but not enough. We needed MORE cowbell! Bruce Dickinson said it best..."I have a fever and the only prescription for it was MORE cowbell!" For some reason, the cowbell became a very motivational thing to the Stacey and I. We even discussed next year's 1/2 marathon t-shirts to have a "cow" theme. We will give our artist in resident friends like Brad or Jody the opportunity to design the most cutting edge, performance enhanced, running dri-fit T-shirt this side of Lake Michigan has ever seen! Stacey's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets with the golden arches of McDonald's in sight. We almost stopped at the "run through" window:) Did you know that the rain is still pouring down from the heavens at this point:) It hasn't stopped. The first 5-6 miles were fast. We maybe even shot out some 10min splits (that’s fast for me). Delirium is starting to set in and I begin to think of songs about rain and attempt to sing a few..."I'm singing in the rain...don't rain on my parade!" And can you believe that there were still loads of photographers with their trash bagged cameras out snagging photos of our insanity! We made sure to give them our best running poses:) Then the blisters from the water logged shoes began to grow. The effects of not stretching were also starting to kick in. At mile 7, I noticed a soap bubble on my hand. Then I took a look at my black shirt. The laundry detergent wasn’t completely rinsed out of the shirt I was wearing! I guess you can say I was multi-tasking...taking bath and running at the same time:) At least I smelled nice:) Stacey is still hungry as was wondering why they don't add food stations to the race in addition to the water/Gatorade stations. Cheeseburgers at mile 4.3, pizza at 6.7...The rain starts getting even more intense...Past mile 8, we took a 1 min stretch break, same with after mile 9 and 10. Otherwise, we “ran” the whole thing. 3 hrs of fun! I was so happy to see the mile 12 sign, I almost passed out! Then when we turned the corner and saw the finish line, we started to "sprint." We definitely looked like champs for the cameras:) At this point, I was on a mission to get my participants medal and get the heck outta there! All Stacey wanted to do was eat and all I wanted to do was vomit. We lost our spectators so we decided to hang out at the lost persons tent until they found us. Luckily, we wrote Kenny's cell number on the back of our race bibs in the "in case of emergency" section. So after borrowing someones phone, we were able to locate Kenny and he was able to provide us with an umbrella lead us to the car. Stacey and I did not take any effort to avoid mud puddles or ankle deep water. Our bodies couldn't handle the abrupt change in direction like Kenny could. Soaked to the bone, pruned hands, and a soapy outfit we had to walk another mile to the car after race. Our total mileage yesterday was at least 15+miles!

Conclusion, can I blame it on the rain?...nope! It was easier to run the ½ marathon in the rain (Chicago 1/2 marathon) than 90 degrees of heat with hills (North Shore ½ marathon), but stretching is essential! Very sore today.

A HUGE praise to God for keeping us protected and providing the strength and endurance we needed to finish the race.

Major round of applause and thanks goes out to our spectators, Julie, Jeffery, and Kenny for waking up early on little to no sleep and standing out in the rain to support Stacey and I!

Big hug and thank you to Stacey for sticking with me the whole time and being an encouragement. Can't wait for the t-shirts and to initiate the new- 1/2 marathoners:)

Less than 13 weeks until I run 26.2 miles in Honolulu! December 14th, 2008

Reflections on the Racetrack

"I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.
One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.
On the glorious splendor of your majesty and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness."

Psalm 145: 1-6

Soli Deo Gloria! To God alone be the glory and honor for all that He has done this summer at the Arlingon Park Racetrack!

Today, as I was at Harvest Bible Chapel Elgin preparing my heart to begin the next season of ESL ministry, the presence of the Lord surrounded me as I worshiped his name and gave thanks to a fruitful summer of His ministry at the racetrack. God has really taken my heart captive with such a burden to care for those who lack the ability to communicate through English. I was sharing my testimony with the new ESL volunteers today, telling them how this was not something I ever planned I would be doing. But, God's word says in Psalm 37: 4 "Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart." This ministry was the Lord's desire for me and has through my obedience to his calling, also has become my desire.

This summer, the Lord specifically challenged me to grow in the area of prayer. I remember walking spending time on car rides on the way to work praying for students to grow in their knowledge of English and for seeds of the powerful message of the gospel to be planted deep with in their hearts. I remember asking the Lord for his protection for the children living on the racetrack. I remember asking God to grow the relationships between our volunteers and students and that the love of Christ would be so strongly expressed. God answers prayers! He answered those and so many more! He is the faithful One! God gave us all a blessing at graduation when he became so real to 5 students, 1 husband of a student, and 1 friend of a student who all prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior!

Galatians 6:9 says "Do not grow weary in doing good for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
There was a harvest at the racetrack this summer!

Below are some of the testimonies from our volunteers. Please be encouraged dear servants of the Lord and when your feeling weary, call apon God for his strength. It will sustain you! His word will fuel you! There is plenty of work he has got us to do and he is faithful to equip us with what is needed to complete his tasks:)

June 6, 2008- Volunteer Testimony

"Last night God allowed Marisol and I have have a conversation about the Lord! I got to share my testimony with her and she asked me which "religion" I was. I told her I'm a follower of Jesus and she asked if I was evangelical. I told her yes, then she told me about how the evangelicals in Venezuela only wear skirts, no make-up and no jewelry. She was asking why they do that and I don't. I told her that although the Bible says not to let your beauty be found in those things, the greatest command is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. So I told her that if I treasure make-up, jewelry, etc in my heart then I shouldn't wear them because they get in the way of my love for God, but if my heart is right before God and if Jesus is my treasure then what I wear on the outside doesn't change that, as long as it honors God. While I was sharing some of this with her I saw Yolanda behind her listening in. It was great to be able to share with her. Then at the end of our class we asked if anyone would pray and Marisol said she would. She was brought to tears while praying. Let's continue to lift her up to the King! Praise God!"

July 3, 2008- Volunteer Testimony

"Usually when it's prayer time, our group is pretty quiet and shy. One week , with some coaxing, Marisol volunteered to pray. She prayed with a sincere and tearful heart. We were all blessed. This past week, to our surprise, 3 of our students prayed.! It was so encouraging to hear their hearts and see the comfort they are beginning to have with one another in such a short time. God's presence is clearly at Arlington. It is such a delight to see the growth and watch Him work each week! Our students are eager to learn English but also , deep down inside, eager to talk about God! Tuesday nights leave my heart filled for the whole week! God is reminding me of the great JOY there is in putting aside myself and serving Him."

August 12, 2008- Volunteer Testimony

"Last week, we saw the return of a student, Raymundo, who we haven’t seen in a couple weeks. Praise God! And group 4 had no students at 7:15 on Tuesday so we started to pray, asking God to provide and then group 4 tutors called their students. God was faithful and 2 of their students came to class!"

August 29, 2008

Message to the Racetrack Tutors from me:)
"What a harvest we saw on the track this summer! I praise God for each one of you for your sharing the love of Christ with your students, for sacrificing your time, for devoting yourselves and remaining obedient to what God has called you to do. We witnessed 7 people (5 students, 1 husband, and 1 friend) commit their lives to Christ! We saw many students become comfortable with stepping out and taking risks to learn our complex language. We watched students smile, laugh, and heard their sincere prayer requests in which we fervently prayed for. Those students LOVE you! Goodness, I heard from probably ALL of them…see you next year! This isn't the end. God will continue to use you in a mighty way! Thank you Thank you Thank you! God has been sooo good to us! Let us proclaim his mighty works boldly and give glory and honor to Him today!"

September 5, 2008- Volunteer Testimony

"As I look back on these past few months, I can say with all sincerity that serving at the Race Track with Harvest was the highlight of my summer! Week after week, going to Arlington on Tuesday nights was one blessing after another! The students we had the privilege of working with were great! They had eager spirits, an enthusiastic desire to learn and even more, they were open to hearing God's Word. God had clearly gone before us and prepared their hearts. The students were very attentive, faithful in attendance and faithful in doing the homework. Each one being unique in their own way, brought something different to class. We laughed together, worked hard and even shared a few tears together. God helped me to put aside myself and rediscover the joy there is in serving others and especially serving others for the advancement of His Kingdom. Without a doubt the culmination of this wonderful experience came on Graduation Night! I was extremely impressed by the effort put out by Harvest Bible Chapel to make our students feel welcomed , loved and appreciated. They were honored and God was pleased. On that night when 7 people stood to make professions of faith, including 2 of my own, my heart was full and my joy was complete. To God be the Glory! "

Ramona's ThornhillFest 2008 Awards/Superlatives

These are in no particular order. Hope you enjoy! I may continue to add to the list during the week or if anyone has any additions they would like me to consider, please let me know!

-Most excited newcomer to ThornhillFest: Marina Wang
-Best grilling: Greg Swanson
-Best Cubs outfit: Sophia Swanson and Josiah Gresziak
-Best version of Tom Akert: Eric Wang
-2nd Best version of of Tom Akert: Tom Akert
-Best version of the Umbrella song: Todd Ackland
-Most mellow attendee: Karen "mello yello" Featheringill
-Best pink hat: Lydia Revoredo
-Best attempt at impersonating Ramona: Tony Halaby
-Best Pee Wee Herman dance: Eric Wang
-Best new fragrance development: Minervino sisters
-Most likely to haul butt for perfect attendance: Dot Kee
-Best gift to the Thornhills: Mariam Ingersoll with bag of wrigley gum
-Most likely to be on the next Dancing with the Stars: John Dewane
-Most likely to run away from the mariachis: Stephanie Minervino
-Best negotiator: Christina Minervino
-Greedy award: The mosquitoes for taking a lot of our blood!
-Outreach award: Andrew and Eric for delivering food to various police departments
-Best impersonation of a Skeksi: Patrick Gagnon (see the movie the Dark Crystal)
-Most likely to date a gelfling: Patrick Gagnon (see the movie the Dark Crystal)
-Best food: Indian night
-Most likely to wear the new fragrance "Absolutely Ramona": Eric Wang
-Most likely to buy their husband a camera: Anne Panicker
-Best cabana boy: Jason Holvay
-Best dance with the mariachis: Cori Lee Bouska
-Best dressed: Anne Panicker and Pyary Sebastian
-Sweatiest award: sweaty dude from the Funkadesi band
-Best random connection: Patrick Gagnon and Funkadesi guitarist
-Most likely to do a ThornhillFest illustration: Jody Nilsen
-Best stayin' up late couple: Nick and Becky Erdmann
-Most likely not to steal Patrick's wallet: Joe Panicker
-Most missed at ThornhillFest: Nancy Kuo and Heather Kidd
-Lookin' good award: Julie Kresl
-Best competitive swing dance award: Todd Ackland and Julie Notariano
-Best game in the pool: Thornhill Ball
-Best runway walk: Todd Ackland
-Tightest ThornhillFest t-shirt award: Todd Ackland
-Best new food debuted ThornhillFest: Barbie pop-tarts
-Most likely to have small group at ThornhillFest: Jennine Barnett-Gibbons
-Most likely to talk about sororities at Valpo at ThornhillFest: Sue and Ramona
-Most likely to not see the sign and use the indoor bathroom: Brad Michalak
-Best formal attire: Jason AB's suit and Andrew's white tux
-Best delay in relocation: Charlie Bohm
-Most likely to leave something behind: Julie Notariano
-Best salsa dancer: Jeremy Frazier and Christina Minervino
-Best salsa/swing fusion dancer: Todd Ackland
-Most likely to regift their perfect attendance award: Tom Akert
-Most likely to be a future Thornhill: Mariam Ingersoll
-Heather Ahn award goes to...HEATHER AHN!

ThornhillFest 2008 Day 7

Our last day of ThornhillFest 2008 will go down in ThornhillFest history as one of the best closing nights ever! I woke up at around 10am to finishing the Day 6 blog and to get ready for a reunion picnic of old Yammers (young adult ministry prior to 2007) before heading out to Barrington. I wasn't the first to arrive, but apparently, Julie Notariano arrived at 3pm and was there for 15 minutes. Did anyone recall seeing her? The things we do to get perfect attendance at ThornhillFest...Upon a very warm welcome from Thornhill family, Andrew and I quickly debriefed the list of recipients for the perfect attendance award. First time appearances were made by Jeremy Frazier, Christina Trina, and Lisa Wells. The food consisted of little Latin fusion finger food. The guacamole was very yummy. There were 3 different flavors of Jamba Juice for Fest guests to slurp on. Mariam presented a plethora of Wrigley gum to Andrew which was enthusiastically accepted. Tony and I talked about our marathon training schedules and how they had been affected by ThornhillFest. I plan on running the Honolulu Marathon in December, Lord willing. We discussed our training methods of which I rely on Hal Higdon for. Tony and Andrew had a little Russian chat time and we all found out that the Romanian language has more of an Italian sound. Al had been working on his croquet skills earlier. I think he may be able to school Julie and Nick if they show up. Marc and Katie returned with Lydia Revoredo who was sportin' a pretty pink hat. The Swanson's also returned with their sweet daughter Sophia. In 2007, we ended with a bang as Christina Minervino rushed to find us the perfect mariachi band. Ending still with a little Latin flair, Island Dreams played salsa and cha cha music with a little hint of the Caribbean. Love the sound of the steel drums! They played a nice little bossa nova version of the "Girl from Ipamena." After that song, the MEGA dance party began! First to hit the grass covered dance floor were Jeremy Frazier and I. Soon to follow were Christina Minervino, Julissa Torres, and Tony Halaby. And let's not forget about John Dewane! He is definitely our most improved dancer who picks up dance moves by relating it to martial arts. Whatever works! I once taught a 7 ft guy how to do the merengue and told him to think of it as if he was dribbling a basketball. It worked! Only at ThornhillFest would there be so many handsome, young men to dance with. Todd Ackland got into the swing of things by dancing with salsa/swing fusion moves with both Heather Ahn, Jody Nilsen, and Karen Featheringill. Love that Karen, she is hardcore. The band was only suppose to play until 10pm but their set was extended until 11pm! More first time appearances were made by the Gresziak's, Aaron Wardrip, Kim and Jamil Webster, Shaun Polk, John Hodel, Tara Brooks, Dan Blaufus, Amy Weiner, and Ziggy Ziegenbein. Stephanie Minervino and I gave one last tribute to "the captain." Brad introduced me to some cool peeps from Harvest Elgin and Josh Dresser is now my new Facebook friend. Josh's got a rockin' profile pic! Everyone's attention was on Andrew as he began to give out the very thoughtfull perfect attendance awards for Thornhillfest 2008. Some of those who made the list were Karen, Christina, Margie and Mariam. Is Mariam destined to be a future Thornhill? Then the double duty 2 year 14 day perfect attendance awards were given. Julie received some kind of money kit, Tom received a 3 piece collection of different Catholic saints, Patrick received James Earl Jones recites the bible on CD and I received the most awesomest thing only true Jedi knights would be jealous of...a lightsaber! This was soooo much better than the Oscars:) Jody brought some animal guests named Sasha and Harley. I gave a recap of the week to John and Shaun as best as I could and knew they were wondering what kept them from coming earlier that week. We were reminded that Karen likes to drink Mello Yello and in return, I serenaded her with the song of that same name. Pyary has begun to plan Sebastian Fest which will be a direct cousin of ThornhillFest. HEATHER AHN! There I said it. Have to mention her name at least once in the blog. HEATHER AHN! Ha, I said it again:) Tom Akert posed for a pic with his "saints" and hopefully we won't see him burying St. Joe anytime soon. Jason AB and Julie exchanged a memo and arrived to ThornhillFest in formal attire. Dot, who was at another NASCAR race, hauled it to ThornhillFest and made it by 11:59pm to collect on her perfect attendance award. Somehow, we didn't keep track of Eric's attendance. Buffalo Gove and Rolling Meadows High School were represented. Brad finally saw the sign for the bathroom. He is not 100% Japanese as some of you may have believed but, Eric Wang is definitely 100% MexicAsian. At nights end, there was a consipracy to throw Andrew in the pool, Patrick was "on fire" and a School of Rock hardcore performance was given. You know you're not hardcore, unless you live hardcore...ain't that right Andrew? As we were cleaning up, I was thinking about the detoxing I will be doing and the mileage I will be running to get back on track with marathon training. The last of the Fest attendees excited the Thornhill Barrington manor close to 3am. All that experienced ThornhillFest took away memories of a time they will never forget. Many of us came and reunited with old friends. Several of us were introduced and made new friends. Some of us received so many mosquito bites that next year we might consider wearing a Hazmat jumpsuit. Only a few stayed up way past midnight...daily. But no matter what your experience was, I'm sure it was an experience worth having. Thank you all for reading this blog! Your enthusiasm helped motivate me to write at the wee hours of the morning. I hope that I have captured this year's Fest in a way that you will remember always. To the amazing Thornhill family, I thank you immensely for your friendship which has been such a blessing to me over the past few years. I will continue to keep all of you in my prayers and hope that the Lord will continue to place opportunities for us to cherish in the future as we continue to walk in His ways.

ThornhillFest 2008 Day 6

Twas the second to the last day of ThornhillFest and what a night was! You know its a great party when the official end time was 3:30am! You'll have to excuse the Erdmann's, Jody, Patrick, me, and Andrew if we are a little "zombie-like" today from the lack of sleep. I arrived in Barrington at about 9:30pm following a trip to Joliet and the Chicagoland Speedway to watch a NASCAR race. On my way to Barrington, I dropped by Harvest Bible Chapel to scoop up my best friend, Mari and her sister Sofie and escorted them to the Fest. I was soooo excited that they came with because I had been talking about ThornhillFest since 2007 to them and I really wanted them to experience it this time around. I've known Mari since 2nd grade and her younger sister Sofie since kindergarten. We all grew up in Rolling "Ghettos" (Meadows) together. Upon our arrival, we were warmly welcomed by Andrew and the group sitting with the Panicker's. I hear that Anne is going to keep the Cannon Rebel on her list of future gifts for Joe. To our dismay, we didn't get to sample the wood fired pizza, but the pasta salad and mostacolli mixed with Greg Swanson style hot dogs and hamburgers made an excellent substitute. The pizza barely made it to the right location and was originally dropped off across the street. The Spares played a great set early on in the evening. Please keep lead singer, Jody, in your prayers as she left early to visit her dad who is not doing too well. We certainly appreciated her commitment in coming and want to support her and bless her and her family through prayer. There was swimming in the pool and the mosquitoes continued to feast. I just love being a blood donor! A couple guys from Ben and Jerry's ice cream came to serve up a delicious treat at the Fest and our favorite waiter/caterer was back, serving like a banshee. Does that guy get a ThornhillFest award? The on switch was flipped and the cotton candy machine began to mix up some delicious pink and blue candy cone creations. I was a little nervous when I saw surgery being performed on the machine. A first time visit to ThornhillFest 2008 was made by Brian, Rocio, and Andrew Coons. At about 11:45 I receive a call from Mariam and Margie who were walking up the driveway. Just moments later, Dot showed up after driving NASCAR style to get there! And why are they so ambitious to bust a move to make it to ThornhillFest before midnight? No, they are not turning into pumpkins. Something worse. Their perfect attendance score is on the line! Speaking of perfect attendance, Julie (who returned post 80s party), and I began to compile the perfect attendance list which had about 14 names on it! That's 10 more that last year! And 4 of those 14 will have had perfect attendance for 2 years in a row!!! Jody also came back to the Fest post attending the competing 80s party. Last year it was the Garman's who threw a competing party during the Fest. It's bound to happen again year after year until we start having our friends sign contracts not to throw other parties during ThornhillFest. Andrew brought out some lovely homemade ThornhillFest cupcakes for us to sample. Patrick acted out a scene from the movie "Expelled." At night's end, conversations were had about marriage, dating, and a revisit to snooping/booby trapping topic. We were having such a great time, I don't think we knew that it was so late! We are almost at the end of ThornhillFest so let's make sure that Saturday night goes out with a bang!