Everyone has embarrassing moments. They just happen, usually without warning. I had a moment like this not too long ago. I wouldn’t call it my most embarrassing moment ever, but it’s definitely up on the list! So it happened like this: Mom, Wesley, and I were on our road trip to Wisconsin, and we stopped at a McDonald’s restaurant to for a quick restroom break.

Now when taking road trips, we try to hit a McDonald’s for this type of stop because their bathrooms are typically cleaner. We had stopped at a different McDonald’s earlier that morning, so I knew the old routine. Walk to the entrance, past the ordering lines, past the tables of people eating, and – presto! – there are the restrooms! Ladies to the right, men to the left. Just as simple as that…or  so I thought.

Anyway, as we walked into this particular McDonald’s, I happened to be in the lead of our small group. As I walked along, I was contemplating some thought (I can’t even remember it now), and so I was walking mechanically towards the restrooms. I guess my mind remembered that in the McDonald’s we’d visited earlier that morning the ladies’ bathroom had been to the right, and so I walked into the bathrooms on the right. I tried a stall door, and it was locked.

Turning around, I took in a fuller view of the room, and then it hit me. I was in the men’s bathroom. Mom had just assumed that I was going into the right restroom, and so was right behind me. Wesley, however, realized the situation, and tried to warn us of our mistake. We hastily retreated out of the wrong restroom. To make matters worse, there were some elderly people sitting near the restrooms. They were “people watching” as they ate their breakfast, and had quietly observed the entire thing. I was stunned. But my dear Mom just laughed and laughed. Then I laughed too. Wesley said he could hear us laughing in the, ahem, correct bathroom.

Moral of the story: don’t ever assume that McDonald’s – or any –  bathrooms are the same. One simple glance to check whether those little stick figures on restroom doors are wearing a skirt doesn’t hurt anything, and it just might save you a most embarrassing moment ever. :)

Mom and I just got back from dropping Wesley off at a camp in Iowa. He is going to be a senior counselor there for the summer. I won’t see him for 8 weeks! :( BUT the trip up there was a fun one, and we enjoyed our time together. We first traveled through Illinois up to Wisconsin for my cousin’s graduation party. I learned how to drive on the interstate, and I really enjoyed it! Here are a few pictures from our time:

Mom and Wesley at a rest stop along the way.

Refilling our water bottles. :)

On our way up to Wisconsin, we stopped in Springfield, Illinois to visit Abraham Lincoln’s tomb. It was much bigger than I had expected!

The tomb’s interior.

This is where Lincoln is buried.

The rest of the cemetery was very impressive as well!

I love how the trees framed this picture!

I’m so glad we had the time to stop and see Lincoln’s tomb. It was a neat opportunity to have as we were passing through.

Next we headed on to Wisconsin. We stayed at my Uncle’s house for the night, and the next morning, Mom and I went on a run.

The gravel roads in Wisconsin. We actually ran on part of Mom’s high school track route!!!

Here is Mom in front of her high school! It was just like running down memory lane for her!

Later that morning, we went to help set up the graduation party.

Aren’t these chocolate “graduation caps” adorable!?! These were made with Rolos…

…and these were made with peanut butter cups!

The graduation cake.

Wesley and I played catch with our little cousins Maddie and Emma before the party began. I thought this was a sweet picture.

Congratulations on your graduation, Hannah!

During the party, we got to see much of our Olsen family. Here’s Wesley with our grandma. We enjoyed visiting with her! It was great to catch up a bit with family that we haven’t seen for a very long time!

Wesley and Hannah (at least in this one Hannah doesn’t have bunny ears!) :)

The next morning dawned bright and beautiful. Before we left, I took a few pictures of these lovely flowers.

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They were growing right outside my Uncle’s house.

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On the drive back down through Wisconsin, we enjoyed the beautiful countryside scenery of northern Wisconsin. At Wesley’s camp, we got him moved in and situated. It was very sad saying goodbye to him, but I’m grateful that he has this opportunity. I hope it blesses him and the many little campers he’ll be taking care of! :) We’re going to miss you, Wesley!

That night, Mom and I stayed with Mom’s cousin, Heather, and Heather’s husband, Josh. It was great to see them! We enjoyed a delicious dinner and visiting.

Scooter, Heather’s cat, graciously let us sleep in her room during our stay. :) :)

Some parting pictures with Heather. Thank you, Heather and Josh, for your hospitality!

The drive home was one of my (many) highlights! Mom and I had a sweet date. We first hit the Trader Joe’s in Des Moines before heading home. Because there’s not one where we live, it was a treat to go shopping there! We bought some popcorn and an organic dark chocolate bar to split on the way home. I drove most of the way home. Mom and I decided that when I drive, it’s mutually beneficial to us because it keeps me alert and gives me practice, and it keeps Mom very alert, too, as she supervises my driving! :)

We arrived home that evening to find a very tidy house, a nice dinner, and a surprise of homemade black raspberry jam that the guys had made in our absence. It was delicious, and quite a surprise to Mom and I!

So that concludes the account of our recent northern travels. I hope and pray that Wesley has a great summer at camp. In the meantime, we’ll be praying for him and his safe return!

Have a wonderful Thursday!

This excerpt is from Charles Spurgeon’s devotional Morning and Evening. It is an excellent book. Daddy read this particular devotion out loud last night, and it was an encouragement to all of us. It is about trusting God’s sovereign plan for our lives and resisting the temptation to worry and be anxious about the future. Please read though this, and it’s my prayer that you will be blessed and encouraged in your walk with the Lord.

“Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you.” – Psalm 55:22

Care, even when addressed to legitimate matters, if it is carried to excess, has in it the nature of sin. Again and again Jesus exhorted His followers to avoid anxious care. The apostles reiterated the call; and is one that cannot be neglected without involving transgression: For the very essence of anxious care is imagining that we are wiser than God and putting ourselves in His place as if we could do for Him what He has undertaken to do for us. We attempt to think of things that we imagine Him forgetting; we work to take upon ourselves a heavy burden, as if He were unable or unwilling to take it for us. Now this disobedience to His plain precept, this unbelief in His Word, this presumption that intrudes upon His province, is all sinful. But more than this, anxious care often leads to acts of sin. If we cannot calmly leave our affairs in God’s hand but attempt to carry our own burden, we will be tempted to use wrong means to help ourselves. This sin leads to a forsaking of God as our counselor and resorting instead to human wisdom. This is going to the broken well instead of to the fountain, as sin of with Israel was guilty in the past. Anxiety makes us doubt God’s loving-kindness, and so our love to Him grows cold; we feel mistrust, and in this we grieve the Spirit of God, so that our prayers are hindered, our consistent example spoiled, and our life one of self-seeking. Such lack of confidence in God leads us to wander far from Him; but if through simple faith in His promise we cast each burden as it comes upon Him and are “not…anxious about anything” because He undertakes to care for us, it will keep us close to Him and strengthen us against temptation.

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”
~Isaiah 26:1