My Visit to Pekin, Illinois

Did I ever mention I got a new 2012 Ford Focus?  I never dreamed I'd say I'd drive a Focus, but the new design is amazing!  I got to really put the car to the test over the weekend, driving over 400 miles!

My cousin, Garrand C, had got in touch with me a while back about their church wanting to host a Youth Revival, and I got to talk to his pastor, Randy G, about the plans; Saturday night concert, and message on Sunday morning.  This was going to be a great opportunity to not only connect with more people God was putting in my path to meet, but to reconnect with family as well!

I was invited to come up one day early for a hockey game in Peoria, so I made the trip up to Pekin on Friday.  Back up for a second....Before leaving town I decided to stop at Fairview Heights' new Wendy's.  I had about a half an hour before I really had to be on the road, so it was going to be a time where I could eat in and relax before the long drive.  I was second in line! YES!  I order my 1/2 pound double Baconater combo meal, plain....and wait....it is interesting to watch as the next three FAMILIES get their food before me.  Meanwhile, the workers behind the counter keep glancing at me like, "what is he still doing here?" 

Finally, one of them asks if they can help me.  Out of my politeness and lack of wanting to be rude, I simply ask if they may want to check on a previously ordered Baconater combo had ever shown up on their screens.  After backing up the order screen, they find mine, and realise they had passed it up.  After waiting 35 minutes, I had to have them make it to go, but they made up for it by giving me double the fries and a vanilla Frosty.  (I wish I could tell you how difficult it is to eat a vanilla Frosty while driving)  This was going to be a fun meal to eat, considering it was starting to show signs of snowing up north, and the weather did not disappoint.

When I pulled into town, I met with the pastor and his wife first.  The North Pekin Church of the Nazarene has an amazing parsonage!  Right when you walk in the door you're met with a stairway that leads to the upstairs bedrooms. (I've been told that is to make sure the church always has a youthful leader) Pastor Randy sports different hooks for his right hand because of a machinery accident from a job he had years ago, so I switched to my left hand for the shake.  Randy and his wife, Dara, have two girls and one boy.  What a blessing it was to meet their family!  I got to ride with them to the game, because they had my ticket.

The hockey game was the Peoria Rivermen Verses the Lake Erie Monsters.  My first thought, being that I am a word play kinda guy, is that these names would be more suited for swimming or boating sports, because the ice makes "rivermen" and "lake monsters" seem much less frightening.  Right when we walked up to our seats, I found out that my seat was right next to even more family I hadn't seen in a while; my cousin, Kim, and her son, Dillon!  Garrand, his wife, Tracy, their two daughters, Cadence and Riley, and one of their sons, Collin, sat behind me.  It didn't take long and the game started out with a fight; a Riverman fighting a Monster.  Game. On!  What was wild was that the refs literally just stood on either side, almost cheering the two guys on as they kept beating each other...I guess it was a way to get the crowd pumped for the rest of the game, but I would have hated to be in the middle of it.

I made two new friends while I was watching the game; Jarrod and his friend. (if they ever read this, I apologize for not remembering his name, or if I spelled Jarrod wrong)  I learned more about the difference between liquor and beer than I ever wanted to know, and the list of pointers I was given for "how to have a girl coming at you from every angle" was longer than I could count.  Jarrod thought Kim was "with me", and since my new friend was drunk, it took him a while to understand that we weren't.  The rest of the night, I was excited to meet Jarrod's girlfriend, but she never showed up.  (must not be a big fan of hockey)  What was cool about these guys was that when one got up for concessions, the other would make sure neither got lost along the way.  It was great to watch two friends have each others' backs, and they were this way to others as well.  Towards the end of the night, they were showing concern about a friend of theirs caught up in an apparent misunderstanding, so they decided it would be best to call him and talk him out of making a big mistake.  Not trying to eavesdrop on the conversation, I heard the occasional, "take a deep breath", "I'm totally on your side", "causing pain won't solve anything", and "you're a bigger man for calming down".  Even though Bud Light may have caught its two victims with intoxication, I saw two guys that were great at being true friends, and before we left the game, I had the privilege of praying with Jarrod.  He inspired me with another example of loyalty.

Oh yea!  the game ended something like 5-4, Lake Erie.  I guess the Rivermen really creamed them in a previous game, 4-0, and this was their response.

I got to stay with Garrand and his family over the weekend.  They set me up with a cot in their new basement, which was really cool! (cool as in awesome, not cold; it wasn't really cold) They literally finished their basement for my arrival.  I am beyond belief about how loving my family is!  There was a Ping-Pong table folded up against the wall; if I would have had more time, I would have totally challenged them to a game of, but that'll have to wait till the next trip!  I also got to see their other son, Spencer, who was downstairs rackin up the kills playin what looked to be one sweet action game.  At first, the cot looked extreemly comfortable...it wasn't until 5am Sunday morning that I finally discovered the "sweet spot" where it didn't feel so rigid...but with the extra blankets, it was such a blessing to have a place to sleep!  God provides, and my family went out of their way to give me a place to stay.

Garrand has a home office, and when he gave me the quick tour, he said I get to autograph his wall.  (Everyone that visits gets to!)  Apparently, I had been there before.  My name was on there from the summer of 1999; I was also into Ty Beannie Babies at the time, because, embarassingly, I had written "I *heart* Beannie Babies" next to my name.  I still have all of those stuffed in a shoebox somewhere.  For the life of me I could not remember being there before, but as it turns out I had gone with my sister, Heather, and her husband, Terry, once before.

Saturday started out with bacon and eggs for breakfast. (deliscious!) The family's dog's, a giant Schnauzer and a German Shephard, met me as I was coming up the stairs.  After breakfast, I drove with Collin to their church for worship practice.  Collin is gifted at piano and plays for the worship team.  He has also studies hardcore french, and works as a french translator for a company, close to home.  But it wasn't too long ago that he was living in France for his studies.  He plans on moving back, most likely for the long term, possibly as an English teacher.  He is a few years younger than me, but you never know how much you share in common with extended family members until you spend time around them for a weekend.  There were several times we were told we look alike, and many of our same interests in music, style, food, and personality are similar.  Nothin like two cool guys riding to worship practice in a Ford Focus, while talking about France and the girlfriend he may have there when he gets back, haha!  As it turns out, I probably would not look out of place if I made it a vacation destination someday.

North Pekin's worship team consists of a piano, an accoustic guitar, electric guitar, steel guitar, drums, and three vocalists.  I loved working with them!

I shared lunch with Garrand and Collin at Five Guys in Peoria.  Five Guys needs no explaination, it speaks for its own american style amazement.  When we got back to their house, we plopped down on the couches and watched Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End.  I still don't understand why the Spaniards felt the need to destroy everything at the end.  After the movie, we ate pizza and headed to the church.

Saturday night was fantastic!  There may have been around 15 of us there, but everyone came to worship God.  We started out with all worship in song with:

Go, Make A Difference (originally by Steve Angrisano)
Reign In Us  (originally by Starfield)
Indescribable (originally by Chris Tomlin)
Psalm 13 (originally by King David, but respun as one of my new originals)

and finished the night with some of my originals:

Lies
Coming Home
Take All of Me
Hemi
Unpredictable
Time

We ended by singing Reign In Us again and then had a circle of prayer.  Tears were shared and God's Spirit was lifted high.  That's what positive worship is all about!


Sunday morning, for breakfast, I experienced Cream Cheese Filled Butter Bread Twist.  If you've never had it before, STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING, FIND SOME, AND TRY IT NOW!  There is no better way to start the day than that. 

For worship Sunday morning, Collin played the keys, Richard was on his steel guitar (in my top ten for instruments for sure!), Spencer was on drums, Kim brought the vocals along with Garrand, who was also on electric guitar,  Alfredo added his fillipino style to the accoustic guitar, and I joined in with my Cajon drum.  One of my favorite aspects of sharing music worship with churches is when I can feel the whole church singing together.  The feeling of God's breath and movement through His Church is so inspiring!  The atmosphere was perfect for the message God spoke through me about worship.

To end the weekend, we ate at an Italian restaurant (because we ended up on the big screen at the hockey game and won $5 coupons!)  for lunch.  My Shrimp and Seafood Fedduccini was beyond deliscious, and the prices were not at all bad! 

All in all, it was a weekend to remember!  A three hour drive, worth every mile.