Major Award!... but sadly, no lamp included**

Number of days we have lost with our daughter due to the negligence of the state of Illinois: 8

Last night J. and I were honored at the Interfaith Action Council of Evanston's dinner as our church's choice of their Vision Keepers... a sort of volunteer of the year-thing. I thought long and hard about sharing this with my blog readers, mainly because I dislike (really, really dislike) having the spotlight shine on me. It just makes me uncomfortable and I will most definitely, 100% of the time, make light of it. (**Hence the Christmas Story reference in the title.) 

Yet one of the things I remember my grandmother saying time and time again was that not only did a person need to learn to be a good giver, but the person also needed to learn to be a good receiver. It's a two-way street, the giver receives joy when the receiver has accepted graciously. I know there have been times that I have been thrilled to be a part of honoring someone I admire. I want to do it because it is a small way of giving back some of the very intangible things they have done for me. It gives me joy to be able to honor them. So, that is why I am posting about this. I do not want to diminish or make light of the sentiment of people I care very much about. (Even though I internally squirm as doing so.) J. and I really do appreciate the thought and the meaning behind the honor. Plus, we got a very nice dinner with some of our favorite people as part of the bargain.

Here are some of our church family who were able to make the dinner. I can honestly say that without the incredible support of many of the people you see pictures, J. and I would not be able to do what we do.

Receiving our certificates from our wonderful pastor.

My only regret from the evening was that the table was so large and the room so full (and thus the noise level was pretty high) that J. and I only had a chance to really visit and talk with those people immediately next to us. I wish there was a way we could have talked with the whole table.

So, thank you very much to our church. J. and I do what we do because we love Jesus and we love all of you.
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Oh, and I realized that I never shared the answer to my little pop quiz in a recent post. What was the musical the lines were from? My real life friend Donna nailed it. Here is what she wrote in the comments:

1776 - John Adams, as played by William Daniels... "Does anyone see what I see?"

Don't give up the fight, dear friend! It matters. She matters!

As her prize I will throw something in my suitcase for her and give it to her when we can finally get on an airplane and fly across the ocean. Donna.... you can be thinking about what US delicacy you are craving.