The announcement came in the mail a month or two ago and it read, “Join us for an authentic Ukrainian dinner. We’ll cast vision and seek support to forge new opportunities for READ Ministries and beyond.”

Perhaps not all of you are familiar with my two books, “The Easter Sparrows” and “The First Advent” which have been published by Publishing House Smirna in the Ukraine.

READ Ministries were largely responsible for bringing the two books to the Ukraine and having Publishing House Smirna publish the two books in both the Russian and Ukrainian languages.

Now I have been invited to attend the 20th Celebration Vision and Fundraising Event at the St. Katherine’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Arden Hills a suburb of the Twin Cities.

Immediately a tiny voice in the back of my head screamed, “No! No! You can’t drive in that city traffic! GPS or no GPS, you’ll be lost for days! Perhaps you will never return to your home and become a missing person. That’s happening all the time these days! 🙁

I stewed and stewed for several days and then I got a brilliant idea. I messaged my three grown children who were GPS experts and had no fear of being lost in the Twin Cities.

It was kind of like a scene from American Idol with my three children sitting in chairs and facing away from me as I inquired, “Would any of you have an interest to chauffeur myself and Kathie for two days in the Twin Cities?”

Fearfully I awaited.

Almost immediately, Jill, our oldest daughter’s chair spun around!

And so, the adventure began.

It even got better as seconds later, Bonnie’s chair also turned to face her dad. 🙂

So, this past weekend I and the women in my family braved the treacherous traffic hazards and went in search of St. Katherine’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Arden Hills.

Our two daughters entertained us all the way down and back and I managed to get in a couple zingers myself.

Arriving at the church we set up my book display and prepared to experience a Ukrainian banquet.

I’m more of a hamburger, French fries kind of guy so I was a little worried how I would enjoy the Ukrainian meal.

Borscht (Beet Soup) was the appetizer, and it was delicious! 🙂

The main course was stuffed chicken breasts, potatoes and a variety of peppers and mushrooms which put hamburgers and French fries to shame.

And what about the dessert? We were not able to determine exactly what it consisted of, but it was really good!

We listened to a variety of speakers bringing us up to date on the accomplishments of READ Ministeries and I was proud as they mentioned 4000 copies of my book “The Easter Sparrows” had been distributed to Ukrainian children in the Ukraine and to refugee children in Poland.

Ukrainian music entertained us as we ate also.

When the gathering was dismissed all the attendees were given a gift bag. Three books were included in the bag and I’m proud to say my book “The Easter Sparrows” was one of them. 🙂

We three authors waited around our book display tables and autographed books for those who wished to have them signed.

The exciting evening ended, and we hustled back to our hotel because, our adventures were not yet over.

My mother’s cousin, Mary Ellen, had lived in North St. Paul all of her life. She was 94 years young and she has been a supporter of my writing since my first book was released.

I would always send her a copy of each book and she would respond with the most supportive and positive letters.

Our two daughters had never met her, so we scheduled a brunch at her house the next morning.

We stayed much longer than we had planned but we had a wonderful time visiting and catching up on relative gossip. 🙂

I saw parts of the Cities that I had never seen before as we obeyed the directions of our GPS.

This GPS was not the type that responded with “recalculating, recalculating, recalculating,” when a wrong turn was executed, so that made a much more peaceful trip.

Yes, we did make several wrong turns but far, far less, than if I had been driving! 🙂

We drove by the Minnesota Twins, Target Field, the Vikings, U.S. Bank Stadium and the Minnesota Soccer Team’s, Allianz Field.

Our driver announced her car was driving on fumes, so we began looking for a gas station which we were lucky to find as we were in the heart of the downtown area.

Consequently, the price per gallon was slightly higher than gas prices outside the city. But we were on an adventure so who really cared. Come to think of it, my credit card had been used to make that payment. 🙁

There was just one last stop that needed to be made. You ladies I’m sure can tell me what I’m referring to. No female comes home from the Cities on Interstate 94 failing to make that stop.

Yes, it is the St. Michael/Albertville Mall.

Hey, I was outnumbered, three to one! What choice did I have?

Actually, it turned out very well as the ladies were shopping, I spotted a neat maroon pullover sweater and purchased it.

Then I spent too much time in the shoe department and fell in love with a brown pair of Skechers hands free Slip-ins.

I’ve been lusting after shoes like that as the television has been reminding us, day after day how wonderful they are!

Finally, we were able to make an escape and head our vehicle west on Interstate 94.

It had been an exciting and fun filled day and a half. I’m glad those two chairs turned around and our two daughters made it possible for their travel- shy dad to venture into the big city.

I’m looking forward to doing it again sometime. 🙂

Thanks Jill and Bonnie! I love you both. 🙂

Until next time.