So here I sit in the library of Wheaton College where my sister is currently getting the “possible graduate student” treatment (free lunch, tour, meetings with professors, etc.) and I have had the opportunity for my own bit of sight-seeing!

It’s been quite the day already!

Pictures will arrive once we get home, but the most impressive venture today so far has been the Billy Graham Museum! I spent nearly an hour and a half there in the museum reading up on my American evangelists – most notably, Billy Graham.

I was even able to pinpoint the dates of the Billy Graham crusade where yours truly made a commitment to Christ at the age of 9!

It was at Silver Stadium in Rochester, NY during September 11-18, 1988. Attendance: 143,780! On one of those nights, Stevan Sheets responded to a rapidly-beating heart and went forward to make my own decision to follow Christ!

Today was sort of a re-realization to that commitment I made more than 15 years ago! Via video footage and reading the Silver Stadium Crusade detail, as well as viewing photos from the numerous world-wide crusades, I relived the event again and again in my head and my heart.

The museum is a must-visit if you are within driving distance and have any interest in the person of Billy Graham.

After the Billy Graham museum, I found a spot for lunch in the basement of the student center and then walked over to the Marion E. Wade Center where I enjoyed a museum-like display of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien memorabilia. The center is dedicated to these two (and a few others) who interwove their Christian faith into their writings.

Stay tuned for a few photos of the “inspiration” behind C.S. Lewis’ imagery of a wardrobe leading to a magical land! (The wardrobe in the movie and that I “built” in my head reading the books is MUCH more magnificent..)

I will meet Sherilyn back in the Graduate Admissions department in about 30-minutes and we will then meet up with one of her SWU-graduates for a trip to the local IKEA just 20-minutes South of Wheaton! Shopping list: two matching nightstand tables for the master bedroom; one lamp for a certain Mr. Pence’s home-decor; and possibly some sort of CD-archiving storage for our home.

Photos later…

I was e-mailed this photo (and this one) today by my friend, Bill Clark. Bill works as the “Archives Director” at Wesleyan Headquarters in Indianapolis. He stumbled upon these two slides labeled “Sheets” and sent them to me to see if I knew who they were!

They are my grandparents, Rev. Jim & Aletha Sheets singing at the June 30, 1968 merger of the Pilgrim Holiness Church and the Wesleyan Methodist church into what is today called “The Wesleyan Church”! This took place at the Anderson College Campus, now Anderson University in Anderson, IN – headquarters for the Church of God.

Pretty cool history lesson, huh? (Thanks Bill!)

Tonight we jetted to Ft. Wayne for her favorite dinner – Olive Garden! We met Sherilyn there and enjoyed our time together even though we had quite the interesting waiter situation. He admitted that he had just woken up and before he even brought out our drinks he brought us two small serving dishes full of Bleu Cheese dressing!?! We told him that it probably wasn’t for us and he appologized again and again. He also couldn’t figure out that it was OUR table that had the “birthday girl” after Sherilyn and I both had to tell the hostess to tell him we were a “special” table!

After dinner the ladies hit up the dressing rooms at Target. Jess for maternity clothes and Sherilyn for some $4.50 sweaters on clearance! Jess came away empty-handed, Sherilyn came away with two new sweaters for under $10!

After Target it was off to Borders. I went “hunting” through the CD/DVD section (always browsing for deals on Johnny Cash, Cirque Du Soleil, and U2). I came away with the U2 2005 Vertigo tour filmed in Chicago back in May on DVD and the girls both enjoyed some sort of over-priced coffee-drink!

A quick trip home and we’re all pretty much ready for bed. Sherilyn stayed up past 3AM in Indianapolis. She is going with Jess to school tomorrow morning to enjoy her class and teach a bit about Bosnia to the First Graders! How cool is that?

I leave you with this video of Jess being surprised at Olive Garden:
One final thing: the video of my sticking the q-tip up my nose has been viewed more than 170 times!!!