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“How could we forget the suits!” my mom shouted. I knew this wasn’t the best way to start a vacation, yet it seemed my family always forgot something on every trip to visit relatives in Illinois. This time it was the suits…500 miles away. Leaving behind seven suits at home in Minnesota was not a big deal for me, especially since I dreaded wearing them. But things were different on this occasion. Imagine yourself as a pallbearer in a t-shirt and jeans at your grandfather’s funeral. Not to mention, you’re also singing during the funeral, and your father is preaching the sermon in his rugged flannel shirt and jeans. I couldn’t imagine it either. The time was 7:00 p.m. and the suits needed to be here by 1:00 p.m. tomorrow for the visitation. Thus, a great sense of anxiety fell upon my whole family.

After brief exchanges of anger and disappointment, my parents phoned the neighbors in Minnesota and told them to box up the suits, still hanging in the closet, for shipment. Perhaps we could reach a friend that works for Fedex Ground to ask if there were any trucks leaving for Illinois soon. Reluctantly, Dad called his recently widowed mother, and explained the situation. She said she would be praying for us. Mom also left a message with my Aunt Nancy, who lived in the area. At 10 p.m., a neighbor noticed our arrival and called to see if we needed anything, to which Mom replied, “everything’s fine.” Out of frustration, our family gathered together and cried out to God for help. I was secretly hoping and praying that God would simply translate the suits from the closet in Minnesota to the closet in Illinois. I even checked several times to see if they had arrived. Weary and anxious, I went to bed uncertain there would be suits tomorrow. But I knew I had to trust the Lord that He would work all things together for good.

Early next morning, my grandmother called and offered her credit card to buy our family new suits at Kohls. This was an expensive option as some of us had just received new suits. Besides, a discouraging phone call to Kohls revealed they didn’t even sell suits. To make matters worse, our neighbors in Minnesota informed us that four trucks departed thirty minutes ago to Illinois without our suits! We had reached another dead end. One by one, every plan we tried failed and our hopes were rapidly diminishing. It was 8:00 a.m., and there were no suits in sight. After crying out to God one last time, we accepted the reality of not wearing suits to the visitation or funeral. But that’s when things began to change. My mother repented of her “everything’s fine” comment to the neighbor last night, and called her back with the true story.
“You wouldn’t happen to have 7 suits…?” she inquired.
“No, I’m afraid not,” the neighbor replied. “Try calling St. James Catholic Church. They might be able to help.”
“Hmm…that’s my sister’s parish,” my mother wondered to herself. “How could they help us?” Although we didn’t know it, this was just the answer we needed.

At 10 a.m. Aunt Nancy stopped by with three men’s suits, a few white shirts, and several ties. My brother fit into her husband’s suit, and my dad into her son’s suit. We had two suits down, five to go, and three hours left. Meanwhile, armed with the St. James directory, Nancy made several calls to families she thought could help. She also mentioned her discovery of $300 in a pocket of the third suit, which hadn’t been worn for 10 years. As the suit was destined for the thrift store, she donated one third of the money toward any outfits we would still need to buy. My younger brothers and I then drove with Nancy to friends of hers from church. At the first stop, I was lent a complete suit and tie from the resident sophomore. Next, a mother of seven boys came over to Nancy’s house with dress clothes that fit my younger brother, John. With the gift money, we were able to buy dress shirts and khaki pants at several department stores for my remaining three brothers. God had heard our cries and answered our prayers! It was now 12:30 p.m., and in a half hour we drove back, ate lunch, changed into our “new” clothes, and left for the visitation.

The people who came to give comfort were surprised to hear us sharing stories of the Lord’s gracious provision. From watching us sing in honor of Grandpa, to accompanying the casket, few people knew God Himself matched our suits. But during the reception and even to this day I still share the story of how God, through His people, saved us by the suits!

“And call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.” Psalm 50:15

Joshua took the SAT test on Saturday with 2 other students in Montevideo, which is 35 miles east of where we live. He is confident he did better on this test than with the ACT. We’ll wait for the official results in a few weeks.

Kelvin’s back seems to be doing better, and we hope the shot will work so he won’t need surgery. He continues to stretch and hang upside down. He will not be going with us to Illinois .

The rest of our family enjoyed singing with our church’s choir this Sunday morning, and also at Roseland Reform Church in the evening.

The whole Kraemer family will be singing another song, “Oda to Minnesota” in addition to “Build a Bridge” at the Barn Theater’s Holiday Variety Show. The director liked our first song so much, that he asked us to do another one at the very begining of the first act. We are also the last part of the first act. Joseph will be playing the guitar for us on both songs.