We’re
finally home! Actually, we got home late Sunday night…after almost
getting blown away by 2 tornadoes and driving through flooded roads! It
was a scary and dangerous time and we are so thankful we made it home
safely. Seriously – to all of you who pray for us when we are traveling
we appreciate it SO much! From health to safety to blessings over our
ministry time – your prayers are so important to us!
I
thought I’d take a moment for a RECAP of this roadtrip. We had a very
busy 2 and 1/2 weeks down south and we’d love to fill you in on how it
went!
There
were a lot of reasons for this trip. The first of course was that we
were needed to work at Training Camp in GA (which I shared about in my
last blog). Since we were already down South though, we wanted to visit
our family, friends, and supporters. It’s so important to us to build
into the relationships of the people who invest in us financially and
in prayer, so we tried to squeeze in time with as many people as we
could! It was great to share our vision with new friends and update our
supporters. It was also great to visit my family. Check out the recap
below!
Once
Training Camp was over, the first thing on our “to do” list was
watching my baby brother graduate! He’s not a baby anymore…. I can’t
believe he’s 18 and done with school! We are SO proud of him!
Congratulations Jaron!
That
Saturday we’d planned a trip to Birmingham to visit with friends and
supporters. We had coffee with the Browns, lunch with the Kynerds,
afternoon visits with our sweet friends Lacey & Lindsey, and dinner
with the awesome Daniels! Here are a few pictures of our time… (Watch
for a separate blog about our morning with the Brown family 🙂
At Barnes & Noble with Lacey (above) & Lindsey (below).
Below: Enjoying 2 of our favorite things, Chick-Fil-A & The Daniels! 🙂
On
Sunday we had the incredible opportunity to speak at Antioch Baptist
Church. We were so blessed by our time there! We’d like to share a
little more about that, so look for a separate blog coming soon….
We also hung out with my family for Memorial Day….but unfortunately
we don’t have ANY pictures! I think we were all too busy stuffing our
face with Dwightie’s BBQ, Mom’s baked beans, Granddaddy’s boiled
peanuts…and of course washing it down with SWEET TEA! YUM! 😉
On
Tuesday we drove down to the Loveliest Village on the Plains…. home
sweet AUBURN! It had been over a year and a half since I’d been to
Auburn, and I was so anxious to get back to the place I love most in
the world! We ate at my favorite restaurants, visited some of my
favorite people, and enjoyed some of my favorite places. We had a
WONDERFUL time!
Meet
our wonderful hosts: Candice, Randall, & Clay Stoves! Candice and I
have been friends since my freshman year of college when we were AU
Singers together. This little family is so precious, and they took such
good care of us in AU! Candice also has a ‘hobby’ of making the most
beautiful cakes I’ve ever seen! Her house smelled delicious all week!
Our first stop in AU was BIG BLUE BAGEL! We had lunch with Mike & Rene Waldrop.
Love them so much!
Next
we took a walk around campus. I introduced Rusty to some of my college
professors and my WONDERFUL advisor, Chris Huggins (above). It was so
good to see her, and to share about our ministry with her! She was such
a blessing to me in college!
with my friend Lacey! It was great to see her and share about what we’re doing –
she is so encouraging and supportive. And of course it wouldn’t be a trip to Auburn
without some world famous Toomer’s lemonade!
for some hang out time & yummy dinner!
These
are hosted in the summer by Camp War Eagle and I used to sing the Alma
Mater for them when I was Miss Auburn-Opelika Area. They are SO much
fun! Here we are with Mark Armstrong ( the king of all things CWE 😉 at
Jordan Hare Stadium!
Of course I couldn’t pass up a chance for a picture with AUBIE!
Day
#3 we visited campus again. First stop – AU Admissions! I worked in
this office for 4 and 1/2 years and love the people there so much!
(Above) With “Fancy Nancy” (my former boss) and Mindy Street- an AU
friend who is now working in Admissions! (Below) With Ms Havlin.
Above: Lunch with sweet Mindy at Amsterdams!
Above: A surprise trip to hug Adam at The Gnu’s Room
Above: Bottle feeding a 2 week old baby raccoon!
(I know, so random, but she was so cute I had to share the picture!)
Her mom chewed into electrical wires and was killed,
so my little brother rescued her and her brother.
Above:
Back to campus – one of our friends/supporters wanted us to meet his
brother who works at Auburn. We had a GREAT visit with Brian Keeter –
getting to know him, chatting about Auburn, and sharing our ministry
with him. Thanks so much for the suggestion Lane! 🙂
Below: Of course we had to finish the day with a classic Auburn picture in front of the AU sign!
While
we were in Auburn, we took an afternoon to drive down to Troy. We
couldn’t miss the opportunity to meet my friends Kira & Oliver’s
beautiful little girl! Friends, meet Miss Elizabeth Anne Aaron!
Below: Holding baby Elizabeth in her room.
On the wall behind us are the paintings I made for her!
Of
course, all too soon our time in Auburn was up. The day had come to
start our 14+ hour drive back to Michigan. Luckily, on the way home we
had something to look forward to….
A visit in Tennessee with
the Wards! Ray & Candice (and their daughter Maele) are
missionaries in Thailand. They are some of Rusty’s favorite people – he
served with them in 2007 and again in 2008. He was SO excited to see
them again and I was thrilled to finally meet them! Lucky for us, they
were in the states for a few months visiting family and friends and
support raising, and Ray’s parents live in TN. (Thank you Mr. &
Mrs. Ward for hosting us!)
We
had a great time together, and were able to share about The Sound of
Hope with them. We are excited to announce that their Children’s Home
will be our fourth international partnership! More to come on that
later, but we are so glad to add Thailand to the list of places we will
be supporting through this non-profit!
Overall
we had a long, exhausting, but WONDERFUL trip! We were able to share
about our ministry with so many people, and were blessed by our time
with friends and family. We also were given some generous one-time
gifts and got two new monthly supporters! Praise the Lord! THANK YOU to
all of you who poured into us on this trip! We love you!
