Oh the Places We've Been!

Logan and I have finally made it back to Maryland after 2 months of traveling! We were so thrilled to be able to visit so many of our supporters - our family and friends!

So here is where we've been so far this summer - hold one its a long ride!

Marlette, Michigan

We started our journeys with a trip to Marlette, MI to visit my grandparents. Logan had never met my dad's parents and I was so happy we got to spend time learning from their wisdom, enjoying their company, worshiping together and eating all of my grandma's amazing cooking!

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Chicago, Illinois

We then made our way to Chicago to visit my mom's parents and meet with some of our faithful supporters. I'm so thankful to have two sets of amazing and encouraging grandparents. Logan and I are so thankful the dinner my grandparents hosted for our supporters, and we are so thankful to everyone who came to hear about our semester and cheer us on to another year.

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St. Louis, Missouri

Third on our stop was a trip to St. Louis, MO to visit some of our good friends from college who attend Covenant Theological Seminary. We officially got to meet the newest member of their little family, Oscar! It was a great time of touring the campus and spending time with our dear friends.

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Nashville, Tennessee

From there we headed to Nashville where we got to see many of our college friends as well as dear family supporters. Nashville still feels like home to us, and we are so grateful to Logan's brother for letting us stay with him! We even got to cook a few great meals with him & Anna Claire!

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Columbia, South Carolina

 

 Following Nashville, we made our way down to Columbia, SC to visit one of Logan's best friends from Beijing and his new wife! It was a privilege to be a part of their wedding and we had a great time getting to see them 6 months later. I know Logan especially loved this leg of the trip.

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Orlando, Florida

We then made our way down to Orlando, FL to visit the Orlando campus of Reformed Theological Seminary. Visiting yet another great seminary is going to make our choice difficult! Thank you to the Sparkmans for letting us be a part of your family for a few days!

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Sarasota, Florida

 

From Orlando made our way over to Sarasota, FL to spend time with my parents. These two weeks were both relaxing and busy as the majority of my supporters live in my home town. Logan and I spend time with our family, but also had many meetings with supporters. We spoke at my home church's Women on Mission group as well as at a luncheon to honor our supporters. 

We celebrated Logan's birthday as well as the Fourth of July with the Martins as is tradition. Overall it was a wonderful stay!

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Jacksonville, Florida

Our final stop in Florida was to visit my sister in Jacksonville for the weekend on our way back to Nashville! We had a great time with her and Rob.

 

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Nashville, Tennessee

 

Our second trip up to Tennessee was a much needed break from all our travels. We are so grateful for having Lewis' place to ourselves for the most part, for time to catch up with college friends, to attend Belmont Summer RUF, and visit with our college campus minister, Kevin Twit and his wife, Wendy. 

 

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Chattanooga, Tennessee

After a week or so in Nashville, we made our way down to Chattanooga to visit some of our very best friends, the Rethorns! They let us stay with them for the weekend on our way down to RUF Staff Training and we had a great time! They cooked some amazing meals, we watched the end of the Tour de France, and just caught up on each others lives.

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Atlanta, Georgia

 

The grand finale for our travels was a week in Atlanta, GA for RUF Staff Training. It really was a wonderful way to end our travels full of family, friends, support raising, and seminary planning. While a week of training may sounds incredibly boring, it is a time to visit with good friends who are scattered all over the country serving God's kingdom. And while some seminars are practical tips for ministry, the majority are about remembering the character and love of God and how much we ourselves need the Gospel. We feel so privilege to be a part of an organization that cares for its staff so well and comes together to worship God for his many blessings!  

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College Park, Maryland

Now here we are back in Maryland! We have about one more month until UMD starts school. And we are using this month to settle back into our apartment, rest up from all our travels, finish our last bit of support raising, and prepare for the semester!

So sorry that I haven't faithfully kept up blogging this summer. But if you've made it through this post I think you can see why! Thank so much to each one of you who took the time to meet with us, who lent us a bed, heard our stories, and encouraged us! We could not be doing this second year without you!

Grace & Peace,