This summer has definitely been the most eventful of my life thus far.
In just the last month and a half I have been to/through 8 states and 4 countries, 6 different airports, flown on 9 airplanes, and 1 cruise ship.
It's been a wild ride that is for sure and I have loved (almost) every minute of it.
So to catch you all up I'll start with Russia.
Honestly, the week leading up to the Russia trip I was dreading the whole thing. I questioned why I had agreed to lead it and even more why they were letting me lead it. The night before we left I was pretty much freaking out. But I got up the morning of and managed to get it together, or at least look like I had, and we left!
We spent the majority of our days at a camp that 3 orphanages had sent their kids to for the summer.
We played all kinds of games with the kids and did all kinds of activities.
We did all kinds of crafts with the kids.
One day we got to go to the Baltic Sea. Lena was my tour guide and translator for the day.
Now each day we would get to the camp and two little boys would run up to me and one of them would take my daypack and the other would take my phone and then would walk around carrying my bag and taking photos with my phone.
These two definitely stole my heart and I would have packed them in my suit case to bring home if I could have.
I even got to play some basketball
That's the majority of what we did everyday...
There was one day in particular though that was a breaking point for me.
After church on Sunday we got to take some presents to a couple of orphan graduate sisters that Matt and Jackie have had relationship with since they were in the orphanage and are now living in an apartment.
Only one of the sisters was there when we were there, but we got to talk to her and ask her about her life. Hearing her story broke my heart. And then the realization that she is only one story. Only one of so so many orphans out there who have no one to turn to. But now Matt and Jackie Hall are there and they are making a difference.
Hearing their vision for the future of their ministry was truly inspiring.
We spent our last day of the trip sight seeing and shopping in Gdansk Poland.
It was a really cool city.
But then it was time to say goodbye and head home, so the next morning we began the long journey home.
I woke up at 4am on Thursday morning in Poland and went to bed at 11:00pm Thursday night 26 hours later. Time zones are so weird.
I spent Friday seeing as many people as I could and dealing with missions receipts and all that fun stuff. Then Saturday morning I got up at 3:30am to go to the airport again and fly to Minnesota to be in Hannah and V's wedding.
It was a very short weekend.
But it was great getting to see everybody. I forgot how much I like that Blume family.
And then they got married!
Then I flew back to Arkansas! I spent about 18 hours there and then drove to Texas to meet up with my family and go on a long overdue vacation.
We drove to New Orleans Louisiana and then hopped on a boat to Cozumel Mexico. It was a 4 day cruise, with a morning/afternoon stop in Cozumel. I got to go para sailing with my dad when we were in Cozumel. That was pretty cool.
I've decided that cruises are my new favorite way to vacation. It was great, got to spend time with the fam, got to sleep, got to eat more than I should have.
Now I'm back in Texas for a couple of days. I got to hang out with my long lost friend Brittany and my precious niece Avey this morning. I have missed them.
Well now I'll go ahead and cover the question you're all wondering about and I keep getting asked...
What's next?!
The answer to that question I will be sure to talk about in a future blog as soon as I discover it!
The possibilities are infinite!
The adventures are endless!
The prayers are appreciated!
In the mean time, God is awesome, and hanging out with Him gets more and more fun everyday! If it isn't for you, I pray it becomes so!
In just the last month and a half I have been to/through 8 states and 4 countries, 6 different airports, flown on 9 airplanes, and 1 cruise ship.
It's been a wild ride that is for sure and I have loved (almost) every minute of it.
So to catch you all up I'll start with Russia.
Honestly, the week leading up to the Russia trip I was dreading the whole thing. I questioned why I had agreed to lead it and even more why they were letting me lead it. The night before we left I was pretty much freaking out. But I got up the morning of and managed to get it together, or at least look like I had, and we left!
We made it to Poland where Matt Hall was there to get us and bring us over the boarder to Russia. But first we stopped for some Polish Mcdonalds.
We spent the majority of our days at a camp that 3 orphanages had sent their kids to for the summer.
We played all kinds of games with the kids and did all kinds of activities.
We did all kinds of crafts with the kids.
One day we got to go to the Baltic Sea. Lena was my tour guide and translator for the day.
Now each day we would get to the camp and two little boys would run up to me and one of them would take my daypack and the other would take my phone and then would walk around carrying my bag and taking photos with my phone.
These two definitely stole my heart and I would have packed them in my suit case to bring home if I could have.
I even got to play some basketball
That's the majority of what we did everyday...
There was one day in particular though that was a breaking point for me.
After church on Sunday we got to take some presents to a couple of orphan graduate sisters that Matt and Jackie have had relationship with since they were in the orphanage and are now living in an apartment.
Only one of the sisters was there when we were there, but we got to talk to her and ask her about her life. Hearing her story broke my heart. And then the realization that she is only one story. Only one of so so many orphans out there who have no one to turn to. But now Matt and Jackie Hall are there and they are making a difference.
Hearing their vision for the future of their ministry was truly inspiring.
We spent our last day of the trip sight seeing and shopping in Gdansk Poland.
But then it was time to say goodbye and head home, so the next morning we began the long journey home.
I woke up at 4am on Thursday morning in Poland and went to bed at 11:00pm Thursday night 26 hours later. Time zones are so weird.
I spent Friday seeing as many people as I could and dealing with missions receipts and all that fun stuff. Then Saturday morning I got up at 3:30am to go to the airport again and fly to Minnesota to be in Hannah and V's wedding.
It was a very short weekend.
But it was great getting to see everybody. I forgot how much I like that Blume family.
And then they got married!
Then I flew back to Arkansas! I spent about 18 hours there and then drove to Texas to meet up with my family and go on a long overdue vacation.
We drove to New Orleans Louisiana and then hopped on a boat to Cozumel Mexico. It was a 4 day cruise, with a morning/afternoon stop in Cozumel. I got to go para sailing with my dad when we were in Cozumel. That was pretty cool.
I've decided that cruises are my new favorite way to vacation. It was great, got to spend time with the fam, got to sleep, got to eat more than I should have.
Now I'm back in Texas for a couple of days. I got to hang out with my long lost friend Brittany and my precious niece Avey this morning. I have missed them.
Well now I'll go ahead and cover the question you're all wondering about and I keep getting asked...
What's next?!
The answer to that question I will be sure to talk about in a future blog as soon as I discover it!
The possibilities are infinite!
The adventures are endless!
The prayers are appreciated!
In the mean time, God is awesome, and hanging out with Him gets more and more fun everyday! If it isn't for you, I pray it becomes so!
