Travelogue: VT, NY, & OH

Where last I left off, we were in Vermont...

On our very last day we were privileged to share at my sister and brother-in-law's church in Bridgewater Corners.  Isn't it lovely?

Everyone was super friendly, so I'm afraid once church started, I didn't get my camera out again!  The sanctuary was cozy, but it was full!  And lots of kids!

We said goodbye after a Sunday afternoon that we didn't want to end and hit the road for Albany.  A little over two hours later, we were at Ben and Elisabeth's!  Elisabeth led worship for us at the student center for three years (our only female in that role during our stint) and I always appreciated her throughtful, intentional approach.  While it's true that we had a whole cabinet helping us run the student center ministry and all of them were amazing men and women, there are times when one individual's influence really has an impact, and I have always felt that about Elisabeth's time leading worship at Global Cafe.  I don't think it was a coincidence that our attendance numbers grew during that time to a new level as she had a giftedness in drawing us into the presence of God.

We are really excited to hear about Lizzy's new role working full time for PrayerCast.  She was introduced to the director of this ministry when it was at the ground level, and it sounds like it's really taking off.  Personally, we love the PrayerCast video for Albania and frequently show it when we travel and share.  Our visit with Ben and Elisabeth was short, but sweet, and after having to cancel our original plans due to the RV troubles, I was glad that it worked out at all!  Love you guys!

Yep, that's Niagara Falls!  When we looked at the map, Nathan noticed that our route would be taking us within 30 minutes of this famous site, so we squeezed it into our itinerary.  We literally spent less than a couple of hours there, but now we've seen it (from the American side)!  The kids were a little apprehensive when we told them about the boat ride, Reni in particular.  Notice us dry as we were departing shore...

Ellie saw all the seagulls (below) and exclaimed, "We're in seagull heaven!"

(If you know our girl, you know she LOVES birds!)

Then we got drenched.  It was fun. For all of us but Reni.  He wasn't amused. And I'm happy to report that while the camera got really wet, she kept on ticking.  Canons rock!

   We spent the night near the falls, then left the next morning for Ohio.  Along the way, we had another tire incident (documented here). We stayed the night with friends Matt and April, but sadly didn't get any photos. :-(  Too much fun talking.

   The next day we met Dad Waggoner for lunch, then headed over to the hospice floor of the hospital where he works to see his colleague, and our friend, Sally.  Sally's battling cancer herself and I hope we could cheer her up during a week when she was feeling quite tired from the end of a recent round of treatments.  The kids LOVED the saltwater aquarium in the unit.  It was beautiful and Sally, we're praying for you!  Thanks for partnering with us to Albania!

That evening we had the pleasure of meeting our friend Markettys for the second time.  She's been a loyal blog follower (dating back to the first months online!) and we appreciate her love for our family.  We met her for supper at Fazoli's and enjoyed meeting a couple from her small group (who also work in outreach for her church), Brad and Pam.  I love the instant affinity one has when meeting other brothers and sisters in Christ.  We shared so much in common, conversation flowed easily and before we knew it, two hours had passed!

It was a great way to wrap up our little 'layover' in Nathan's old hometown before we kept heading south to appointments in Kentucky.