Support Raising & Our Upcoming Ohio Trip

Part of the fun part of support raising as a missionary is getting to travel....or so I assume.  Up to this point in our support raising efforts to get to the Philippines we have stayed local.  But our first trip is scheduled at the end of this month for Ohio.  Part of my favorite part of following other missionary's blogs is to see where they visit and where the Lord takes them.  We will be visiting Sovereign Grace Chapel in Youngstown, Ohio. 

I took a photo of the picture frames sitting on my dresser at home because they are a good snapshot of our upcoming trip.

The pastor of the church is Matt Mager.  His wife is Bernie. (The above picture of us in the "friends" frame was taken with them while we were dating.)  Bernie is a sweet and dear friend and was in my wedding.  It was actually through her that Allan and I met.  She is a good friend of Allan's older sister, Anna, and he shared the gospel with her and brought her to our church.  Since she didn't know anyone except him, he introduced her to one of my friends, Samantha (Sam).  The three of us ladies became friends.  And it was through Bernie's testimony and respect for Allan and I grew in admiration for him, the beginning of my attraction towards him.  She and Sam then made "secret" efforts to set the two of us up.  I remember Bernie said she had the perfect person in mind for me but she didn't want to tell me who it was.  She just asked me two questions.  One - what did I think of people who were not my race?  And two - what did I think of short men. 

The little heart frame of Allan in the above picture was taken on January 1, 2005.  It was the first day that Allan held my hand.  We were coming back from a day trip to the mountains with my dearest friend Janea, and he held my hand almost all the way home.

Our lives with the Magers intertwined a little more after that.  Matt and Bernie moved from California to Ohio a month or so before Allan and I got married.  Allan and I then moved into their cute little duplex.  We had great memories of our first three years of marriage at that place.

The last photo in the picture above is a picture of my brother, Nathan, posing with Allan on our wedding.  After this picture we have only gotten to see my brother a couple of times.  He lives in Ohio as well with this friend Marty and they just bought a house.  Our second son, Trevor, is named after my brother (Trevor Nathan).  I am so excited to get to see Nathan on our visit to Ohio!

I am looking forward to our trip!  There are several people from Sovereign Grace Chapel that I have met through Facebook and I am excited to get to know them in person and be able to visit the church.  Growing up in So California we don't have much changes in seasons for Fall, so I am quite eager to see autumn in Ohio!  Please pray for our trip.