Travel Reflections - Purpose In How We Travel

Allan and I recently celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary with a visit to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, for the first time! Canada is so close to us here in New York, yet it took us visiting more than 30 countries before we got to Canada. In reflecting on our anniversary trip, I’m led to share a deeper message that I receive from this experience, rather than writing a typical blog that provides a play-by-play of all we did during this particular trip. That said, for those interested in seeing those details, the video play-by-play of our weekend is available at My Cruising Family on YouTube and is linked here.

I’ve wondered and asked God about how in the world telling people about cruises and travel is glorifying onto Him. How is this a ministry? Well, dare I say that this trip highlights some of the answers to that question, at least a bit, for me.

Real Talk: Pandemic... 2020... How Are You Doing?

Hey, My Cruising Family friends, and fam!!! It's been an interesting year, to say the least!!! How have you been???

Having felt overwhelmed in one way or another, for months, I exhale right now to share with you and hopefully hear from you too.

Allan and I have noticed that challenges started almost immediately after we returned from our amazing 10th anniversary celebration in 2019. God knew we would need that “mountaintop experience,” and we’re thankful for it, and we are thankful for God’s faithfulness through every step of the way.

Starting around November 2019, our family, with the support of some of the best educational professionals, became engaged in a process to identify and secure the best school environment for our super smart, lovable, and loving younger son, LJ, and we also worked to provide the best support for our older son, AJ, through this time. This process was intense and stretched into March 2020, which is when New York City, where we reside, went into lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and working from home and schooling from home all began.

We cancelled a cruise we had planned for March 2020, and it's a good thing too because, in March, Allan went into quarantine after working with a former coworker who tested positive for COVID-19, and that coworker passed away in early April 2020. Thankfully, for the most part of his quarantine, Allan was asymptomatic. For the safety of his family, and by circumstances only God could align, Allan’s quarantine went until the first week of June 2020.

Then, in June 2020, I had open-heart surgery.

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