Blessing Trips

As I think about my heart's desire for Blessing Trips, I truly just want to give people the gift of a respite. Time away from their challenges, problems and stressors of life. Time to connect with those they love. A moment to step-back, be renewed and find hope and joy, even in the midst of their struggles. And often times, the trips that I'm envisioning are quite simple. Not overly costly or complicated, but still out of reach for so many struggling families.  It is my hope that these simple breaks, often within driving distance of someone's home, will be the bulk of what Blessing Trips will provide to families in the future. A week at a cabin by a lake, or tucked away in the woods. Time spent on a beach or hiking mountain trails. Just being together. Just getting that break. While we are still very much continuing to press forward with fundraising for the Knowles Family Blessing Trip this fall, I'd like to also look forward to the summer with hopes to

Now that we've officially " kicked-off " Blessing Trips, I'm incredibly excited to announce that fundraising for the very first Blessing Trip has already begun! The Knowles Family is a family that I actually know personally, and I'm so thrilled that they will be the very first recipients of the trip of a lifetime through our new nonprofit.  Regina and Izzy Regina is a hard-working single mom of a beautiful 8 year-old girl that has faced some overwhelming challenges throughout these past several months. After years of struggle trying to provide for herself and her daughter, she landed a fantastic supervisor position with a retail company. Things had been looking up and she was working hard to provide the life that she'd always wanted. Then this past December, out of the blue, she suffered a debilitating stroke at the young age of 32.  Since then, she's been faced with an uphill battle for recovery, as well as medical bills that continue to

I'm so excited to share the start of an amazing new adventure that I feel like God has been shaping in my heart for years. I grew-up in a step-family environment and there were many times at both my Mom and Dad's houses where the new "blended" families didn't really blend. Daily life brought some very challenging and painful moments and looking back on those memories, brings me heart-break for all of the millions of kids who I know find themselves in similar situations. However, in the midst of those challenging times, I have many wonderful memories of love, joy and happiness and many of those occurred during time spent away from the hustle and bustle of daily life. Whether it was a simple camping trip in Michigan, or a week away at a family cottage in Indiana, to a cruise on the Caribbean or a visit to the most magical place on earth, Disney, the memories of family vacations are some of the strongest and most wonderful that I have. Many times I've looked