New England Road Trip – Part I
“Once a year, go somewhere you have never been before.” –Dalai Lama
There are several things I am passionate about in this life. If you’ve been reading my blog for very long, you know right off how passionate I am about God and my family! Travel is also a passion of mine, as I love exploring and going on adventures!
Each year I look forward to planning vacations for my family. I simply will not solely exist only to work and pay taxes. No, I want more out of life. There is a great big world I have yet to see or experience. So, we go on as many adventures as possible in order to make great memories together!
This Spring Break I realized there is only ONE more Spring Break before my youngest daughter graduates from high school.
MY HEART!!
I am NOT going to handle the empty nest well at all. Let me just go ahead and put that out there.
Thankfully, my daughter has only shown an interested in the small college near our house and doesn’t appear enthused at all about touring bigger colleges or the dorm life. My heart is grateful every time I hear her talk about staying at home a little longer. Thank you, God!! I have already told her she can stay until she is 35 years old, and that would suit me just fine!
Now back to Spring Break …
This year’s adventure took us by plane to Rhode Island. A new airline was introduced at the end of last year, so we decided to give them a try! Breeze Airlines had a really good deal, but there are only certain cities they fly nonstop in to. We looked at the areas and found it was just a short drive from Rhode Island to Maine! What does Maine have to offer? Portland Head Lighthouse is in Maine, and it is a lighthouse I have longed to see ever since I first saw it in pictures across the internet!
So, off we went!
We arrived in Rhode Island on a Thursday, picked up the rental car (making sure the contract stated “unlimited mileage”) and made our first rounds the next morning seeing the local sites. Then, we headed to Salem, Massachusetts. Witch Country. Ha!
Hocus Pocus has been around for years, and both of my daughters enjoyed this movie. Allison’s house from the movie is actually in Salem, so the hunt for all things witchy began. Don’t worry, we played it safe.
Do you recognize this house from Hocus Pocus? It is none other than Allison’s house mentioned previously!
When I was a little girl, I LOVED watching the sitcom Bewitched. I remember trying to twitch my nose just like Samantha Montgomery, but alas, I couldn’t make anything spectacular happen with the twitch of MY nose. Ha! Imagine how I almost squealed with delight when we saw her bronze statue!
We were having a marvelous time exploring Salem, and even went to a re-enactment! Stories were told of those that were stricken with illnesses or afflictions who were thought to have been possessed. Sadly, those innocent victims were hanged when they truly were not witches. Here is a cute little picture of my daughter and I outside of the building where the re-enactment took place.
Stay tuned, as there is more to come of our adventure. Thanks for reading our New England Road Trip – Part I.
Trucking & Trafficking
One may find it hard to believe that the trucking industry is oftentimes involved in human trafficking. Sadly, it happens more than you know.
Jacob Bryant, PR with the Lanier Law Firm out of Texas, found our previous article on human trafficking and felt led to reach out to share literature they have put together on this subject. Not only does it talk about the connection between the trucking industry and human trafficking, their guide includes information on why human trafficking is prevalent in trucking. Their guide also talks about how people are victimized and the signs we all need to be looking for in this fight against human trafficking. We encourage you to read the guide and share this information on your own platforms: Trucking and Human Trafficking. Thank you, Mr. Bryant, for reaching out to our team.
National Human Trafficking Hotline allows you to report a tip. Together we can bring awareness and help in this fight against human trafficking! Please … there are people suffering as you’re reading this. No one deserves to be sold into sex trafficking. Please help shed light on a subject no one wants to talk about, yet everyone needs to fight against!
For those currently in the bonds of slavery or who have endured sex trafficking, we pray for you daily.
The Passion of The Christ
My husband and I watched The Passion of The Christ when it was first released back in 2004. I will never forget the huge impact this movie had on us as it focused on the night prior to the crucifixion of Jesus right up until his death on the cross. Growing up, we read the bible and knew of the great suffering Jesus endured for our sins, but it was almost unbearable to watch it depicted on the movie screen. To think that God gave His only Son as a living sacrifice is something hard to wrap our brains around anyway. Jesus willingly suffered for you and I, enduring the multiple beatings as His flesh was torn away. He carried His cross, stumbling and falling under the great pressure of the heavy cross and the agonizing pain He was in. As if that wasn’t enough, they nailed Jesus on the cross piercing His hands and feet. They mocked Jesus, tormented Jesus, and Jesus died on that cross for our sins.
I remember vividly the tears streaming down my face as I watched. How could anyone watch the great suffering Christ endured and NOT be moved to tears? It baffles me to this day how human beings treat other human beings. But Christ, our Lord? He could have chosen not to go through all of that, but He knew it was His Father’s plan. He did what was ultimately required so that you and I may be forgiven and have eternal life by accepting Him into our hearts.
We get comfortable in our daily lives, and we forget how truly unworthy we all are of this incredible gift Christ gave to us all. Eternal life! The greatest gift of all! How could anyone choose not to accept it?
As we prepare our hearts and minds for Easter, my husband and I sat down to watch Pure Flix. That seems to be the only movie channel we can confidently open for a family movie night without having to worry about the content or rating. We noticed Pure Flix has several Easter movies to view, one of which is The Passion of The Christ, which is certainly worth watching again! Surprisingly, my husband clicked on Risen and got into the movie right away. He began pointing out different characters and their roles in the plot to disprove rumors of the risen Messiah to prevent an uproar in Jerusalem.
Have you given Pure Flix a try? If not, we encourage you to today. They are offering a free trial right now also, so be sure to sign up here. For Easter season and all year long, sign up with Pure Flix so you can be guaranteed quality content and not worry about inappropriate content here! It has been so refreshing for our family.
Disclosure: Many thanks to Pure Flix for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own.
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