Love Boat

Goodness, have I neglected the blog :-/  I am ashamed! Life gets so hectic for us all doesn’t it? Well, much has changed since I visited last. We no longer have the house in West Virginia. Jim’s work company decided to let that house go. We still have the house in Canton but it seems like we have been away for so long now! The girls and I traveled home the last week of January. We left in some pretty crazy weather!

 

In fact, when leaving West Virginia, headed to Canton, OH, we came across a car that had some major difficulty on the road.

It was a tad unnerving to see this…. Especially since it was only my third time to drive in snow. The people in Ohio acted like I was really in for it this winter since I had never driven in snow but so far so good J The ride home (1146 miles to be exact) was actually pleasant. We took our time and the girls were so well behaved. I was so thankful!

Once we got home, I began making preparations for the Cruise! Jim purchased a “Love Like You Mean It” cruise through Family Life for my birthday in May of 2013. We had been anxiously awaiting its arrival for 9 months since! The day before Jim was to fly home he called me from work. “Baby, I hurt my foot. (…..silence…) Me- “Are you ok??? How bad is it???” Jim- “Oh it’s ok. I think I just twisted it. It’s going to be fine. Don’t worry! When I get to the house I will ice it and elevate it and it will be fine!” He flew home the next day, I picked him up in Jackson, and we made it home safely. We walk into the bedroom and Jim says, “Gosh my boot feels tight. My ankle has been bothering me a good bit today but it felt better last night…” I said, “Oh yeah! Let me see baby. I want to look at it.” He pulls his boot off and I see this ->

 

“WE ARE GOING TO THE DOCTOR NOW!!!!” and we get in the car and do just that. Long story short, the doctor felt sure it was broken in two places but the x ray showed no broken bones. Diagnosis: The worst third degree sprain of all time. Sheesh… BUT! The cruise carried on J

Now that the time had come, I was a freaking out a tad about leaving my girls behind for 5 days. I had never been away from GraceAnn for more than 3 hours in her entire life. Man, it was pretty hard. I knew Addison would be ok. She is four going on thirty and extremely independent so I was not as concerned about leaving her home with her Dad and her grandmother. That is until the day came that we had to leave…. My poor baby cried and begged to go. Gut wrenching pain!!! We loaded up the car and headed out. We drove to Miami because we wanted the time together in the car and I’m glad that we did it that way. (Even though the last stretch was a bit hard after 15 straight hours on the road) à

So the cruise began. Let me just say, this was the most amazing vacation I have ever been on. As soon as we boarded the ship we were greeted with genuine smiles. The love for Jesus was evident from the first step onto the ship. We were handed bags full of materials and a schedule. We went up to the lido deck and enjoyed the first, of many, fabulous meals. We met a nice couple from Memphis who had cruised this same cruise 3 times before and assured us that we would love the experience. Jim and I were really just looking forward to a few relaxing days with no demands from children and lots of sleep! No waking up two to three times a night! Man, was it so much more than that!!!

Night came quickly and we rushed to get ready for dinner. We knew that we would have to sit with people that we didn’t know but we never dreamed that we would be sat with soon to be lifetime friends and beautiful brothers and sisters in Christ!

We learned so much about these people. We laughed, we cried, we shared stories, we bonded, we ATE A LOT, we talked about all of our children, and we even planned trips to see one another once the cruise was over. God allowed us to pour into one another’s lives in such a beautiful way. They were such a witness of God’s mercy, miracles, and love for us and for one another. Jim and I will never forget our precious friends from this experience and they will always hold a spot in our hearts. Isn’t it so awesome how God even cares about who we sit with at dinner on a cruise??? He plans that too. I love it!

So, not only was dinner fabulous, the whole sha-bang was! Each night there were speakers there such as Gary Chapman (The 5 love languages), Alex Kendrick (The movie COURAGEOUS), and many others.

There was always a main session after our meal. They began with praise and worship and you could literally feel the tidal wave of the Holy Spirit rush through that place. Chill bumps covered our bodies, tears streamed down our cheeks at times, and the smiles on our faces seemed to never go away. The message always hit home and motivated us to love one another deeper than we already did when we walked on to that boat. There were also fun things to do like karaoke and newlywed games. They had lots of concerts with big name artists and lots of side seminars that you could attend if you wanted to.

Jim and I noticed a seminar entitled “Blended families” on our schedule one evening as we were going over what the next day would be. We both kind of shrugged and said that would be good for us to attend if we had time. I am so glad we made time. To say that we needed this and that it was for sure God ordained is a severe understatement. We released bondage there in that meeting and set so many opinions and hurts free that we both felt a million times lighter when we walked out of the room. We laughed and cried and felt so refreshed. Just to hear someone openly admit that the church is lacking in the “Blended family” ministry was music to my ears. Finally! Someone says it out loud that blended families have a hard time. It is not easy for anyone involved! And it is ok! God is there to lead us through that just like He is in any other area of our lives. I believe that most churches feel like if they have a blended family ministry, they condone divorce. WRONG. Also, I believe most step parents feel like if they reach out for help, they must be the weak one because they should have it all together and know exactly how to handle every feeling, hurt and situation with ease. ALSO WRONG! So, we prayed, got a few materials, and God gave us a vision. We are to be a part of a Blended Family ministry in our area. We do not know how or when but we do know God gave us both the same vision and He will make a way. We are extremely excited about what God has planned for those in our community in this area!

 

 

Jim and I walked on the ship believing that we had most everything in our marriage “together” and we really didn’t NEED any of the seminars or breakout sessions. We were excited about being a part of it, being around other Christian couples, and hearing what Family Life had to say, but we didn’t really NEED a “marriage cruise”. Wow! Were we wrong! We learned more about one another, we forgave hurts, we met friends that we will cherish forever, we saw couples that had drawn up divorce papers recommit to one another and say those papers were going in the trash, we relaxed, rejuvenated and even renewed our own vows under the moonlight in the middle of the ocean. Most importantly, God showed us something He had for US to do together, as a couple. He revealed another purpose that He put us on this earth for. We learned how to communicate more effectively with one another and we learned exactly what God intended for our marriage to look like. Not only does that affect us, it in turn affects our children, our family, our friends, our church, and our community. This was so much more than amazing. It was truly a piece of heaven on earth!

Please email me at jordanaddibug@yahoo.com if you want to know more about the cruise and how you can go next year to pour into your own marriage! There are discounts and different promotions that I would love to share with you. I am not working with Family Life in cruise promotions or anything, I just want every single person I know to experience this life changing, spirit filled, life altering VACATION of a lifetime.

And so, where are we now? We are back at home waiting on Jim’s foot to heal. His company will not allow him to come back to work until he is released from his Doctor. He has an MRI this Monday and hopefully it will show no reason to stay home from work any longer. If that’s the case, we will head back to Ohio next week. We are praying for God to bring us home soon! His will, not ours J God Bless!

 

~ The Happy Higgins' Household