Adams County Historical Society. This building once held wounded soldiers from the Battle of Gettysburg.
I just returned from a jam-packed trip to Washington, D.C., Gettysburg and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania! From Sept. 29-Oct. 3, I used just about every mode of transportation available to get around- plane, rental car, subway, taxi, and Amtrak train (no boats this time). The trip was a great success. Here are the highlights: 1) Spent my first night with Bettina Dowell at her home outside of Washington, D.C. She has written for FaithDeployed.com and we've spoken on the phone, but this was my first time meeting this kindred spirit, a Navy wife, in person. And bless her heart, she had just had knee surgery the day before, but that didn't stop her from being a great hostess from her recliner!
2) Drove up to Gettysburg, PA, to do research for an upcoming book: Battlefields & Blessings: Stories of Faith and Courage from the Home Front. My first stop was to comb through the civilian accounts of the Battle of Gettysburg in the archives of the Adamas County Historical Society, which is housed at Lutheran Seminary on Seminary Ridge. The historians there were so helpful, and my co-author Karen Whiting drove down from her home in Maryland to meet me there and do her own research. I had never met Karen before either, so this was a real treat! (I still haven't yet met my two co-authors Jane Hampton Cook and John Croushorn from my second book, and I've only met two of my 14 contributors from Faith Deployed!)
The next morning I headed over to the National Military Park at the Gettysburg battlefield and did more research in their private reading room. Such a gorgeous day, I wished I could have toured the grounds, but time did not permit. 3) Pittsburgh, PA, was originally my one and only destination for the trip, before I started adding on the side trips. I went to Pittsburgh to receive in person two awards from the Military Writers Society of America: Battlefields & Blessings (Iraq/Afghanistan) won the Gold Medal (spiritual category) and Faith Deployed won the Bronze. I was honored to receive the awards on behalf of all my co-authors and contributors. The theme of conversation at my table, however, seemed to be how young I looked. Someone even told me he thought I was 16, and I must be attending because my dad was receiving an award. I just kept reminding myself of 1 Timothy 4:12:
Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.
I didn't really mind, I just hoped my youthful appearance didn't discredit the serious "grown-up" work that my books represent!
I did make one contact at my table- a man from USO is going to try to help me get Faith Deployed in the USO airport lobbies in major cities around the world. How incredible would that be! The icing on the cake for this trip was that three of my best friends from college decided to meet me in Pittsburgh for a mini-reunion. It was short but oh so sweet, since one of them had just had her first baby, so we all got to meet the little guy. I'm exhausted, but utterly thrilled with how everything went!
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