Pure Michigan.  Water Winter Wonderland.  The Mitten.  The Wolverine State.  The Great Lakes State.

Whatever you call it, we carry a state map on our hands wherever we go.  You know you’re from MI when someone asks you were you live and you do this forming the Upper Peninsula (The U.P.) with one hand, and the Lower Peninsula with the other:

Most of our ministry partners are in either Minnesota or Michigan.  Since we live in Grand Rapids, this means lots of weekend or day-trips.

The very last Sunday of April we thought it would be “safe” to venture north to the tip of the pointer finger on the Lower Peninsula to Cheboygan.  We stayed overnight with a lovely woman and her sweet young niece who live in a gorgeous home on an inland lake… which still had ice floating on it.

Sunday we had a great time sharing with the congregation about our ministry in Cameroon and how God is transforming lives through the ministry of Rain Forest International School.

After being treated to a wonderful lunch with the pastor’s family, we had to do what one must do when visiting MI this near to “The Bridge”… We bought fudge!  I guess that makes us official “fudgies” (tourists).

Driving around the area we discovered the ice in the Mackinac Straits is still pretty thick!  In fact, we heard that ferrys had not yet been able to get out to Mackinac Island with supplies needed for the tourist season which was to begin the following week!

And on the way back down to Grand Rapids, we think… hope, we saw our very last sighting of snow for a few years.