The Journey Continues

Ok, Ok, I'm so sorry, but this is the first chance I've had to get to a computer since I last posted.
So, here goes:
Have you walked through your local mall and smelled that wonderful aroma of baking pretzels? Did you have to stop and get one? Maybe the cinnamon sugar pretzel, or the glazin raisin? Or how about an original pretzel with dip? We've been eating them for years. Let me back up a little bit. Anne of Auntie Anne's Pretzels is an old family acquaintance of Daddy Spice's family. Her family lived in Austin for a few years and attended the same church. Anne's brother Sam has been a friend of ours for many years. D.S. worked for Sam when we first got married. About 12 years ago, the first Auntie Anne's Pretzels came to the Austin area. I remember D.S. talking about opening a franchise some day. Well, God had other plans for us, so we put that idea on the back-burner.
After the events that happened last January, D.S. made the comment that maybe it was time to open an Auntie Anne's. I didn't think much of it because I just thought for sure we were staying full time ministry. A few days after his comment, we were visiting the bunkhouse (where we are living right now) and decided to check out the new outlet mall nearby. We prayed that morning for a divine appointment, as we had no idea what God's plan was for us. We entered the mall, and headed towards the Disney Store for Spicy Girl. We began to smell those wonderful baking soft pretzels and just smiled at each other. Then we crossed paths with an old friend whom D.S. had known for years. She was wearing an Auntie Anne's hat, shirt and so on. D.S. jokingly asked if her husband had her working a second job. She laughed and said, "Oh no, we own this Auntie Anne's, and it's been the most amazing thing."
Well, we went home that evening, and I reminded D.S. that we prayed for a divine appointment. And from then on out, we've been working to get there.
We just returned from Lancaster, Pennsylvania where we had the greatest 5 hour interview at the corporate headquarters. What I loved was that not only did we tell them how God got us to this point, but they also shared their testimony how God got them where they are with the company.

Later that evening, we picked up Sam's son Kyle and mother (also Anne's mother) who was friends with Nana Spice. We went to dinner, and then Kyle took us to the beautiful counseling center they've built.

Look who was camping out across the street from the counseling center. It's Anne and her family. She invited us to come toast some marshmallows with them.

Anne has a book out now called Twist of Faith. I thought I should read it before our interview. I bought it about 3 days before we left in hopes that I would finish it in time. It took me about 5 hours to read it. I couldn't put it down. It's the most amazing story of faith, redemption, forgiveness and God's faithfulness. I highly recommend it. We got to see the counseling center that was always Anne's husband's dream. It was such an honor to meet Anne, as I was not attending the church yet when she was here in Austin.

Lancaster is one of the most beautiful places I've seen in the U.S. The farmlands are green, lush and gorgeous!! We took an Amish buggy ride tour.

Now, it was also recommended that we visit Hershey, Pennsylvania as well. We made a quick stop at the Chocolate Factory, and had a great time!!

Do you see how much chocolate we walked out with???? YUMMM!!

Now, we are still on this Auntie Anne's journey. We have not gotten our approval letter yet, and we have no idea where our location will be. We may have to wait two years to get the location we want, so I'll just have to keep you posted as we find things out. Thank you for your prayers, as I know many of you have prayed for us. We're still not there yet, but know God has just the right place for us.