Winter Tour 2015//February in Review

As you may be gathering from the title of this post, we are going to be switching things up a little with our post schedule while on tour!

Normally, we try to do a post for each week of our tour. However, due to this tour being a little different from normal (what is normal, anyway? Is there even normal?) with several new projects and experiences that we have been involved in, we have been posting updates a little less than usual.

For now, here is a glimpse of the month of February, out on tour, in random order.

We had concerts almost every evening, and two on Sundays, all throughout February. We met thousands of people and saw God working in mighty ways. So many stories of His goodness! Seeing the lost saved and the saved revived never grows old!

Throughout our travels over the years, we have had the privilege to become close friends with some of the most precious people you could imagine.
Above, we got to meet up with dear friends one day as we were driving through Tennessee. We are always inspired and rejuvenated when we are with this sweet family!

Josh making lunch on the bus!

During the prison crusade we were parked at a local church for several days, and took advantage of the church’s large and beautiful kitchen to do many cooking and baking projects.

Hard at work!

Prisons still are, and probably will always be, our very favorite place to sing. I think it really is true that prison ministry gets in your blood; at least it has for us! We were so thankful for the opportunity to minister in three prisons in South Carolina. It was the highlight of our month to be able to go in and share Jesus with those behind bars. 

The brotherhood never ceases to inspire and amaze me with their diligence in physical fitness and personal training. They work out everywhere. (literally. we have stories. =))
This weight bench has been all over the USA, Canada, and Mexico, and it makes its appearance in some parking lot or another, almost daily. =)

Josh has been extremely diligent with his studies. He is the first one of us Bontragers to pursue a college degree, and doing this while on tour, in addition to campaigning and concerts, is not for the faint of heart! He studies everywhere and has been taking CLEP tests at several colleges along the way.

The littles have discovered a new game called “Jungle Speed”. They attempted to teach a few of us older ones and things got quite violent. =) This game can really drive you crazy! Kids seem to be best at it for some reason.

Before a concert one night…

The church we sang at on Valentines Day evening made a delicious meal for our family and decorated the tables so beautifully.

We got to spend a morning with one of our favorite missionary couples, while we were in Florida. We met these friends at our church’s annual missions conference last year, and we have been so inspired by their incredible work for the Lord all over the world. They have been a strong example and encouragement to our family to continue in spreading the light of Jesus wherever we go!

We hardly ever go out to eat, but a sweet lady at one of our concerts gave us some money to do something special, and one of the first places that came to our minds was this favorite southern restaurant of ours, The Sweet Tomato + Soup Plantation. We highly recommend it for large families and really anyone, actually!

The instruction board at the beginning of the salad bar (see above) seemed to have been written specifically for our family, I believe. (hehe!) Some of us have a rather bad habit of tasting nearly everything as we go.

Sure enough, look what little rabbit I found right in front of me, making her salad whilst nibbling on cucumbers!

We love Sarasota and how we always get to meet up with friends and relatives from all over there! A highlight was an amazing brunch and morning spent at these dear friends’ home.

Another blessing of traveling so much is that us children have had the opportunity to get to know our great aunts and uncles and see some of them on a regular (yearly) basis. Above, we enjoyed some time with mom’s uncle and aunt.

The little girls, practicing a new violin duet that they are preparing for a new set.

Costco is our best friend. We really should buy stock there. =) Here mom and the girls are pictured after a stock-up trip one morning!

A late-night basketball game with all the guys, after our concert and after everyone else had gone home.

Thanks to the initiative and prompting of Elizabeth, we once again had our own little family Valentines celebration, where two weeks before Valentines Day everyone drew names and then did special things for their person leading up to Valentines. For our celebration, we had a special meal and then everyone “revealed” their person and gave that person a gift!

Shoutout to our “maple friends” in Michigan for their incredible maple products!
Above is my cup of tea with just a touch of Maple Sugar-SO good!

Spending time with some of our favorite people, in one of our favorite states…Georgia!
We always have such encouraging + uplifting times with them, and several of my brothers are a part of the discipleship group that the father started.

When one has so many instruments on board, that means there is a lot of instrument maintenance involved! The brotherhood do a great job keeping strings changed and in good order.