We’re Serving Onboard the Logos Hope January 2026!

We’re so excited to share with you that we’ve been given the opportunity to volunteer onboard the Logos Hope in January for 30 days. Nick will be working in Project Maintenance (think construction) and I will be helping in the school as Ivy attends classes with the other kids that live onboard. We’re eager to be part of what God is doing through the ships ministry and to learn what He has planned for our family.

Joining the Logos Hope in 2009

In each port it visits, the ship opens it’s bookfair for hundreds to thousands of visitors each day, offering over 5,000+ titles at discounted prices, including Bibles, resulting in many people buying quality literature for the first time in their lives! The ship also offers practical help like dental and construction teams and partners with local churches, according to the needs of each port. But most importantly, the ship offers hope to each person who comes aboard because they are given the chance to learn about God’s love for them. Click HERE for a 60 second clip about the Logos Hope.

This trip is especially meaningful to us because we served with OM Ships from 2009-2012 in both the Florence, SC office and on this same ship, the Logos Hope. If you’ve followed me since I began blogging in 2008, you may remember this blog used to be titled, ‘Sailing with the Stewarts” during our years with OM Ships! Nick and I have always shared a heart for missions and, since Ivy was born in 2020, we have felt a calling to return to overseas missions. During these years we have been going on short-term missions trips and praying that God would reveal where he wants us to serve. This summer, we felt God giving us direction when we found that the Logos Hope can use Nick’s skills in construction. We’re excited to volunteer with the ship ministry again, this time bringing Ivy with us!

***To make this family missions trip possible, we’re raising $1822 to cover our room and board, plus airfare and emergency medical insurance on top of that. We’d be so grateful if you’d consider partnering with us—through your prayers and, if you’re able, with a financial gift. Every gift, big or small, helps us!

👉 How to Give:

• Click HERE to give online
• Check – Payable to OM USA and mailed to OM USA Finance Dept. PO Box 444 Tyrone, GA 30290.  Put “Nick and Emily Stewart - 2261134” in the Memo Line.

Random things you may be wondering…

-The Logos Hope is the world’s largest floating bookfair, but I like to explain it’s like a floating city. Just like in a city, there are engineers, electricians, plumbers, nurses, teachers, cooks, bakers, a finance department, event planners and many others. It’s a great way to combine a career you enjoy with a calling from God.

-There are about 400 volunteers from over 60 countries serving onboard!

Nick and I with our “ship family” 2010

-Nick and I will serve as volunteers, we will not be paid and Nick will pause his construction company’s projects during these 4 weeks we will be away.

-Nick, Ivy and I will be in a family cabin. It’s basically 3 rooms: Ivy’s bedroom, a bathroom and a family room with a couch that converts to a bed for Nick and me. It’s extremely tight, but living in a small cabin was actually one of my favorite memories of ship life. 

-We will eat all our meals in the Dining Room with everyone else.

My Reception Class 2009

-The school is on Deck 9, the top deck. When Nick and I lived on the ship previously, I was the Reception Class teacher, which is ages 4-5. Ivy will be 5 as we join the ship, so it feels really special to have the chance to experience the school again with my own daughter being the same age as the sweet little students I loved!

-While I worked in the school during our time onboard, Nick worked in the book-hold. His days were spent driving a forklift to unload containers, unpacking and organizing, inventory and restocking the Bookfair. This time, however, he will use his skills as a builder to help in Project Maintenance!

Nick driving the forklift in Jamaica 2010

-The ship is scheduled to be in Trinidad during the month of January. Just like returning to the school, this also feels very special because we visited this same port during our time on the ship and have good memories of how much we enjoyed that area.

Thank you for considering being part of this journey. We can’t wait to share how God works through this trip!

Please reach out and keep in touch:

nickemily07@gmail.com

Nick (843)245-4936

Emily (843) 618-1447

***UPDATE: As of November 3rd, we have raised all of our $1822 for the ship costs…THANK YOU! Now we continue to raise money to cover our flights ($2,784.39) and emergency travel insurance costs ($333.96).

👉 How to Give:

• Click HERE to give online
• Check – Payable to OM USA and mailed to OM USA Finance Dept. PO Box 444 Tyrone, GA 30290.  Put “Nick and Emily Stewart - 2261134” in the Memo Line.

I’M OVER THE HILL

When I turned 30, I recorded all of my accomplishments from my 20’s in this blog post. So, as I’ve been approaching 40, I’ve been eager to repeat the process. Last week, a friend pointed out that I’m a reflector and it’s true! I always love to complete something, reflect on how it went, usually blog about it and then move forward in confidence that I’ve grown and I’m ready for whatever comes next. Now that I’m finally over the hill, I’m excited to share the things that meant most to me and shaped me in my 30s:

I kayaked in both the Caribbean and Murrell’s Inlet, crossed the finish line during the Cooper River Bridge Run, hit Gold with Young Living Essential Oils and walked across stage with 20,000 people in the audience to shake Gary Young’s hand and receive my award, got purple highlights in my hair and chopped it all off and donated it again two more times, cheered Nick on as he won his age group in a Triathlon, enjoyed several family cruises to the Caribbean, hiked all over Hawaii with my friend Emily, road-tripped to Texas with my sisters and visited Magnolia, hiked Pinnacle Mountain twice and decided it’s my favorite hike ever, saw my real life cowboy, Ben Temple, compete in a few Rodeos, attempted my own Triathlon but was brought back to the finish line in an ambulance instead, completed our renovation and enjoyed living in the most beautiful home we’ve ever owned, road-tripped most of January-July of 2018 seeing everything from touring DC, camping on the coast in Maine and eating lobster, getting soaked in Niagara Falls, relaxing in Oak Island, avoiding sharks at New Smyrna Beach, getting motion sickness on rides in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, riding an airboat in the Everglades, looking at my reflection in the Chicago Bean, touring the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter, being underwhelmed by Mount Rushmore, taking a Maker’s Mark tour, driving to Canada to see Banff and hike to the Lake Louise Tea House, making it all the way over to the Northwest corner again, walking through the Japanese Garden and Rose Test Garden in Portland, relaxing on a two week Alaskan cruise, hiking in Colorado with my cousins, white water rafting in Spokane on the Young Living Gold Retreat, and then we wrapped up this trip of a lifetime to come back home and see our two baby sisters get married and just as we felt that life couldn’t get any better, found out we were pregnant, but miscarried and buried our sweet little nugget in my parent’s backyard.

This was followed by a series of losses over some difficult years in which we found out that Nick’s dad had cancer and our niece was diagnosed with Sanfilippo syndrome and they both passed away soon after, while at the same time we were struggling to get pregnant and found out through our own genetic testing that Nick also carries the Sanfilippo gene. Our lives slowed down significantly, but I still enjoyed a trip out west with my mom to the Young Living Beauty School and then again, another trip with my mom, when I earned an Alaskan Cruise and invited her to join me and we even got to treat ourselves to High Tea in Canada. A sweet friend gave me my Labradoodle Lucy and she became my quiet little companion and soon after, we sold our perfect home in Florence, bought a Fixer Upper in Greenville and were thrilled to find out we were pregnant again, just in time for COVID to shut down the world, but the months at home gave us time to finish our renovations and spend quality time together before becoming parents. 

We delivered Ivy with a midwife and without any epidural or pain medications and after her 1st birthday, rented out our house and took her on her first big roadtrip, going all up and down the east coast making stops in Oak Island, Wilmington, all over the outer banks and camping on the magical island of Ocracoke, visiting family in NJ, walking around colonial Williamsburg and hiking around Gettysburg, taking her to Animal Kingdom, the Biltmore, to the Cabbage Patch Kids Hospital right outside of Helen, GA and so many places in between that I struggle to remember. In her short little life, she’s cruised the Caribbean, been to an all-inclusive in Cancun and still asks to go back to the kids slide, been to the Dominican Republic twice on missions trips, spent a week in London, played at Dollywood, countless weekend getaways and girls trips, hiking, camping, swimming, boating, bike riding, walks, baseball games, trips to the beach, family outings, yoga classes, playgrounds all over, horseback riding, paddleboarding, dance camps, church camps, scootering, hugged Anna and Elsa at the Epcot Frozen ride, loved going to school in 2K-4K and she couldn’t be happier to be in Kindergarten now. She is extroverted, adventurous, full of energy, happy, an amazing traveler and the perfect addition to our family.

A couple years ago, I got off social media and haven’t missed it one bit, we bought another Fixer Upper, which we still live in now, purchased our first rental property down the street from us, enjoyed more than $30,000 in FREE travel since learning how to travel hack and we are getting ready to celebrate 18 years married on (another FREE) trip to Cancun! Over the weekend, as Nick and I were both reflecting, we agreed that other than the first year we were married and the first six months of 2018, this year has been our best year yet. We’re both 40, in good health and happily married, we have caring friendships, supportive family, are involved in our church that we love, Nick's business in thriving, we're involved in missions and travel often, live in a very friendly community, Ivy is wonderful, happy and healthy and we both recognize how blessed we are and how quickly things can change. So, as I sit here, days into 40 and everything going for me, I’m reminding myself to enjoy the moments because these are the days that I’ll look back on and wish for when they are gone.

Each decade has been better than the last and I’m ready to see what 40 has got for me!