Photo Every Day 2023

I had an epic weekend in Bar Harbor, ME (pictures and explanation coming soon…)

On the way back home from Maine I stopped in the Hartford, CT area for the night, and then woke up and drove from Hartford to the Lancaster, PA area to train 4 Chair Discipling at a conference.

When I set up my navigation to get me to Lancaster, I had two basic options. One would take me directly through New York City and just outside of Philadelphia. That was the faster route, but it was also the more expensive and potentially traffic-filled route. The other route was a bit longer, but it avoided big cities (and tolls).

I decided that I had time to just enjoy the drive, so I took the slightly longer route.

Much to my delight, it turned out that the route I chose took me right by a sign that said, “C.F. Martin Factory 2 miles”.

What?!

I didn’t realize I was driving by the Martin guitar factory!

When I was a kid, my grandpa used to tell me about the C.F. Martin factory. He said that you could go in there and take a tour and see how all of those amazing guitars are made. He said it was his dream to go to that factory, sit down and play the guitars, and then just buy the one he loved and walk out with it that day.

That became my dream, too!

My grandpa had massive hands. He couldn’t fit them inside of a baseball glove, so he just played ball with no glove! Still, somehow he was able to play guitar with those sausage fingers, and playing guitar was something that we both had in common and enjoyed talking about.

When we were together, we would often talk about how he was going to take me to the C.F. Martin factory some day and take the tour, and then we would sit down and play the guitars, and we would pick out the perfect guitar for me, pay for it on the spot, and walk out with it that day.

Unfortunately, that never happened. My grandpa passed away several years ago, and we never made it to the C.F. Martin factory together.

But I did make it to the factory (accidentally) on my own today.

I have to say, it was pretty awesome. I couldn’t resist taking a photo of the legendary storefront…

In case you are tempted in any way to feel bad for me not getting a chance to pick up a Martin guitar with my grandpa, please don’t! It was a fun dream, and it was something that we loved to talk about. I would have absolutely loved to have had the chance to go to the factory with my grandpa and actually do what we dreamed about doing (maybe less for the guitar and more just to see the huge grin on his face).

But in 2017, when Jodi and I started this epic adventure of being full-time Musicianaries, we were blessed to have the opportunity to go to the Sweetwater music store in Fort Wayne, IN, and I was able to pick out my dream Martin guitar, pay for it on the spot, and walk out with it that day.

I love that guitar. It reminds me of my grandpa. It reminds me of the people who made that dream happen by going to Sweetwater with us and paying for the guitar on the spot. It reminds me the goodness of God, and of the treasure of family. It reminds me that God often answers dreams a little differently than you thought He would, and sometimes even better than you ever thought He could.