47 Days With Oliver        August 1st -Day 3 

 After 2 days, 4 states and 790 miles we’ve made it to our first destination: Colorful Colorado.

Following many days of prepping and packing we rolled out of Fayetteville Monday morning, July 30th. But really, HOW do you pack up your life for 47 days?! 😳 We don’t know either. But we think we did alright. We’ll let you know... 😉

Our first stop: Tulsa, Oklahoma. Here we enjoyed a delicious birthday brunch for Ryan’s Dad, Russ. Sweet time with family was the perfect send off for our 47 day road trip. They sent us with lots of love and lots of Chex mix. 

2nd stop: Tulsa, Oklahoma to SELL Ryan’s car! Yep, you read that right. It’s been pretty amazing watching God’s provision unfold the past few weeks. After a VERY generous offer from a dear friend to lend us his trailer (Thank you Kevin Frye!!), we knew things needed to move fast. We sold Ryan’s Mazda (Thank you Ryan Corle!) and bought the perfect mid-sized SUV for our road-trip, family and life! Our new Highlander is awesome. It's had just one owner who's taken PHENOMENAL care of it (My dad!! ☺️)! So, we left Fayetteville with 2 cars and we will return home with 1. Only Ryan Klintworth can work that kind of crazy magic! 

Next stop: Mulvane, Kansas for the night. 

We enjoyed some brats, beautiful weather and ice cream with cousins! It’s always fun to see family. Thanks Aunt Karen and Uncle Gregg for hosting us. 

After a full, leisure day of driving we pulled into Denver, Colorado last night. 

So here we are...it’s never where we expected to be. A 47 day trek to honor our son’s 47 day life. We never could have dreamt up this nightmare. One year ago (after months of trying and waiting) we were expecting our second child!! Oh happy day! Little did we know, just a few months later on November 15th everything would change. Our world came crashing down with these dreaded words, “Something is wrong with the baby’s heart.” Something is wrong. 

Now, everything feels wrong. Nothing feels right. Oliver’s broken heart has been made perfect! Praise Jesus. But now we’re the broken-hearted ones. We’re sitting here in the aftermath of this terrible storm— waiting. Waiting for the sun to come out. Waiting for healing. Waiting for God to work. As we wait, we move. We journey. We are seeking to find what is STILL true, right and beautiful in this world. Because we know it’s out there. 

A few weeks ago, a dear friend of mine asked me for prayer requests to cover our trip.

Seems like a thoughtful, simple request. Here’s what I said: 

“Sure. I have lots of prayer requests for the trip. I’m expecting God to show up in BIG ways. 

Specifically: Protection over travel, no complications with vehicles, smooth logistics, nice weather, healing for our hearts, RENEWAL of JOY, strong bond and special memories for Ry, El and I. 

Personally: I want to be able to breathe without having to remind myself to. I want to wake up excited about life. The ease of life that was stolen Nov 15th... I want that back! I want to see God’s beautiful creation & be reminded just how big He is and how small I am. He is God, I am not. I want to think of Oliver and smile- not cry. When I think of him I want to be reminded of all we have GAINED from his life and death- not just everything we’ve lost. I want to find my rainbow in the midst of this storm. So I have proof that the sun is still shining down on us.” 

Thanks for joining us on this #47dayswitholiver roadtrip. 

Much love, 

Ryan, Molly, Eleanor and Oliver