Bobbie is a trained spiritual director with her Master’s degree in Spiritual Formation and Leadership. She designs and leads contemplative retreats and teaches courses that help people draw closer to and develop their ability to listen to God. She has taught formally and informally in many roles outside of traditional school contexts. She loves to help people actively engage in their learning and growth whether by, in the past, leading hikes as a Park Ranger with the National Park Service and schooling her children at home or, now, guiding people in spiritual practices where they can encounter God. She currently has her own spiritual direction practice and is an adjunct faculty member at PAX Center for Christian Spiritual Formation.

Abigail is a medieval historian. She is interested in discovering how ordinary people – mostly peasants cultivating the land – lived their lives. What concerned them? What occupied their time and their thoughts? A background in environmental history makes her pay attention to the deep layers of interaction between humans and landscapes, which we shape and which in turn shape us. A long-standing interest in Christian history has led her to devote time to study both monasticism and lay piety, formally and informally. When she is not researching peasants, nuns, or bureaucrats, Abigail enjoys finding ways to connect modern people to the mindsets and insights of ordinary and extraordinary people from the past. In July of 2022, Abigail completed her PhD in medieval history at Princeton University, where she now teaches in the writing program.

Together, Bobbie and Abigail have taken several trips in areas worn thin by the prayers and practice of Christians from other ages. After several years of marveling at the insights their different trainings and proclivities could provide for each other, they thought it was time to invite others along.

We hope our expertise, your curiosity, and our good God will make this a truly enjoyable and enriching trip.