"If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven. Then, come, follow me." Matthew 19:21
"In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples." Luke 14:33
"Sell your possessions, and give to the needy."
"As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy." 1 Timothy 6:17
"Also, I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Hear I am, send me." Isaiah 6:8
Could you do it?
That is the challenge I have heard from God in regards to this crazy call we have both heard. Can I mean what I have said, what I have prayed, since the day I gave him my heart? Here I am. Send Me.
The moment I was called into the kingdom of God, I have felt the pull to go.
Go.
Where? I have no idea.
In the beginning it was Africa. Then Mexico. Then, back home to North Carolina, where I planted my feet in cement and started a life. I don't know when I decided to stay, but much of it was surrounded by first finding love, then passion for a career, and then starting a family. I never meant to stay. I have always lifted my hands up to Him and promised I would go wherever he would send me. But the longer my feet have been planted, the less I have been able to find time for Him.
So when my husband asked me if I would ever pack up our young family, into a tiny box, and Go... sell all the things that tie my feet down, the possibility felt like the first breath of fresh air I have received in 10 years.
All along, I could have been doing it here. But Im not. Here, I suffocate. I try, and try, to generate the passionate love I have for God when I am out, under the stars, away from this American Nightmare of mundane tasking, but oh how alive it feels to be out.
We will still be working, we will still be tied down to some responsibilities, but how much lighter the burden.
You might not get it. But its like the sudden relief you feel right after delivering a child, where all the pressure and pain is faded into the background as you gaze into the life before you. All the beauty, all the possibility. Oh yes, the road will be hard, but it will be so worth the journey!
Sunday, August 28, 2016
So, here we go....
For the past 3 months, my living room has been full of the sounds of YouTube. YouTube videos my dear husband is watching diligently, researching our future. Videos on how tos, how not tos, must haves, makes and models, terminology, and other families like ours, who have made the same terrifying decision.
Lets do something crazy.
Lets get rid of all the stuff.
Lets sell the house. Trade in the cars.
Lets do life just a little bit differently.
Together, as a family.
Why is it crazy?
Because we are a family of 5. With three children. The oldest of which is three, and the youngest is now only 4 months old. We live in a beautiful 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house, on a half acre, in a good part of town. We drive nice cars. We are both nurses, we have good, decent paying jobs. My husband is able to work enough to allow me to stay home with my 3 little beating hearts, only working one night a week. We "have" the American Dream.
And we hate it.
My husband hates working 5 days a week. He becomes incredibly short tempered with everyone. He has no energy to spend working on the house we work so hard for. He has no interest in working in the beautiful yard we once had. I hate leaving my sweet (read: sassy, snotty, goofy, messy, EXTREMELY LOUD ALL.THE.TIME., stubborn, potty training, fight like cats and dogs) babies to go to work. I hate fighting over and over and over again all day to clean up the same messes. To pick up the same toys, that are never played with but always strewn throughout my house.
Why are we killing ourselves?
So we talked about it.
Why are we doing this?
Neither of us like it.
What is stopping us from not doing it anymore.
The answer? Nothing.
So we are tossing the stuff.
We are selling the house.
We are trading in the cars.
We are downsizing.
Into an RV.
The decision to transition to full time RVing has not been an easy one. But it has been exciting. There are a lot of details to look into when you decide to move into a tiny living space on wheels. Will it be warm enough in winter? Will it be cool enough for summer? Will we have enough space? Will it hold up to the wear and tear of 4 full blooded Brennan's stomping and plopping and running into walls? The truth is, we don't know. We are going to do it anyway.
After countless hours pouring over floorpans, researching makes and models, and countless YouTube videos, Facebook forums, and prayer, for better or worse, we have picked a model. We have put in a downpayment, and it is supposed to be here in about 6 weeks.
Lets do something crazy.
Lets get rid of all the stuff.
Lets sell the house. Trade in the cars.
Lets do life just a little bit differently.
Together, as a family.
Why is it crazy?
Because we are a family of 5. With three children. The oldest of which is three, and the youngest is now only 4 months old. We live in a beautiful 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house, on a half acre, in a good part of town. We drive nice cars. We are both nurses, we have good, decent paying jobs. My husband is able to work enough to allow me to stay home with my 3 little beating hearts, only working one night a week. We "have" the American Dream.
And we hate it.
My husband hates working 5 days a week. He becomes incredibly short tempered with everyone. He has no energy to spend working on the house we work so hard for. He has no interest in working in the beautiful yard we once had. I hate leaving my sweet (read: sassy, snotty, goofy, messy, EXTREMELY LOUD ALL.THE.TIME., stubborn, potty training, fight like cats and dogs) babies to go to work. I hate fighting over and over and over again all day to clean up the same messes. To pick up the same toys, that are never played with but always strewn throughout my house.
Why are we killing ourselves?
So we talked about it.
Why are we doing this?
Neither of us like it.
What is stopping us from not doing it anymore.
The answer? Nothing.
So we are tossing the stuff.
We are selling the house.
We are trading in the cars.
We are downsizing.
Into an RV.
The decision to transition to full time RVing has not been an easy one. But it has been exciting. There are a lot of details to look into when you decide to move into a tiny living space on wheels. Will it be warm enough in winter? Will it be cool enough for summer? Will we have enough space? Will it hold up to the wear and tear of 4 full blooded Brennan's stomping and plopping and running into walls? The truth is, we don't know. We are going to do it anyway.
After countless hours pouring over floorpans, researching makes and models, and countless YouTube videos, Facebook forums, and prayer, for better or worse, we have picked a model. We have put in a downpayment, and it is supposed to be here in about 6 weeks.
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