It's been a whole year since we loaded our camper with what mattered most to us and pulled away from the dream house and property that had been ours for just over 5 years. We've loved learning to take one day at a time and trusting God to open doors for us. I love to look back over the past year and see how different our path is now then we imagined when it started out!
I'll summarize a bit:
Around July and August 2015 we were confirmed several times over that we are to leave Arkansas. Buying another property before our current one sold wasn't even an option so we felt stuck. A simple life was very appealing to us so we began to dream about living in a camper until our house sold. But we quickly discovered that a lot of people thought we were totally crazy so we began to doubt ourselves. However, we became connected with a huge community of people who live in RV's because they want to and love traveling. Our passion was rekindled as we trolled Facebook pages and asked questions of these experienced travelers.
The end of August we took the plunge and bought a 31 foot travel trailer with the plan to move near my parents in Texas and wait for our house to sell to buy property. Up until the week we left for Texas I fully expected God to work hard and fast and sell our house and prayed diligently about it. Instead he brought us a young couple who needed a house to rent. We were disappointed that it hadn't sold but knew it was time to move on so we officially moved December 22,2015. Our belongings had been sold or were put into the storage shed that Eldon built on dad's property.
Now we had a new problem. Since our house hadn't sold, Eldon needed a job ASAP. However, he didn't want to start at a hospital because what if our house sells and we can't find a house in Texas near his new job? He does not like change at all so being a travel nurse with 13 week contracts looked like misery. But, he decided it was the best option at the time and signed up with a travel company. We wanted a job "close" to mom and dads. "Close" ended up being 3 hours away in Brownwood, Texas. Every other weekend we traveled back to dads for church and to do laundry. Also,we had to check out of the State Park every 14 days. It was exhausting!
The end of April Eldon's contract was up and our house STILL hadn't sold! However, we now knew that we loved living in our camper. Nearly everything was more simple and our time with and for each other had tripled or more. Eldon also discovered that 13 week contracts weren't so bad after all. In fact, the idea was growing on us that just maybe we could be a traveling family after all!
Since my family reunion was in Colorado in July 2016, he picked up a job in Cortez, Colorado. Our months there confirmed to us that yes, we absolutely love traveling and this lifestyle.Our house finally sold. But now we've decided that instead of going into debt we're going to SAVE money before we buy property. Is it just another excuse to stay on the road? Maybe so?! We're not sure. But, we do feel like this is exactly where God wants us for now. It's so freeing to not have a plan in place for the next 15 years! Currently we're spending 8 weeks at my parents taking care of their chicken barn while my dad recovers from hernia surgery. We couldn't do this if we had a "normal" life! We also have no idea where our next job will take us and I find it rather exhilarating :).
So please, don't feel sorry for us or our children. Nope, we don't have predicable life,see the same friends each week, or worship with the same believers every Sunday. Those are the things we miss the most. But the things we love the most is, being spontaneous, meeting new friends,sharing the bond of worshiping God with Christians we haven't met before, the ability to pick up our house and go visit friends, and the awesome country God has placed us in!
We do consider Texas our home base and spend a fair amount of time here when it works into our route. We've lived 8+ hours away from any family all our married life so being in my parents back yard feels like a slice of heaven! It's always so hard to leave them and my little sisters when we pull out but we comfort ourselves with the fact that we will be back, Lord Willing! Our children love that we were able to spend time at each one of their cousins homes this past summer and since that's a gift I never had, I love it too!
As of right now, we have no solid idea where we are going next. Eldon's recruiter is looking for a job pretty much anywhere within 8 hours of here, as long as it's farther South :). Until then, Eldon is happily satisfying his farmer's itch and we're all getting
