Happy Glamper

Today’s blogpost is a continuation from our previous blogposts. To catch up, please read our previous blogposts, thanks!

Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43:18, NKJV)

"I will make a road in the wilderness"...some words just jump right off the page when they, all the sudden have deeper meaning!

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. (Jeremiah 29:11, KJV)

"Thoughts of peace"...yea...that...

God is doing a new thing in our lives, a very different thing! 

I deleted two boards from my Pinterest account today: 

• Log Cabin Decor (bye-bye log cabin dream)
• Mountain Retreat (c'ya...don't wanna b ya)

And created a new one:

• Going Minimalist

I began researching minimalism about three years ago. The first blog that made a deep impression and made me really start thinking, was 

http://www.becomingminimalist.com/about-us/ 

If that link doesn't work, please google becoming minimalist blog.

We also watched documentaries on "Tiny Houses."

At that time, I felt so busy. But I also felt like wasn't accomplishing much. I determined to refuse to become a part of what I call "perpetual busyness". 

I was beginning to hear more and more people say:

• I would love to get together but I've just been so busy.
• I want to get the kids together, but we're just so busy right now.
• Let's get the families together soon but the next few weeks are very busy.

Hey, we own five stores...I completely understand busy days, busy weeks, and busy "seasons"; however, I don't understand how a person functions well in a lifestyle of longterm busyness.

Back in the day, I remember ladies dropping by to have coffee with my grandmother. I remember long walks with my Daddy, and by long I mean all day long while we checked on cows, looked for a missing calf, or checked on fences. I remember going fishing with my stepmomma almost every summer evening. I remember the earliest days of my relationship with Mike, walking out properties searching for the perfect spot for a deer stand. What am I saying, almost twenty years later we are still searching for perfect hunting spots!

No cellphone coverage. 

No internet. 

No interruptions. 

No distractions. 

The ultimate FaceTime. 

It just didn't make sense to me, all the modern technology was suppose to free up more time to do the things we love. Instead, I felt like technology was trying to imprison me to do more of the things I didn't love. While completely sucking time and energy out of me, leaving me with an inability to do those things I really loved.

A few years back, I spent the day with a friend. She received over seventy phone calls while we were "together". 

All this caused me to look at my girls and think...I only have about eight more years to impress upon them all the important things my Daddy impressed upon me.

• godly wisdom
• character
• integrity
• life lessons
• relationship

At this point, my girls were already eight and ten years old. Those years had flown by in a flash. I knew the next eight to ten wouldn't go by any slower than the first eight to ten.

We were at a crossroad in our lives, the clock was ticking and my mind was clicking. 

Again, I entertained the thought of living in an RV. I mean...we are in The Last Frontier after all! I thought, “Is this totally crazy?” And, “Can we, a family of four, really live in an RV?” 

All the sudden, a door swung open. (Psalm 37:23) I came across information on RV living. In my research, I found a series of You Tube videos of a family, the Nortons. The Nortons live in an RV….with six small children. I knew at that moment, if she can do this with six…I know I can do this with two!

Thank God for You Tube! I quickly educated myself on the ins and outs of RV living. The good, the bad, and the ugly. I was intrigued, but even more, I was inspired and excited!

I truly believe God had already prepared my heart for this season. 

Two years ago we took our first RV trip from Oklahoma to Alaska. Last year, we took an RV trip around Alaska. (To read about our adventures, please refer to previous blogposts, thanks!) 

I hear you knocking, but no...you cannot come in. Bye-bye now!

Since then we’ve entertained the idea of living in an RV. I just wasn’t prepared to take that jump…....until now!

That’s right, our homeschool just turned into RV school! Mike prefers to call it, "Our Tiny Mansion"...he has always had such a way with words!

It has never taken Mike and I very long to make life changing decisions! My close friend offered to keep our girls so we could go RV shopping. After shopping several dealerships, we are very excited to announce we bought our new second home, our RV!

Our Tiny Mansion!

http://www.granddesignrv.com/solitude-overview.php

If this link doesn’t work, please copy and paste it in your browser or google Grand Design Solitude Front Living. 

We couldn’t get our RV for 10 days due to inspections, servicing, etc. However, the dealership very graciously offered us an rv (free of charge) in the interim. Thanks ABC RV Sales! So we moved out of the hotel and into the temporary RV. During that time, we stayed at the Ship Creek RV Campground. It is very conveniently located in Anchorage. It is within walking distance of downtown and has a great walking trail right on Ship Creek. The campground has a great staff and is a full service campground (meaning full hook ups…water/electricity/sewer as well as showers and laundry). While it was really nice to have so many amenities and be within a few minutes of everything Anchorage has to offer, our hearts were still set on camping in the Alaska wilderness…as much wilderness as we could find while staying in an RV. 

Please join us in our next blogpost as we share with you how God ordered our steps in a life changing direction into this exciting new season of our lives! (Proverbs 16:9)

Where Do We Go From Here…and, How Do We Get There

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10, NKJV) 

Today’s blogpost is a continuation from our previous blogposts. To catch up, please read our previous blogposts, thanks!

During this time, I had a close friend daily walking alongside me in prayer. She is a hardcore prayer warrior and we all need some of them close by! One day she texted me and said, “God wants you to, be still and know He is God.” A few days later, a close friend (in another state and knew nothing of what as going on) texted me and said, “God wants you to be still and know He is God.” Peace rushed over me. God’s Word is alive and changes everything! (Hebrews 4:12) I encourage you to always speak scripture over your life! How great is the love the Father lavishes on us! I had always known God was working things together for my good, but the two texts just confirmed He was my Rock and my Shield! (Romans 4:27, 1 John 3:1, Romans 8:28, Psalm 18:2)

As much as I didn’t want to choose the hotel option, we decided our next step would have to include a brief hotel stay. That short season reminded me of a previous season when we stayed in a hotel due to permitting issues on an apartment renovation on Maui when I was pregnant with my youngest and my middle child was a toddler. God delivered me out of that situation and I knew He would quickly deliver me out of the current situation. (Psalm 18:2)

Several close friends, very graciously offered for us to stay with them so we wouldnt have to stay in a hotel. But we decided, we shouldn’t create disarray in their homes just because our home was in disarray. 

I believe God had been preparing me over the last few years for where I was in this season. A few years ago, God had put it on my heart to store up treasures in Heaven. (Matthew 6:20) I started researching “minimalism". In a culture that screams, “More!”, “Bigger!”, “Better!”, my heart was yearning for the opposite.  

I found myself fed up.

• Fed up with all the “stuff" that really doesn't matter.
• Fed up with payments with the majority of our money being applied to interest. 
• Fed up with paying three times over in interest what I had paid for an item.
• Fed up with not really grasping what was truly important.
• Fed up with not being able to see the forrest for the trees.

I was convinced, there had to be a better way…a more simple way. A more peaceful way. A way that would free up our time and space to do more of what really mattered to us, in excellence.

Before coming to Alaska, we had major plans. We were going to lease a cabin for a time, buy a house (which would be our second home), buy a second vehicle, furnish the house (furniture as well as household goods since we already have a home in Hawaii). But in the previous months, my heart continued to cry out for the opposite. But what is the opposite? We had to have a house and a second vehicle…

or...

did we?

Please join us in our next blogpost as we share with you how God ordered our steps in a life changing direction into this exciting new season of our lives! (Proverbs 16:9)