I wanna know I got no what if's

Has anyone ever told you a story and the first thing they begin with is,

"God told me..." or "I knew God led me to this when..."

And you listen intently and give them a nod of assurance, meanwhile pondering over what that really means or looks like.

I'll be honest, I never knew how to take that. My facial expressions most likely showed my utter confusion and lack of faith, so my apologies to those that knew me prior to my most recent walk with God. But really, what are you talking about God told you something. I used to wonder if people could really hear an audible voice of God and I just wasn't a lucky one to hear from Him. I used to wonder what prayer I had to memorize and pray and maybe something cool like that would happen to me. I'm serious when I say I used to wonder what in the world it would feel like to actually be led by God to do something and not only that, but then actually have the will-power to do it and not be fearful of the outcome!

You may get tired of me saying this but I don't really care. You see, our God is big, really big, and once you start to tune into the goodness of your life you will have little glimpses of better understanding.

So now it's our turn to tell you our "God led us to..." story and we are beyond excited to share this!

Chris and I are dreamers, big dreamers with tons of ideas and goals. Which is a great thing! It keeps our conversations fun instead of the mundane, everyday questions. It helps us stay connected with where and how we see our future together, etc. And at the same time it can create chaos and overwhelm for us. We don't know what to actually go after and what are too off the wall ideas. In our conversation we throw out new business ideas, homeschooling ideas, house remodeling projects, places to travel, new tattoos, new books and Bible studies we need to do...on and on. I'm sure every couple has these conversations to some degree or the other.

Big dreams are scary to me. If you know anything about personality types, I am a Melancholy; I like lists and plans and discussions. Chris is a Choleric; he likes to be the leader (you may be figuring that one out! ;) And he likes a set goal and action behind that goal! (More on personality types another time, it's life-changing!)

We have been on a journey to learn more about God and how to make Him the center of our marriage before one another. We are learning to trust and have faith in Him in every thing we do. That means giving everything up to Him before we give it to each other. It means praying together and for each other and for our future. 10 years of doing marriage together and never praying out loud together is not something we're proud of, but it's something we want to share because it's real life. We didn't magically realize we needed to start doing these things, it was a long, hard process and it's an everyday intentional motion because it's still not completely natural to us yet, but that's ok. God sees our hearts and our intention.

2020 - Covid hit. Yikes! SO much time home together bored and dreaming. Thanks to social media we become aware of the many different lifestyles out there; and one day RV life comes across our screens and we both do a "hmmm, that could be fun!" at each other. We talk about all the things we would have to do, where we would go, what kind of camper, etc. Chris' job is 100% remote now so that's handy and the kids aren't in any extra curriculars, great! We even bring it up to family and friends to get some other opinions on the matter. Long story short, it's not going to work. Too many unknowns and too fearful to leave our hometown, shut it down.

Fast forward to 2022. Often, we sit on our back deck and watch the birds and chat, so when I say we have these conversations that's usually where we are. So our latest 'deck talk' was that we needed to decide which business route to take and if we were ready to make upgrades to our current house or start the process of moving. Finally we decide to get in touch with our realtor and begin the process of looking for houses and de-cluttering ours to eventually sell, not really in a big hurry but it's in the plan.

In the midst of de-cluttering and cleaning, God puts something on our heart, again!

What if, RV life - Camper living, travelling...

The freedom we currently have with homeschooling and Chris working remotely, we agree, we need to pray about it. We love to travel and we love everything about the idea - what is holding us back? Family - that's for sure the hardest part, but it doesn't have to be a forever thing.

For four days we discussed options and prayed that God would open doors for this opportunity if this is what we are meant to do and close doors that are just distractions to us. We included the kids in our prayers every night and asked God to give us a peace about this plan. Within a week, everyone was on board. It was so clear you guys. Discerning God's voice isn't hearing an audible voice saying "yes, go do that." It's a peace that over comes you with every decision you make. God wants our faith and love and a relationship with us. He gave us this dream that most consider the hardest thing we will ever do - selling all of our belongings and down sizing to a camper - but to trust Him with this plan and knowing He already has it all worked out is how we are able to say yes to this. He just wants us to trust him. It's not always going to be easy but trust and have faith. (1 Peter 1:6-8) It's the biggest faith walk we have ever done, but I think that's what He wants so he can prove his goodness once again to us. And not only us, but so we can share our journey and this process of trusting God with you all as well. We have many plans while we're on the road to share the love of Jesus and to see this beautiful country that God created and we hope that you'll follow along with us.

So then, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation, but not to our flesh [our human nature, our worldliness, our sinful capacity], to live according to the [impulses of the] flesh [our nature without the Holy Spirit] - for if you are living according to the [impulses of the] flesh, you are going to die. But if [you are living] by the [power of the Holy] Spirit you are habitually putting to death the sinful deeds of the body, you will [really] live forever. For all who are allowing themselves to be led by the spirit of God are sons of God. For you have not yet received a spirit of slavery leading again to fear [of God's judgement], but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons [the Spirit producing sonship] by which we [joyfully] cry. "Abba! Father!" The Spirit Himself testifies and confirms together with our spirit [assuring us] that we [believers] are children of God. And if [we are His] children, [then we are His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His spiritual blessing and inheritance], if indeed we share in His suffering so that we may also share in His glory. (Romans 8:12-15 AMP)

So let me bring you up to speed. Our camper is here! It's parked in the driveway and the packing and downsizing has begun! Our house is up for sale and we are having a garage sale for the second weekend in a row. In the midst of all the work on the house, cleaning out, telling friends and family, God is still putting pieces together like a puzzle. Every day is a new phone call or a research plan and we pray for guidance through each step and God is faithful.

We can't give away all of the details of our plans but God has been doing some pretty great things in our life and we can't wait to pass on the love of our Savior through whatever means necessary. God is on our side, He is always on the move and His love is unfailing and never-ending.

So the next time you hear someone tell you, "God led me to do this" I hope you have a bit more faith than the last time. I am learning everyday and that's how it works. Learn, pray, and trust and the more you do that - the more He will show you just how good His works are.

One more thing! We need a travelling name and we would love your help in choosing something creative! There are some networking opportunities with full-time travel families so we need a name for our rig and our adventures. Post in the comments below your suggestions and we will be choosing one before we hit the road and you just might win a prize!

May the Lord

BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU;

May the Lord

MAKE HIS FACE SHINE ON YOU AND

Be gracious to you

MAY THE LORD TURN HIS FACE TOWARD YOU

and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26 NIV)