Selfish Desire or Freedom in Grace?

This past week we have stayed about 20 miles south of Sedona AZ. It is quite possibly the perfect marriage of desert & cold flowing rivers. I have learned I am still very much in love with the great southwest.

We have been able to visit several National monuments nearby this week & Slide Rock state park.

 On Sunday we found a fantastic church to visit, & connect with in Cottonwood AZ. 

I am not ready for our time here to end. 

Despite the fact that cell phone service & internet is less than stellar

THIS place is beautiful. 

So we are faced with decisions.

push back toward SoCal 

toward the hi-desert. 

To get closer to my mom. 

Or. Keep traveling where we choose....

These days it is difficuIt to know the BEST way to go. 

I am conflicted. 

We know God can use our journey 

no matter where we are located. 

But knowing when & where isn't always easy. 

Tucson, lunch & opportunity.

Our time in Tucson is at a close. I am up way too late baking a variety of homemade bread rolls from ham & cheese to bratwurst & cheese way too late preparing for our next stop. Tired tonight... I made a crucial mistake as I prepared these rolls (I have only used 2/3 of my dough). The 1st batch took forever! It seems the warm setting on the toaster oven doesn't really bake...who knew...right?
Tucson has been wonderful! Visits with friends new and old, a big full time family roadschool rally, lots of swimming too!
Obviously after a busy day sightseeing around Tucson from the Saguaro national park, the mission& then the air force base you would think I would have it all together. Not to mention pack up, a healthy dinner of banana chocolate swirl milkshakes and catching up on laundry & a way too overtired & grumpy little Judahbug.
Frank has trained all week learning how to install lifetime RV roofs. He will be working on the side to help support us on the road until we can be funded. There just is no other way to do this. He has been hired at Amazon Camperforce for the fall season. We will be living/ camping in an Amazon campground in Nevada from September until Christmas this fall. Hopefully that will help us balance the equation for our adventures.
Sometimes when you pray for provision God gives you a job...we are trying to look at this as an opportunity & praying it doesn't take away from our ministry potential or family time.

It is Thursday

And no matter what I do I just can't seem to get it together today.

some things I learned ( about us) at the roadschool convention

We are comfortable with who we are. We may not use the most expensive, popular or any one curriculum but that's ok. There is a diversity of income as well as educational philosophies out here on the road. But at the end of the day you have more in common than different.

We are risk takers.... or maybe faith followers... or perhaps just plumb crazy.

We love our lifestyle. It's very freeing to be nomadic. Getting to meet new people & see treasured friends ( both within the fulltime rv community & outside of it) along the way. There is always something new to see or amazing to explore.

There are quite a few ways to make money on the road.

Take pictures. LOTS of them. The souvenirs don't last but capturing the memorable moments is priceless.

Everyone has their own style. What works for you may ... or may not... work for another rv family. But sharing stories & learning from each others triumps & even mistakes can be encouraging.

Don't presume to know it all. As soon as you think you do it will be clear that you do not.

Don't compare your kids to other kids. Each child is a blessing & remembering that even those differences make the journey that much more amazing.

Life is too short to be grumpy. Forgive quickly and love others ( noy just those that are like you) richly.

Don't wish for what you don't have. Be thankful. Enjoy.

Give generously. Share a meal, a smile, a hug, a word of encouragement. Life is also too short to be lonely. To find friends you need to be friendly.

Don't be afraid to start a conversation with someone new... it may be yet another amazing person or family

We Made It!

On Wednesday we pulled into the Tucson Lazydays/KOA for THE very first ever roadschool convention & rally. Its a busy 3 days of distributers, dealers and direct sales coupled with roadschool tips and tricks. Sure to be a fantastic 3 days!  If you are around Tucson it's not to late to come takea look...even if you're just in the dreaming stage of things. I love Fulltime Families. We have been able to connect with so many other neatrv families because ofall they do.
If you are on instagram or facebook and just wwant to see all the photos type in the hashtag #roadschoolrocks

Lunch Rolls & travel plans

It seems my (very talented & thrifty husband) created a new food for the days we roll down the road mostly bacause lunch on the fly presents a mound of challenges when toddler to teenage bellies get hungry ... so rather than spend WAY too much in fast food joints that make us all feel icky he began making mini bread rolls...tomorrow's varieties include ham&cheesy and pepperoni&mozzarella.... mmmmm & my camper (and the entire neighborhood) smell amazing.
Add to that the Texas pork chops I baked ahead of any potential dinner schedule and I think we will be quite prepared to continue our westward journey to arizona tomorrow.  So... we will continue west... on a bit more faith than funds... but I know God knows exactly what we need... so we are planning to trust Him. Let me say this...this campsite has been a delightful respite to our busy Florida schedule the past several months and we could stay another 12 days....but we really feel God urging us to get to Arizona for this roadschool gathering...which ultimately gets us within reach of California to visit my mom sooner than later.
So... I am off to lie down so we can get up & get moving tomorrow (notice I didn't say an early start )

Travelers to Tucson Part 1

Well. We did it. We LEFT Florida and began our journey westward on April 1. 

We got a late start the 1st of the 2 driving days.

The 1st night we pulled in late at a truck stopto stop for the night and of course Judah had just had a nap.

we gassed up and nestled in among the big rigs & red clay.

God knew by day 2 that if we had driven in the sunshine 

I would have cried passing though all the incredible places that were on my list of places to visit...

like this one from Houson 

in the distance the clouds looking ominous hovering over the city

I am once again remineded that this journey isn't about me. 

We love this gypsy life though and rather than consider all the places we

 couldn't stop at this trip we were thankful for safe travels.

by the time we got to Texas however,  we knew we needed a few day break in travel

so here we are for a few days in Columbus, TX just a little west of Houston.

while there are still many miles to the big roadschool convention in Tucson we needed a couple days of no travel before we continue westward. And with over 600 miles remaining just in Texas alone we willrun, jump, play, fish, and hike for a few days before we jump back in the van and continue our westward journey.