The narrowroadschoolers camper revamp & more

So. We are still in Joshua Tree CA. Still staying at our friends ranch. Definitely not what I had planned. ..there I go again, planning stuff... not really.  We are waiting on Dr appointments for my mom and sitting in the desert heat. And we are adding yet another to the mix...our eldest girlie ...that is, once we get the walking orders from the Dr for my mom. So. Since we are adding to our already tight space we thought we could do a makeover inside for what we usally spend on gas... and we are pretty close. 

I bought those beastly orange chairs (they double as beds) last year. We bought 3 ended up taking only one and dropping it off at a thrift shop in Utah last year. The other 2 I tried to sell but after spending $160 each forthem I couldn't bring myself to take  the"best offer" of $50 for all 3. So 2 went into our tiny storage facility.  God knew we would need them this year though. And 3 would have been too many. 

So we revamped the bunks we made for the oldest 2 boys last November then built in 2 more on the other side... a bit shorter though. And then we worked the big orange chairs into a couch/ bed. The girls share the top bunk ....which is a queen... then there was the space where the boys bunk were placed last year... an open canvas. So we built a narrow bench for canned goods and my sewing items and used the cute orange table that I left at my moms last year and voila. A living room was born. A separate space even.

 Definitely not an easy task in a 300 sq ft home with 9 people. And yet Frank saw potential to make our kitchen that much better so shelves and storage were added. I stained the living room wood blue...because what else goes well with orange?

 As we ran out of supplies and budgeted funds...we recycled some of the old even. And it works. We now have a boys bedroom that sleeps 4. And a girls bedroom that sleeps 2. And Judahbug, yeah..he still sleeps in our bed. Revamping a camper to comfortably fit 9 is a daunting task but I think Frank built one of his masterly crafted "pianos" once again. And the girlie....well she seems to be fitting quite nicely into this lifestyle....at least her very own picture suggest she is:) welcome to the crazy and amazing adventure of a lifetime Arianna ... but without you coming we may have made do with what we had in the camper and I am SO grateful because it feels almost like a house ...ok...moreclike a micro apartment... but for this girl who has been dreaming of a bigger rig without a budget this is a huge blessing!

Will we follow?

Recently I was asked to share some of our "missionary stories" so that someone who might support us could get an idea of what we do. We simply cannot do that the way it could be expected.  Many people we meet do not know Christ,  have been hurt by the church, are unbelievers,  could feel like someone's "project" if we broke down the walls of our ministry & compromised what they have shared with us here on the blog.

There are days I often question if what we do is really ministry. Mostly because I love it so much. But who we have grown into these past 10 months has been an amazing journey. And while I won't discuss the trust we have built with strangers we are honored to now call friends... some of whom know Christ & many who do not. The reason this may look like more of a travel blog , so far, is because while we are sharing a gospel bracelet we often choose not to take a photo of that moment because in truth wouldn't that be what the pharisees would do?

2 churches have come alongside us to help support our ministry so far. And to those churches that do we will send letters of our journeys to keep them up to date with our ministry experiences. But that does not mean the stories of the things we do, the people we reach will be on this blog. That would make the people we reach feel like a project.  And that is totally not how we ever want it to be.

We hope you understand. If we met you and became friends with you. It is really your story to tell if we have been Christ's light in your life. Technically, it is God's story. We are simply trying to be obedient. 

And if our journey appears to be  "just a travel blog"  that is not our intention. This is our journey.  This blog our stories & what we learn.

A friend (their family also doing similar missionary work unsupported)  that we met this winter told me that she would never ask to be supported because you might have to put on a show for someone. You either know us well enough to help us or you think we are just being greedy. Sometimes it's sharing a meal with another family or popping popcorn that we can't afford on our income when we show a movie outside. Other times its simply sharing a gospel bracelet with someone. Other times its taking the moment to listen and be a friend to a stranger. Other times its handing a dollar to someone in need.

It should be as simple as loving people.

Ministry needs money to survive. And we do believe that God will supply what we need when we need it. And those churches that have partnered with us we will be accountable to and have committed to a simple lifestyle. 

Simply put.

We have never gone to Disney. Ever.

And unless we pay for it ourself would never dream of it on ministries dime.

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.

The Passion

I have been trying for over a week to figure out WHAT to write. We desperately needed some family downtime & readjustment and I am happy to report that things are almost back to normal. ..whatever that is in our world. We spent a week just outside of Orlando & have moved campsites once already to Wildwood Florida. 
We are taking the next week or so to fill up spiritually at Grace Tabernacle   & enjoy some fellowship there with people we met back in November as we arrived in Florida... little did we know then we would spend 4 + months in Florida. This church has  kind of stolen a piece of our hearts...and while we love our nomadic missionary journey, we also know a special place when we find it.
They put on two massive productions a year The Gift at Christmas and The Passion at Easter.They have everything from theatrics, live musicians and dance and even aerial ballet. It is truly amazing. Tickets are reserved but FREE all you need to do is go to the church website to reserve them. www.gracetab.org  The Passion dates are April 17-20 at 7pm & April 19 matinee at 3:30 pm. Wildwood Fl is about a 45 minute drive from Orlando and well worth it. Honestly I had hoped to be here for the Passion but it looks as if our time in Florida is nearing its end.
But that's a different post entirely.