Stumbling onto Inspiration

Sorry this isn't part two yet, but I had to share today's inspiration. Somehow I happened upon a book talk given by Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus (http://www.theminimalists.com/etr/) tonight. Hubs and I went and it was packed. Their story is a bit like ours: finding out truly what the important things in life are, and pointing their life in that direction. They left good paying jobs for the security of freedom. They shed possessions; they shed relationships that did not benefit their life. They taught me, again, that we are all moving forward, getting better. My oldest son and I had the same idea separately, then happened to share with each other that we felt we should eat light during the day, then with the family, eat a regular meal at night. That seems like a random statement, but it just shows that our inherent nature is to grow, get better, do better. Although our human-ness may fail us, we have each other to keep us accountable!

Another odd but very vivid dream I will share here just to get it off my chest: It was around my birthday, and I was handed a 97 billion dollar check. I know, crazy, right? I was so overjoyed, I immediately called my loved ones mortgage companies. As I was on the phone with none other than Wells Fargo, I heard a representative answer. I hung up, realizing that this check would take weeks to clear. What does that mean to me right now? Well, my impression after waking was that I need to wait for His leading before making big moves, agreeing to things, etc., even if they seem good at the time.

For example, we were just looking into land to buy. We were looking like mad for a couple weeks. We even told some family. It came to a dead stop when we realized our house wasn't worth what we thought. Plus, we really want to give the asset of a paid off house to our children someday, while still somehow paying for land they could use down the road. Our house is quite urban, so there isn't much growth to be had. While all this is shelved for a later date, I learned a valuable lesson. Even if you go full boar into a new direction, keep your mind and spirit open when there are road blocks. Step back, and truly listen to Him. It may not be time. That's okay, there are always three answers: No, yes, and not now.

Texas Trip, Take One!

We just returned from a month long trip to Texas. This trip had dual purpose. You see, our poor wheelchair van that we bought in 2004 is not up for our many trips. She's an awesome girl. Runs great, but at over 200,000 miles, would you be wanting to go cross country? So, back to Texas. We purchased a 2010 van that is, wait for it...blue! I know that means nothing to anyone but me, but I have been dreaming of a blue vehicle my whole life. When you get a wheelchair or adapted vehicle, you tend to keep them a long time--it's a pricey investment! It just so happens all of my vehicles have been red. Anyway, this blue van (we need a name, people!) was purchased by us in it's normal state. That is, it had no way for my wheelchair to enter. When we purchased this beauty February 9th, we never knew that it would be over two months that we'd actually see the finished product!

Working with our great friend Tim at http://www.getvans.com/ (shameless plug!) he set us up with the place that would be adapting our van. It just so happens that the place is in Texas. Drive to Texas in February? Get out of winter? Bummer (snark). Fast forward to February 24th: leaving day. Our intent is to tow the new van down with the motor home. It's so cold in Iowa that day, and my job is to guide the van onto the tow dolly. A few tries later and it is on. Only some front skirting was bent in the process, but we figured the van adaption place would take care of that. Now there was only two stops and 12 hours between now and our destination. Oh, did I mention it is stinking cold in Iowa in February? And that our motor home furnace was not working? Remember my aversion to cold? That first leg of the journey sucked. There is no other word for it.

Our first leg of the journey was to get to Kansas City, MO. Tim and his family happen to live there, serving and learning at the International House of Prayer. Thank God it's only three hours from us. We were able to fellowship and stay a couple nights for a visit. I will have to share about how we met this awesome family in a future blog post. Upon leaving Kansas City, we had to make a sharp turn out of their apartment complex and put a minor scrape on the van in the process. It would be another three hours to get to our next destination, Ozark, MO.

Our long time friends, Jerry and Krista, were the next stop. Two evenings of catching up with them is so refreshing. Krista just opened up her own shop, http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/KristasBeautyBliss. She takes her true love for others and makes them feel awesome. This is her etsy store, but if you contact her through that, she can give you the address for her storefront shop in Ozark. We have such talented and wonderful friends in these two couples, and I am so thankful they let us crash with them on our way down to Texas.

Tune in for more on this story in my next post...

No Time Like the Present

It seems I've been absent for a while! You may think we are still tooling around in our motor home. Well, that's partly true. After our year long absence, we came back to our house. I will be filling in all those gaps, as I am prompted to write. I love reading inspiring blogs, and I hope this one fills that purpose. I am finding that taking joy in the mundane and the adventures is true life. To enjoy every moment, but then to have a schedule to follow are both okay. And needed. There is a time and season for everything. I hope that you will link your blog so that myself and others can be inspired. Who knows, someone could be reading and need to hear encouraging words or an engaging story that would help them through a tough spot.

So without further adieu, let the writing begin!