On The Road
We made it!
The last few weeks of school, as any parent knows, is exhausting.
It feels like I’ve been keeping my head just above water, but I know that’s not true.
The fullness that has been our life the last month has actually been pretty fun: 3 parties at our house within an 8 day span, 4 birthday parties the last Saturday of school, and all the end of the year field trips/graduations/field days you can imagine.
I didn’t think we’d be able to do it, but despite the hustle and the bustle, we packed up to go on our first ever long road trip…in our RV!
This has been a dream of Justin’s for years.
Me?
Not so much.
I know…I’m a wet blanket.
A party pooper.
A dud.
I get to put my feet up and enjoy the ride!
Where is my excitement for adventure? Who wouldn’t want to pack up and drive across the country?
This lady. Me. I didn’t want to.
It seemed so daunting and overwhelming.
How to narrow it all down? How to time everything? Where to stay? What to see? How to survive in a metal box with 4 kids for an extended period of time with all the right clothes and enough food?
But Justin.
<Sigh>
He planned it all out - three weeks full of adventures to be had and memories to be made.
He had a vision and a passion and I trusted him completely. I am so grateful I can get out of my own cautious neurotic way and just follow.
I’m better for it and so are my crew. (Don’t get me wrong. They need some of my caution in their lives!)
So here we are at the beginning of our grand adventure.
Our main aim?
To see some amazing sights for sure, but primarily to be fully present with our family and take in as much of God’s creation as we possibly can.
A precious moment of getting along and entertaining themselves quietly.
We’ve been talking a lot recently about the world God created and how so many places we’ve been to are beautiful and yet so different. Whether in flat central Florida with a giant sinkhole and the fauna around it to our favorite campground in the middle of the Smoky Mountains. Now we’re going to see God’s work across the Midwest and the Rocky Mountains.
It’s breathtaking. Every bit of it.
We’re pinching ourselves that God created all of this and we get to experience it.
We’ll never comprehend how He could dream up such beautiful works and bring it into being, but we can say thank you. Over and over and over again.
It seems impossible to turn a corner or go down a stretch of interstate without being struck by the beauty before us. Because it’s everywhere. From the tiny wildflowers to the snowcapped peaks. From the plains of Kansas to the peaks in Colorado. From the prairie dogs in the fields to the young moose in the valley.
His masterpiece…it’s all around us.
And in the quietness (as quiet as it can be with this crew), we are appreciating our escape from our busy lives back home and soaking in this once in a lifetime roadtrip that Justin has worked so hard to provide for us. And all we can say, deeply and truly, is thank you.
P.S. Thank you to our friends who are staying at our home and watching our animals while we play. We so appreciate you!
