WHY We Are Becoming FULL TIME RV-ers!
Two years ago, when we moved down to the beautiful Mississippi Gulf Coast, we knew we had found a hidden gem. Miles of coastline, tons of history, great food, and the most comforting laid-back lifestyle and people made it something we knew we could love forever.
The day we closed on buying our home, I was 32 weeks pregnant with Bear and so excited to move into the home I'd been dreaming about for years, with plenty of space for our kids to roam, our family to grow, and people to come stay. Our roofing business boomed, our kids found home with a local homeschool group (Shout out, Classical Conversations of Bay St. Louis!), and we found we really loved it here. But still, something was missing.
It's really an odd feeling to love where you are and still not be content. I think we wondered if we were actually ABLE to be content- like did we know how? Will was working 12 hour days six days a week and THEN came the hurricane. ENTER: 14-16 hour days, exhaustion, and him feeling discouraged because while he loved that God had blessed our business, he knew He was called to preach the Gospel.
Meanwhile, Bear was born, bringing our total kid count up to three. And I have loved (almost) every second of it. But living with and homeschooling three small children in a five bedroom house with two dining rooms, an office, a bonus room, and a half-acre yard overwhelmed me. This house I waited for and dreamed of took me over. Between three meals, endless laundry, and entirely too much house, I never got to sit down and enjoy anything- especially my babies. I found myself saying, "I can't. Mommy has too much to do." so many times that they stopped asking because they already knew the answer was no. The day they told me "We knew you'd say no, so we didn't ask." I cried.
We have had no time for our kids, no time for ourselves, no time for our ministry, and no time to enjoy our lives.
For years, it's been a dream to be able to travel the world and preach the Gospel to those who need to hear it. We live in a world where the Church is dying faster than it is growing. We are all called to change that by preaching the Good News to the hurting, the tired, the weak, the ones who are Facebook Perfect and InstaReady but are empty behind the camera. And we have decided we aren't using The American Dream as our excuse anymore. So, we bought a camper!
We are selling the house we love, but can't enjoy. We are selling all the things we've accumulated to make our house pretty and functional. We are getting rid of things we wanted for years and have only recently been able to afford. And it hurts. It's not easy. But sometimes the simple thing isn't always the easy thing.
We either preach the Gospel to the masses now or never. We either spend our time with our kids while we have them or we wait until they're gone and wish we had the time back. We follow His leading now or we stay stuck in a place we love but aren't being useful to Him in the way He wants us to be.
So, here we go with three kids and Toast the Beagle across America (and the world when they'll let us fly!) to park in campgrounds where we can preach the Gospel, to explore the world with our kids while we have them, and to show them that TRULY living life is about giving it up for others.
From weekly OPEN Bible Studies at our campsite with pool, lake, and beach baptisms to Youtube Videos, Facebook, and Instagram, we'd really love your prayers of support as we follow His leading on the road and experience the adventure of a lifetime. We know He is bringing us to people who need to hear His Word and we KNOW He is bringing people TO US who have something He needs to reveal to us as well.
And we are so incredibly excited.
We will use this blog to document our travels, cool places we see, fun things we eat, and experiences with people we know only the Holy Spirit could orchestrate.
Follow along and if we are in your area, come along with us!
We are so grateful for the love and support of all of you. We can't wait to see where this leads.
In His Grace,
Will, Cate, and the babies (plus Toast the Beagle)
