Pigeon Forge TN

Hatfields and McCoys dinner show

After we left the country capital of the world Nashville Tennessee, we headed on out to Pigeon Forge Tennessee.  We drove through this area many times in the past  always wanting to stop but we never did. Now that we actually had a chance to take a few days and check it out  we did not want to miss that opportunity.  It was only a few hours out of the way from where our final destination was anyway.   I booked a campsite for 3 days at a really nice campground in town.  It was a new a park, only a few years old, with all the amenities that you can think of.  Once we got settled into our new campsite we very quickly went out and started exploring the local area.  Pigeon Forge Tennessee is like a grown up Branson Missouri.  There are many things to do there for families, for children, or for parents looking to get away for a weekend.  The family agreed that one of the main things they wanted to do was a dinner theater show.  I was able to secure tickets to a dinner theater show called the Hatfields and McCoys.  In addition to those tickets, I was able to pick up tickets for the Smoky Mountain Christmas show.  I was pretty excited for some redneck fun!  I mean heck, who doesn't wanna see a show like this while you're getting served your dinner.  It was one awesome good time.  We laughed and we cheered and we ate some good ol' Tennessee cooking!

Megan with the family!

We had a chance to see Santa!

This was funny!

 The following day we headed out to the Smoky Mountain Heritage Center.   Not only were the children able to learn really cool things about how people lived up to even 50 years ago but they got to see an old family friend.   Megan and my wife used to lead a small group together at Port City Church eight years ago.  She is now the Director of Education at the center.  It was great to see my wife get a chance to see a friend from years back.  It was a really cool place and I encourage you to visit if you have a chance.  The drive there from Pigeon Forge went right through the Smoky Mountains and it was very beautiful.  Although it was rainy and a little foggy, we enjoyed being out in the middle of the amazing mountains and  being together as a family.  

Coon skin cap

 After a few days of visiting some other tourist attractions, we packed up and headed south towards Atlanta to meet up at Rory's parents house in La Grange GA for the holidays. 

 We had a great visit and will definitely return.  I think the next time we go though, it will be in the summer when we can take advantage of more of the outside activities.  We had two nights where it got down into the 20's and Penelope London did not like that too much! Overall, this was a successful adventure!

Nashville Tennessee

Rory and I enjoying Centennial Park

Nashville Parthenon

We visited Nashville when we left Mammoth Cave KY.  This has been a place that as a family, we have been wanting to stop at for quite some time.  On our travels over the years we have crossed through Nashville dozens of times but never actually took the time to stop and enjoy the city.  I found an RV park right outside the city limits which gave us room to settle in but also be out of the of the hustle and bustle.  We ended up staying for 4 days experiencing what we could in that small time frame. Of course the Opryland Hotel was on our list to see.  We also ate some good ol' Nashville barbecue as well as some great tacos at a hidden gem of a restaurant named Taco Mamacita. We were also able to visit Centennial Park and the Nashville Parthenon.  I never would have thought that a complete replica of the Parthenon would be in Tennessee but none the less someone built one!                                                                                            One of my favorite highlights of the trip was visiting the Tennessee State Museum.  I  always enjoy getting my kids into an environment where they learn and be stimulated by their surroundings in a good way.   This museum was full of educational material on the homesteader, family life in the wilderness, and of course the development of Tennessee.  We always learn interesting facts when we visit places like this. During our time there we also had to dance! Here are the boys dancing away, this time Sophia jumped in.  We will definitely return to Nashville!                                                    

Taco Mamacita, notice Owen's face!

Canada! Oh Canada How did I forget you?

Canada, the land of Eh'

I totally forgot to blog about Canada.......... Those Canadians can never catch a break.  We visited the awesome land of Eh' for 3 days while we were in PA.  We took the time to make the drive in our van and keep Penelope London at our friends house in the driveway.  I was able to get a great deal on a hotel and get the family some space to operate in for a few days.  The drive was not bad, only around 4 hours to get there from our PA location.  The scenic drive was outstanding.  We saw Lake Erie and hundreds of grape vine fields.  We also saw Fall coming into the beauty that it is with all the leaves changing color.  Thank God that we got a chance to see the beauty of this.  Everything worked out well and the kids had a great time.  The sheer amount of water coming over those falls is awesome!  I summed up our trip in this awesome video! We hope you enjoy!

Mammoth Cave National Park, Mammoth Cave KY

 

Mammoth Cave National Park


 After leaving Big Bone Lick State Park we traveled 4 hours south to Mammoth Cave KY.  Now I know most people have seen the inside of a cave but this cave is over 400 miles in length!  This is one of the most massive caves ever found and it is still being explored.  This was a National Park and it was a guided tour given by a park ranger.  It was really cool to have the kids experience this cave tour.  They have never seen anything like this before so they were pretty excited to get into the cave and see what it was all about.
The cave was so cool.  It apparently was found by a local man who laid claim to it in the early 1920's.

Epic stalactite formation

 He used the cave as a tourist attraction up until the time the Park Service came in and took the land over.  Yeah! Thank you government!


Interesting fact, the stalactites and stalagmites take 100 years to grow 1 inch! 

The most interesting part of the tour was when the park ranger took his flashlight and shined it on the ceiling to reveal hundreds of cave crickets hanging on the ceiling! It looked like something our of horror flick and it really freaked Rory and Alli out.  Owen wanted to catch one, Sophia didn't have a clue and Ethan was trying to get away.  Apparently since the cave is dark, (completely dark), they respond to sound.  Once one responds then they communicate to each other and pretty soon a whole bunch of them are coming at ya!   Can you imagine yelling in the cave and having hundreds of voracious cave crickets coming to rip your face off?  Yeah me either......(they didn't really attack us but they do use this sense for direction!)

Cave entrance, pretty ho-hum! 

Frozen Niagara

The entrance was kind of ho-hum but it soon opened up in a labyrinth of extraordinary stalactites and stalagmites.  Some  of the areas of the cave were up to 80 feet high and made up really cool experiences to see.  One particular area was called frozen Niagara.  It resembled Niagara falls frozen.  Another area was called the drapery room because well it looked like drapes hanging off the wall. The tour concluded by the Park Ranger turning off all the lights and the group staying quiet.  Let me just say, I don't ever want to get lost in a cave with no light.  It is literally as dark as dark can get.  It kind of made me think of hell because it is without light and boy was this cave not letting light in.  We ended our trip riding back in the park service bus that smelled like a cross between burnt tacos and sweaty dog.  All in all we had so much fun visiting this really cool park.  I would really like to encourage you to visit this cave if you have a chance!

burnt taco, sweaty dog bus

Travelling south, Big Bone Lick State Park Kentucky

     Since we left the Pittsburgh area several weeks ago, we have been making out way south to Rory's parents house in Georgia.  We have been taking it pretty easy driving only around 4-5 hours a day and then stopping to rest and then travelling again the next day.  We stopped off several places the last few weeks to teach and learn and experience new things.

Mastodon skull!

    When we left Pittsburgh our first stop was in a place called Big Bone Lick State Park.  I know the name is funny but the word lick actually means pond.  It was a place where people first discovered Mastodon and Woolly Mammoth bones and other animals.  Apparently the animals used to travel to the area to lick the salt that was streaming out of the ground.  The area is actually a large sulfur spring that smells like rotten eggs.  This stuff is supposed to be pretty tasty to animals and actually needed for humans.  The animals would travel in packs to this area and then while enjoying the goodness of the salt licks they would start to sink in the boggy terrain and became vulture bait.  All of sudden you basically have a killing ground for anything that has weight enough to sink in the bog, to die an early death.   Humans soon found the springs and for a certain period of time the salt was harvested by indians then later by those moving west to establish their new homes.  The springs are not very active anymore but evidence of all this previous activity is still being found in the archaeological digs that are going on today.   Apparently this park and area has supplied most of the museums of the world with their Woolly Mammoth and Mastodon tusks and bones.  It is also widely known of in Europe.  Who would of thought some podunk park in KY would be world famous!  Here are some pics of our time in Big Bone Lick State Park, KY.

Stuck but their bellies are full!

These guys were pretty massive!

Owen loving his sister.

Travelling in PA

For the last several weeks we have been in PA visiting family, taking in the sights and learning along the way.  We made our way up to Butler PA to visit with some great friends of ours, Cory and Jayme Steighner and their family.  We always enjoy spending time with them and it never seems to be dull when our kids and theirs get together and we get to spend time together.  This also is the first time in our trip that we had a cold spell hit our RV.  I was really anxious to see how it would perform.  Our other RV, the BBT, as we affectionately call her, was very hard to manage in anything below freezing.  Our new RV, Penelope London, has held up quite well.  I have been using the diesel firing burner to keep it warm while parked at our friends driveway.  Normally I would use the 3 heat pumps but without a proper 50AMP plug I was kind of stuck to burn the diesel to keep it from freezing and to keep us warm while we slept.  It seems to be working and I am quite certain that we won't have the problems we had with the other one.
I also had the chance to go to Ikea in Pittsburgh.  I really love that store.  I only know a few people who don't enjoy a shopping trip to Ikea, my wife being one of them.  I was on the lookout for any new design style I can put into my renovations that I do on my investment houses as well as any new kitchen designs I can incorporate.  I took the kids with me when I went.  Thank you Ikea for the kids play area! That one hour of peace was awesome!  I met a woman there by the name of Kate who was also putting her kids into the play area.  We got to talking and she had asked why my kids were not in school and it moved into what we were doing and such for the next year.  She was so excited because her husband and her wanted to do something like that with their kids.  So Kate, if you read this, it was great talking to you!

We took a little detour into Ontario Canada for the last couple days.  Another blog will follow on that.  Thanks for keeping up with us and our journey.  I will be posting a map soon of our travels so far as well as what is going on for the next several months.

New York City

In my previous occupation as a stock and options trader, I would occasionally have to take a flight and visit New York City.  Because of the nature of the financial heartbeat of the world being centered upon this city, it was necessary for me to have to conduct business in a personal nature.  I never really liked going there.  I was never really a fan of leaving my family and getting on a plane to go to a place where most of the people are so busy pursuing things that have no life.  I say this tongue and cheek as obviously there are fine people in NYC, but for the most part I never enjoyed the millions living in the city who most of the time could not care about the one next to them.  I know it's kind of harsh but it was my perspective from visiting there on business for over 12 years.

I am happy to say now that I thoroughly enjoyed my time with my family in New York City this past weekend.  We had a great stay and a wonderful time.

Our accommodations were right on the times square madhouse and my kids thought that was just awesome.  We were on a corner of the Millennium Building and it was a nice room.  It served as our HQ while we were there and we were positioned nicely to do the things and see the sights we wanted to.  Some of our great sights that we saw were the Empire State Building.  We bought the really expensive tickets and took the whole family up to the observation deck! It was so worth every penny! Next we went on a boat cruise which was very informative.  The captain definitely loved being a New Yorker and was very entertaining.  We finished the cruise by staring at Lady Liberty for a few minutes while the captain discussed our freedoms that we have as being Americans.  It was really cool.  The big highlight of the trip was being able to see some of our family.  My wife had an opportunity to see her Aunts and Uncles and her Grandmother.  We got to spend the afternoon our in Long Island talking and visiting.  It was really a blast.

The trip was short and of course it went by quick but none the less it was worth the time, energy, traffic and driving.  We left our motorhome parked in front of my sisters house for the weekend and drove the minivan to the city. I think it was a pretty good idea.

Here is a video, courtesy of Magisto, that I made of NYC.  Also some pics of our adventures over the weekend!  Thanks for keeping up with us! We have had almost 5000 unique visitors now who have read our blog! pretty sweet.

Dancing!

When you feel like dancing.........you just have to DANCE!

Time goes by quick!

OK I admit.  I have been lazy!I know it has been almost three weeks since my last blog post.  We have been having such a good time that I just have not made time to blog about our adventures.  Since my last post, we left Williamsburg after spending a week there learning about the American Revolution, the first settlement in America, and about the battle of Yorktown.  We returned to Wilmington to finish up the eviction of a non paying tenant.  After spending almost two months in Wilmington, the family was certainly ready to leave and go about our way on our journey.  We had a great time while we there and our hearts

were filled.  God has been so good to allow us to have such a soaking time in Wilmington visiting old friends and preparing us for the journey to come.  Strangely while we were in Wilmington, we started to miss Kansas City! This has been a foreign concept to us because we have known for several years that God has called us to live there but it always felt like a temporary place to be.  Recently however we have been missing our home and talking about what it is going to be like when we return.  These are all good things for our hearts and for my kids.  I want them to know that where God calls us to be is home.  I want them to have faith in the Lord to know that He desires what is best for us.

A quick rundown of what we have been doing:

We went to Williamsburg and visited Yorktown, Jamestow and colonial Williamsburg
We went to Richmond and visited our great friend Marni!
We went to Hampton Air and Space Museum and learned a lot of cool and interesting facts.
We visited the United States Marine Corps Museum, and lost our cat Izze :(
We went to Washington DC and had a fun day learning about our American history.
We visited Baltimore and went to the Maryland Science Center then visited with family.

Here are some pics of our adventures:

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Jamestown, America's first permanent English Colony

Today we went to Jamestown VA. WOW! It was so much fun.  There was so much to see and to interact with.  I really think the kids were on sensory overload.  Not only did we get to learn about the history of Jamestown but we also got to go onto replica ships from the period.  The Susan Constant was the biggest ship of all.  It was hard to believe but over 100 people lived on the ship for 5 months while making the journey to America.  It totaled in size of sq. footage only a little bigger than our RV! We had a great time learning and listening and asking questions, and boy, did they have a lot of questions.  Which reminds me, does anyone know where I can find the off button to a 3 year old?  Mine seemed to not have one when she was born and is a verbal machine with no end.  Questions beget questions and most of the time getting an answer is not on her priority list.  My dad used to say I talked because I liked to hear myself! I think that I passed the trait on to her.  Amazing how things come back full circle.

Tomorrow were off to Yorktown and then Colonial Williamsburg.  I am really looking forward though most of all to the all you can eat seafood buffet at Captain Georges, YUM!

Our awesome weekend!

This weekend Rory and I had an opportunity to go to Ocracoke Island and attend a wedding with (wait for it.....................) NO KIDS!  Here is a video that I made of our weekend trip.  Props to the app Magisto, which took 20 minutes of video and cut it into a 2 minute movie.  Great app!

The kids all stayed with friends and had sleepovers.  I really think they were blessed just as much as Rory and I were.  We had such a great time and I know they did as well.
In other news:
  1. School starts back up tomorrow              
  2. We are heading to Williamsburg VA on Tuesday to teach the kids about Jamestown,  Williamsburg and Yorktown                      
  3. We negotiated the purchase of another investment property in Kansas City
  4.  Rory and I still have all the dance moves we had back in the day! We proved it at the wedding!                                

WE'RE FINISHED!

Well, it finally came to pass.  The last box went into the storage unit and it was sealed.  Nothing will disturb it for at least a year if not longer.  All of our possessions, keepsakes, clothes, household fit into a 10 x 40 storage locker.  It was packed floor to ceiling and it was only by the hand of God that it all fit! You never realize how much "stuff" you have until you have to move it.  I am fully determined when we get home from our odyssey to downsize from all our stuff and keep life simple with simple stuff.  I think I am going to enact a law into family legislation saying if you bring something into the house then something must also go out.  We will call it the BJITJO law.  BJITJO stands for "Bring junk in, take junk out!"  Below is a pic of how crammed the unit was! One also of the before.

We had several people come and help us pack and move.  It is always really cool to share the love of packing with others! I mean, really we wanted to keep all that goodness to ourselves but in the end we just felt like sharing it with others who were BEGGING to help! In all reality though, we were honored by those that helped us.  Our friend Heather Bryant, who has been such an honor to have as a friend was there for several days helping my wife.  She is an amazing woman of God and has a powerful testimony behind her of being trafficked and redeemed by God.  We love her and her hubby Joel so much.  Kari Smithson our KC pal came over and helped Rory pack as well.  Our friends Roger and Sara also helped.  Sara did most of the work, (sorry Roger :) ).  We also had some IHOP guys that came that I paid to help do some of the heavy lifting.  Lorejas who has worked on my houses before brought his friend Yanik.  We also had Adam Castro, a guy who has always been eager to work for me and he is so zealous for the Lord.  In the end we got the job finished and the house was cleaned and ready to go for the new home owners.  We did our best to make it right for them fixing some small issues in the end to have it be a place they can immediately feel welcomes with no issues.

So this morning we are leaving MO one last time and getting back to our trip.  Our trip will take us back to Wilmington NC for a few more weeks until the eviction proceedings are over and we can get our townhouse on the market after that to sell.  Rory and I have decided to move our assets out to MO and sell the houses we own in NC over the next year.  It will be easier on us to manage.  It also means nicer ROI numbers on the business side.  Some of you have inquired as to what we do for money.  Pretty good question.  The answer is, I traded stocks and options as a day trader for 12 years.  The Lord anointed me to do so.  I was very good at it because the Lord's hand was on me.  After 12 years I retired and used the money and am still using the money we had made from that endeavor to purchase real estate.  We currently live off the rental incomes of properties we own in NC and MO.  We plan on purchasing 12 more properties over the next two years to add to our portfolio after that we are awaiting God's plan!

As we travel over the next few days keep our family in your prayers.  If you have anything you would like prayer for please comment below.  I would love to lead our family in prayers for you.  We will arrive back in Wilmington on Thursday.  I will try to blog more over the next couple days when God puts stuff on my heart.  For now, I am grateful, content and joyful at the prospects of our adventure.  I am overjoyed that the Lord has given us this opportunity and respite to fill our hearts and love each other well.  Thank you to everyone for your encouraging words to us.  We thank you all! Here is a random pic of our family eating one of our fav's MEXICAN!

29 days in Wilmington

Well after almost a month of being here in Wilmington NC, we are preparing to return to Lee's Summit MO on Sunday.  We are sad to leave and we have had such a great time being here.  Our trip plans have been interrupted due to the sale of our house.  While we are super excited about our primary house selling it has thrown a kink into our travelling plans.  So for now we are going back to MO to pack up our house and then sign it over to the new owners.  When we return this time next year to MO after our journey we will purchase some land (20-100 acres) and start building our own home with our own designs. We are also eagerly awaiting this!

Solar hot air balloon project!

We made some new friends here at the campground.  Two of those new friends Milo and Felix, are 10 and 8.  They love to catch lizards and they are being home schooled as well!  The kids have been hanging out with them and spending time riding bikes, playing outside and playing games.  It's really good to see them experiencing life like it used to be.  I remember being a kid and being gone all day from the house with the only rule being come back before dark.  Those days were awesome exploring and learning.  I learned so much about life, friends, responsibility without even realizing it.  I want my kids to have and do the same.  Rory agreed with me to let the kids ride bikes around the park without supervision! That was a huge step forward.  I am sure that many more of those decisions are to come.

Home schooling is going well.  We are teaching the kids fun and cool concepts everyday.  The other day we did an experiment.  In the picture above you can see we made a solar hot air balloon.  We took 3 trash bags and taped them into a large cylinder.  After that we filled them with air and tied it off on the open end.  Then we waited for the air to get hot enough inside to start rising the balloon in the air.  It was a great time because we had an opportunity to teach on experiments, hypothesis, and conclusions.  The experiment was not fully a success but they learned anyway.  We are trying to do field trips and experiments like this weekly to keep the kids learning in so many ways.

Also while we have been here we had the not so great job of evicting a non-paying tenant :(.  This is the first time in 10 years of owning property that I have ever had to do this.  It has been the main reason we have been here so long.  I really tried and tried to work things out with this tenant but he is just continuing to make foolish, prideful choices.  So I resorted to the court system to have him evicted.  Please pray for his heart to learn through this experience.  I have to say, I have had so much compassion and empathy for him.  I truly desire him to prosper and at this point have no other choice than to evict him.  Hopefully, at 23, he can learn from this mistake and prosper from hard taught wisdom in the future.

Thank you all for reading!
                                                                                   

Second week of school and lots of fun!

This week marked the second week that Rory and I have been home schooling or road schooling the kids.  I just want to say that we are having a great time!  I love teaching my kids.  In every way I just love watching their faces light up when they understand new concepts and ideas.  I am so grateful for this opportunity to spend so much time being intentional with them.  There is not a day that I do not thank God for this.

Rory is still searching for a rhythm to all of this.  She very much prefers a system or a plan to be done repeatedly not only for herself but also for the expectations of the kids.  We will hopefully have a full routine nailed down here pretty soon but for the most part we are changing things a little everyday to find the best routine.  Today we introduced the Spanish lessons to Allison and Ethan.  This Rosetta Stone is crazy awesome!  I turned it on and started it for Alli and within minutes she was up and learning using immersion.  For those of you who don't know immersion is being fully enveloped in all aspects of language to learn.  By picture, by word, by sound.  Just like you learn when you are a child and you are learning in your environment Rosetta Stone does the same thing.  Now, while I am only on day one I was really impressed with the technique.  I also am doing it with them as to be a better teacher.  I do know Spanish from my missionary trips and four years of studying in high school but this immersion refresher is sharpening those already learned skills.

While school is underway we are also using our time in Wilmington to continue to hang out with our friends.  It has been great to come back and see great friends who have loved us and been intentional with reaching out to us since we moved.  I would have to say that these close friends have been encouraging to us in so many ways.  We love spending time with them.  Yesterday I went fishing with one of those such friends, Mark Tippet. Mark is one of those guys that would do anything for you at anytime and walk with you while your doing it. I have had the opportunity to see him personally minister to dozens of people and have also had the chance to see his heart shine the light of the Lord to so many.  I love being around his family because they understand what it means for their hearts to pour out to others in intentional relationships.  Anyway, we went fishing with his oldest son Luke and were able to get on the fish early.  We went out around 6:30 and were catching fish within 30 minutes.  This is a picture of the big drum I caught!

This one measured out to 26 1/2 inches and was rather porky.  Mark also got a great drum that was slightly bigger soon after.  We were using top water bobbers, I think they called them...... After that we went out to the jetty and used some mullet minnows to go after some bigger drum.  We did not have much luck with drum but Mark got onto something big and meaty but was unable to land him.  I happen to think it was a shark but who knows.

I love fishing.  I love hunting.  I guess I am just a plain guy with simple desires.  I don't even care if I get anything when I go.  I just love being out there in nature, in creation.  Things are a lot more clear to me when I am pondering and communing with God out there.  That is one of the reasons I love it so much.  It just speaks to my heart!



A night at the Raines.........

This is my friend David.  David is the most likable guy in existence.  I met David when I bought a car for someone and told him he needed to deliver it to them to take part in the blessing.  He called me a few days later after the deal and asked if I wanted to hang out.  Soon after he was coming to my small group and a friendship was born.  I love it when God uses one thing, one blessing met for someone else, and blesses you more in the process.  David and his wife Anna were two of those great blessings!  Below is a video of us stuffing our kids in a trash can full of water.  Hey, what do you expect from a bunch of little kids and two dads with kid like hearts! They loved it and had fun.  We had a great time at their house hanging out and talking about God stories.  They provided dinner for us and it was so awesome!  

 David built the greatest backyard awesomeness for kids in the history of backyard awesomeness! He made a monstrous playground built kid tough from large lumber and will provide decades of enjoyment even centuries.  When were long gone, that playground will still be getting used because it's not going anywhere.  In the second video you can see it in the background.  I think it took him three months to build.  This man is really devoted to his kids, and he loves to build stuff.

First week of school!

Well Rory and I made it through the first week ever of homeschooling! No children have been lost or sacrificed so I would consider it to be a great success!  We actually had to pull each other back from the ledge of you "don't want to go there!" several times but by working together with some awesome rebuking of one another we have succeeded.  The kids seemed pretty pumped to have their new schedules and we are moving right along and trying to find a good routine to work in.  So far I think the best part of schooling is knowing I am teaching my kids and they are learning from us.  We also get to be intentional with our time with them which is a huge desire of ours over the next year.

We asked the kids what their favorite parts were of this week.  Ethan liked my math character "Mr. Yang".  Mr Yang teaches Matamaticas (insert asian accent!).  Alli finds it annoying but I think it is rather funny.  Owen was probably the hardest one to motivate but he is doing really well when we speak to his heart and encourage him that way.  Alli is rolling right along and she is really enjoying the new schedule.  Sophia just sucks up any information we put right in front of her and she loves doing big kid stuff!

As we continue to teach a more steady routine for the kids will develop and things will smooth out.  I think the week went great and Rory did awesome.  We really enjoyed ourselves!

Extending our time in Wilmington!

Well, we have our house under contract! We put our house for sale 20 days ago and after many showings it is officially under contract!  This is a blessing in so many ways.  Our family truly desires to make a homestead when we finish our RV adventure.  This is a step in the right direction.  It frees us up from this home to buy land and build another upon our return.  We prayed that the Lord would sale our house and we sold it exactly at the price the Holy Spirit told me I would get.  Another amazing testimony of God's faithfulness.  All the way around everyone is happy.  Rory and I and the new buyers and the children as well.

The house was a great place for the season we had it but we have big dreams and desires to have more land and a more simple approach to life.  Our new place will be self sustainable in all ways.  We will also have a 1-2 acre garden to feed anyone in need of food.  Also on the land we have a desire to build individual log cabins and have missionaries and pastors who are in need of respite and relaxation can come and enjoy what the Lord has blessed us with.  We believe that God will deliver this desire to us and is laying out the foundation of what that looks like.  That being said we have decided to extend our stay in Wilmington until after the appraisal is complete.  After that we will return to KC and pack up our house and sign it over to the new buyers.  WE are really excited.

We have really enjoyed our time here.  All of us feel like our hearts are being healed and filled with our time here in our hometown.  We get so happy to meet with our friends, visit old places that we have memories of and meeting new people altogether.  We have been enjoying the beach and every night spending time with great friends who have persevered with us over the last season and years before.  I love having friends who stand through thick and thin.  Those are true friends! Thank you to all who were there for us.

As far as our RV goes we are loving our new living arrangements.  Life is so much simpler when you go from 5700 sq ft to 400 sq ft.  Things are easier to clean and the children are easier to manage.  Rory has been doing a great job in creating an environment where the kids are stimulated in good ways.  Tomorrow they start school so Rory is preparing for that to start.  Please pray for us as we get challenged in this new endeavor.  We strongly want our children to learn well and live well.  We just desire to that with the Lords heart.

We had a great time visiting church today.  First, we went to Port City Community Church.  WE LOVE THIS CHURCH!  We have attended church there for a long time prior to moving and just love and agree with the calling that is on that church. Pastor Mike and Chris, through their obedience, have changed the lives of multitudes in this community.   I also want to say thank you to Richie Marshall for speaking to me today.  It was so encouraging.  I pray that our conversation was encouraging to you as well!

We then went to Life Community Church.  This is a church that is located in an active mall.  I love the concept! Tim Blevins is a great Pastor and has a heart for intentional time with others and small groups.  Man he was speaking my language today.  I was so full from the worship and talk.  I have no doubt that the Lord will continue to bless both of the bodies of Christ as time goes on.

Thank you to all that follow our blog.  Please feel free to ask questions or leave comments.  I would say only leave encouraging comments! We love to read them!

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A RV trip for one year? Blank stare follows.......................

Have you ever gotten into a conversation with someone and said something and their facial expression was one of dismay or they looked at you like you had two heads?  Well recently that seems to be the case! We have run into several old friends from around Wilmington lately that have not heard about our RV family plans recently and some of them look at me in utter disbelief. You have four kids and your staying in a RV for how long? How does that work with your big family?  One year really, that seems kind of long.....These are just some of the questions that I have answered lately.  I am not by any means upset by it but I have learned enough wisdom in walking with the Lord not to project my expectations of how someone should react to our plans on them.  It keeps everything from a perspective where I am not offended and I can get a good laugh at the different reactions.  So why do this with my family and why now?  Both good questions with easy answers but come with profound implications.

I am a man after the Lords heart.... (most of the time, I fall into my own selfish desires) and my heart is for my wife and my children.  They are my ministry.  They are my full time reflection of my heart.  Nothing surpasses the importance of my family except the Lord and I hold them dearly to me knowing the responsibility that I have for each and every one of them.  The answer to the first question on why the whole family? Easy answer, we are a family.  Families bond together by spending time with one another, teaching, listening and learning.  One of the deepest desires of my heart is that my children would fear God and seek His wisdom.  This is what we are called to do a disciples.  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  I want and desire my children to know who they are in Christ.  I want them to understand their full rich inheritance that our Father has for them and the power that they walk in.  They upon giving their lives to the Lord, and given a special gift in the Holy Spirit.  The same spirit that lives in me.  The fullness of God available to us anytime and anywhere.  Most believers do not understand who they are in Christ therefore they never get past looking at their sin and trying to stay away from it as opposed to walking in the freedom Christ has given us thus bringing about in us change in our hearts.  To sum it up, I want the fullness of God's promises for my children and I want them to desire them more than anything else.

Why now?  Walking in obedience sometimes in not easy.  It does not make sense to me sometimes of God's timing in our lives nor reasons as to why He calls us to do things when our plans do not call for such change.  When we left Wilmington 20 months ago some of our closest friends who knew us questioned our decision to leave and go to Kansas City.  They were offended that we would leave everything we had here to go somewhere we had never been and replant our family in a new place.  I learned a valuable lesson during that time.  It was a lesson on expectations of others.  Some people thought I lost my marbles, others were just offended in the worldly sense because of the lifestyle we gave up here.  None the less I know when the Lord speaks to me and how to lead the family. So when in prayer I very clearly heard the Lord say what to do and where to go I knew my first reaction was one of obedience.  There is a season and time for everything.  Our season here was done.  I did not know why but that did not change my obedience to His word.  So when the Lord recently gave me a plan to spend intentional bonding and teaching time with my family was I going to stand and tell Him no?  No thanks, I am not looking for a Job like showdown where God asks me to "Gird up my loins".  I choose to walk in obedience and sometimes that is different than your friends expectation of what your life should look like. So our RV journey began out of obedience like the last 12 years of our life.

I have learned that walking in obedience does not require you to apologize to anyone.  I know the Lord will bless us for standing with Him. I know great things will come over the next year.  Our intentional time teaching the kids about the Lord will be a foundation they can always look back on.  While this is foreign to some and some will not agree, I believe the Lord will bless my children because of Rory's and my obedience.

Besides, a year with these guys in 400sq ft is my idea of a good time!

My awesome and beautiful wife! A story of unity....

This is my awesome and beautiful wife........ shooting a gun.  Why is this video on this blog is what you are asking?  It is just a hot looking woman shooting a pistol, right?  Well this is not really about Rory shooting a gun as much as how Rory and I stretch and push and encourage one another in our relationship.  I met Rory when she was 16.  I was dating a friend of hers and she was dating a friend of mine.  Not serious dating just more hanging out than anything but one night I saw her for the first time and she blew me away with her beauty.  Suddenly miss no personality sitting next to me was out of the picture and my eyes could not stop gazing on this amazingly stunning woman.  A few weeks passed and we eventually started dating.  I was 17 and she was 16.  Today we are 35 and 36 respectively.  We have been together ever since that first date.  I realized very quickly that I loved her deeply and could not wait to make her my wife.  That is where this video comes in.  A year ago my wife would not have been interested in guns, shooting guns, looking at guns or having anything to do with them.  She now is a proud packing mama with a CCW! What happened was like the last 20 years being together we encourage one another to try and explore new things.  My interest became hers and hers have become mine.  In marriage stretching one another's interests and constantly encouraging one another to try new things keeps marriage fun and interesting! There are many things that I do now because of credit to my wife.  Through the last 20 years I have had the pleasure of falling deeper and deeper in love with her everyday.  The Lord expands my love for her daily, past what I think is possible.  It is a beautiful thing to experience a God filled union of marriage. 

 That is where this awesome one year RV adventure comes in! In 2007 when I brought up the idea of buying our first RV she did not want any part of it.  But through trust in me and prayer, we bought our first RV and proudly named her Big Brown Betsy.  We would take extended vacations in her annually but nothing more than 6 weeks at a time.  Fast forward to today where we have now embarked on a one year journey of adventure with our four fabulous little ones in our new motor home, Penelope London.  We are living out of a RV! I believe that through the greatness of the design of marriage, the foundation of trust we have in the Lord, the trust we have in one another and by God's mercy we have continued to love one another deeply, encouraging one another, praying for one another that we have expanded one another's adventure boundaries!  I love this woman with all my heart and who is she is today is who she was yesterday, years before and who she will be to come, but along the way no doubt God will continue to mold our hearts and there will be more adventure, more times to laugh, more times to cry and more times to fall more in love with her deeper than where I am at now.  I am grateful with a full heart, thank you Jesus............... 

It's good to be a Son at the beach.....(HA HA)

Well we hit the beach, 5 kids in tow.  The extra was courtesy of my brother and his baby girl Brynn.  The kids had a blast and so did I.  I forgot how beautiful it is at the beach.  There is something calming in my soul from hearing the Godly created rhythm of the waves.  It reminds me to keep track of my rhythm as well in my life so I run at the pace God intended and created for me.  I have found that it is so important to run the race in my created rhythm, when I don't things get out of whack real quick!
We met our great friend Jill Critchfield while there and the kids had a blast playing with Bodie, her son.  Here are some pics of our afternoon.