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!