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!