Hey folks,
Happy Thanksgiving and welcome to the 50th post on this site! I was thinking about all the posts I’ve done and the many posts I’ll be doing in the future, trying to figure out how I could make this post special…after all we’re half-way to the big 100! A sudden realization hit me, it’s almost Thanksgiving! Why not write a special post, giving thanks for the opportunity to take this road trip, spend time with my family, grow closer to God, and have this blog platform.
A quick trip/blog recap in numbers:
· We’ve been on the road for:
3 ½ months
or 16 weeks
or 111 days
or 2,664 hours
or 159,840 minutes
or 9,590,400 seconds
· We’ve traveled:
17 states
Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Oklahoma & Texas.
10,275 miles
That’s an average of 642 miles per week
· Blog facts:
I’ve written 50 posts:
14 in August
12 in September
16 in October
8 in November
I’ve grown to 140 awesome readers…many in places other than my home states of Minnesota & Iowa
The non-numerical summary of our trip:
We’ve traveled to a number of national and state parks, big cities and random small towns, a number of campgrounds and innumerable Walmarts.
We’ve blown two tires, ripped an awning, snapped a door lock, and broke a slide.
We’ve celebrated two birthdays and an anniversary (all in October).
We've praised God for Mom’s recovery from a cellulitis infection caused by a bee sting, and we're mourning the loss of our dear little Rosie, who died from parvo.
We’ve visited several churches across the country, listened to numerous random sermons of various pastors, and, most importantly, we've been able to join our future new church family at Grace Church in Waverly, Iowa by live-streaming many Sunday morning worship services from our RV as we park in various locations around the country.
We’ve had the opportunity to grow in several Fruits of the Spirit, and continue to learn the importance of good conflict management skills.
We’ve figured out the best way to organize the fridge, freezer, and pantry in order to store and organize as much food as possible.
We've learned how true and necessary one of Mom's favorite mantras really is when living with 8 people and two dogs in an RV... "A place for everything and everything in it's place."
We’ve learned how little one really does need to live and be content, which has resulted in shipping home a number of boxes of unneeded items to clear out storage for more necessary items.
***Much to many people’s surprise, we all still really like each other, despite living in such tight quarters, recently made even tighter by the broken slide :)***
So what's one of the biggest things we've been learning?
To trust God in everything, and praise Him always, even in the midst of trials. Believe me, this isn't easy...I don't want to praise Him as I mourn the loss of my dear little Rosie Roo. I don't feel like giving thanks right now, but God doesn't tell me to praise Him only in the good times. Instead, 1 Thessalonians 5;18 says: "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." When our slide first broke and became an inconvenience, our initial response was to complain "Now we can't access a couple of the bedroom cabinets/drawers. The hallway is so tiny that only one person at a time can fit through it. There is no longer any space to walk around our parents' bed. Etc..." Now, however, we are praising God that it wasn't the living room/kitchen slide, because then we'd have lost access to half the sink and cupboards in what already feels like a one-person kitchen. A mindset of gratitude makes trials a little easier to walk through. I can and do certainly mourn Rosie's passing, but I can also focus on giving thanks for the almost 4 years I was privileged to love on her, and for the precious memories I have from my time with her.
With that in mind, here are the ten things I am most grateful for right now:
The Gospel and the salvation Jesus has offered me.
God's everlasting forgiveness and love for me
My family and this precious time I have with them
The almost 4 wonderful years I was allowed with my little fur-baby
Our sweet Nellie Noo
My extended family and friends
An incredible church family to return to in Iowa
The freedom I have in this country
Getting to see all 48 continental states, and the handiwork of God in each of them
Being homeschooled throughout my entire academic life, along with the opportunities that were available to me because of it.
How about you? What trials are you walking through that you can praise God in the midst of? What are you most grateful for? If you have any particular 'Thanksgiving' Bible verse(s) that are your go-to, I'd love to hear them...mine is Psalm 8
O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!
Until next time, God bless!
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