Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This

After getting to Mobile on Saturday, the following day we visited a church plant pastored by Mark Harrelson, which was pretty cool since he attended Bible College with my brother, Michael, and had preached at our church during that time. Because it's a new work, our family made up a third of the people in attendance and it made me appreciate just how far our own home church has come - I remember when we were that size. I was able to complete my client visits on Monday, so Tuesday we took the kids to the Exploreum Science Center, a cool museum/science lab. I'm not sure if they learned anything, but we all had fun!

The next day we headed to Miramar Beach, just past Destin. I had found a great little RV park just two blocks from the beach. This worked out perfectly; I was on the road working the next two days, so Molly and the kids were able to walk down to the beach while I was away. I love the Destin area, and the beaches are hard to beat here in the U.S., but the traffic was hideous and any short drive turned into an hour-long ordeal.

On Sunday, we made the considerable drive over to Pensacola to attend service at Bro. Brian Kinsey's church. Aside from knowing the Kinsey's and having been to service there before, I also wanted to see David Geri, my Dean of Music when I attended Bible College. who has been the music director at their church for the past seven years. The service was fantastic - great worship, the presence of God moved, good preaching, and an even better response. We ended up grabbing dinner with the Geri's afterward, followed by yogurt after, and although we stayed far too late (we had a 1.5 hour drive back home), we enjoyed getting to catch up and reminisce. Seeing friends who don't live near us is one of the many reasons we're on this journey.

Fortunately I didn't have to go anywhere Monday or Tuesday, so both days we went to the beach as soon as I finished working. Wednesday morning we packed everything away and headed to Tampa by way of Tallahassee because I needed to make a quick stop there. The trip went fine until we were about twenty miles outside of Tallahassee. I had noticed we were getting low on fuel and would need to get gas soon, but once we started looking, we didn't see any convenient places to fill up. As the gauge hit empty we still weren't to our destination and I still hadn't spotted a gas station that our rig would fit into. At this point, it also started pouring down rain. After running on empty for a few miles, I finally took an exit out of desperation. I knew it had gas stations but I didn't know if we could fit into them. We could not. Unfortunately, after discovering that we couldn't fit into either station we saw, there was also no place for us to turn around and get back on the freeway. I finally spotted a parking lot I could pull into that would allow me to turn back across traffic when I exited. As I carefully made the right and then left turn into the parking lot, up a slight incline, my truck just came to a stop. I was going very slowly, so at first I thought that I had simply butted up against a curb that was causing some resistance. After giving it some gas, I could clearly tell that wasn't the case because we didn't budge. My next thought was that we were high centered, which brought along terrible thoughts of tow trucks, high bills, and a messed up schedule. When I hopped out to observe what was going on, I realized that we weren't high centered, but rather the back bumper of my trailer was sitting on the asphalt. This was caused by the incline of the parking lot and my lack of room to angle my turn. I couldn't back up, so the only thing to do was go forward. Keep in mind that it's pouring down rain, so by this point I'm soaked. I hop back in the truck, throw it in drive, hit the gas, and...nothing. The tires spin. It's wet, I'm on an incline, my 42' trailer behind me is sitting on the ground, and for a moment I had to swallow the panicky flush of thoughts that careened through my mind. After four-wheel high did nothing, I put that bad boy in four-wheel low and around 4500rpm's it lurched and we broke free. Thanking God for my decision to buy a truck with four-wheel drive, I jumped out to inspect the damage. Surprisingly, the bumper was only slightly bent upwards in the back and had a few scratches underneath, but aside from that everything else was fine.

At this point, you might be thinking that it can only get better from here, but you would be wrong. As we get to the other end of the parking lot, I realize that we can't, in fact, turn back toward the direction we had come, so we had to continue going the wrong direction, which was further into the city (not good when your total length is almost 56'), and away from where we needed to be. By the time I was able to turn onto a side street that would allow us to head back toward where we needed to go, the onboard computer told me we had four miles to empty. As we approached the freeway again I was looking expectantly for a gas station, but in addition to not finding one, we also discovered that there was no on-ramp! Wet, frustrated, driving in a downpour, and on empty, we were now having to cut through a subdivision to get back to a point we think will allow us back on the freeway. This area of Florida has many beautiful trees - trees that like to hang across roadways. After dodging myriad branches and praying to not run out of gas, we finally made it back to the freeway, only to find that again, there is no on-ramp. At this point we were only about five miles away from the office I needed to visit, so we circled to the nearest on-ramp and headed there, hoping a gas station would be nearby. Knowing I wouldn't be able to park at the office, I had previously mapped a route to a Hobby Lobby about a block away since they would have a lot I could park in. As we pull up to the intersection just shy of Hobby Lobby, there are three gas stations surrounding us...and we couldn't fit in any of them. Having already wasted a fair amount of time and losing an hour crossing over time zones, I didn't want to miss my meeting so I headed straight for Hobby Lobby and parked. It was still raining hard enough that the parking lot had rivers of water a couple of inches deep running through it. I grabbed my umbrella and made the trek over to my clients office, looking like a wet puppy dog when I walked in. Molly and the kids wandered through Hobby Lobby while waiting for me, which I'm pretty sure was a nice reprieve from the tension-filled truck ride. After leaving the meeting, I walked across the road to a gas station, bought a gas can, filled it up with diesel, and away we went.

Again, you may be thinking that this horrendous travel experience was over, but sadly you would be wrong again. We were finally back on the freeway headed toward Tampa, and typically truck stops or large service stations are in abundance, but on this day, they were not. After traveling for another twenty miles, we were again on empty and needing to find somewhere to stop quickly. I pulled off at an exit that indicated it had gas, still not knowing if it would be large enough to fit us. It was - barely - so we pulled in and straight up to the pump. Only the pump I pulled up to had no computer. It had the pump but was completely unusable. Because of space confinements, I had to pull through and circle the station to get back around to another pump. As I pulled back around, none of the pumps are on the side that I need them, so around we went again, but this time the opposite direction. Just know that this circling business isn't as easy as it sounds in a crowded gas station. Finally filled up, we were again on the road. Thankfully the rest of the drive was fine. It's a fairly long haul from Tallahassee to Tampa, but aside from that, the trip went smoothly. We arrived around 11:30 Wednesday night. Setting up the trailer went quickly, and exhausted, we all climbed into bed.

The RV park we're at is beautiful; it sits right on Bay Bayou, and is covered in large sprawling trees. Thursday and Friday I worked while Molly and the kids hung out and went to the pool. Yesterday I let Molly take the truck and get out of the house for a while. She showed back up a few hours later with Starbucks and Target bags...can't say I was too surprised. :-)

Today we attended service at Victory Tabernacle, just ten minute up the road from us. Their worship service was phenomenal and it felt good to be in the house of God, feeling His presence. We were fortunate to have become acquainted with the pastor, Rashidi Collins, a few years ago when he preached at one of our youth conferences. He preached a fantastic message today and God moved. For the first time since we left it felt a little bit like home.

My in-laws drove in today to visit us (really just to see the grandkids) for a few days, so after quick lunch we headed back to the trailer and I spent an hour detailing my truck since my FIL always gives me grief about it. Our one stipulation of their visit was that they book a room large enough for the kids to stay with them, and that they would be keeping the kids a few nights. They agreed and we were probably far more elated than we should be. They made it in a little while ago and we grabbed dinner before coming back to the RV for some quality time. Molly and I will actually get our first kid-free break since we left home. *Here, hold my computer while I shout*

As I reflected on the tough travel day we had, I made sure to thank God for keeping us and our house safe, and that our "misfortune" was so minimal. In an attempt to make me feel better about the whole ordeal, Molly said, "Maybe it was a test to see how you reacted and how patient you were!" While I'm not sure that's what it was, it did give me pause. Maybe it's days like those that will produce the best results from this journey and not necessarily all of the wonderful days we will experience. Invariably we always learn more - about life and ourselves - when things aren't going the way we planned for them to. Those times stretch us - our understanding, our patience, our strength - and in stretching we grow. And this journey is about growth...

~J

Pig Out

This past week was very low key and relaxing (for me and the kids anyway). Poor Jonathan spent the entire week hard at work, visiting clients and answering calls and emails. But the kids and I had a wonderful time at the RV park pool and playground. When Jonathan told me where we were staying, I was expecting a little backwoods dump of a park, but we rolled into a wonderfully kept park surrounding a pretty little lake with swans swimming in it! They had a very nice pool area, store, game room, fishing lake, and our space was directly across from the water with beautiful views. If you're ever in the Livingston, La area, check out the Lakeside RV Park - very nice management and clean facilities. 

ANYWAY, enough about that! After spending the first few days in and out of the pool, dodging never-ending rainstorms, the kids and I were ready for a change of scenery, so Thursday morning we all piled into the truck and went to work with Jonathan. We drove for several hours in the small towns in between Baton Rouge and New Orleans visiting Jonathan's clients. The kids did great on the long car trip, and didn't start getting antsy until the last hour when we rolled into NOLA and I started describing Cajun food and beignets to them! Haha. Then they were beyond ready to get out of the truck. After visiting his last client of the day, Jonathan treated us to a delicious dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in New Orleans, The Gumbo Shop. We all got seated while Jonathan went and bought a bag of chips for a homeless man who helped us get our GIANT truck wedged into a TINY parallel spot in the itty bitty streets of the French quarter. We don't carry cash on us, and Jonathan wanted to help the guy out, so they made the trek to the corner grocery store for chips and apple juice while the kids and I got a table. Jonathan makes me proud by his willingness to help out anyone who asks him, any time. He's a pretty great guy, even if I do say so myself. But back to the Gumbo Shop! I had a plate of the most delicious crawfish étouffée and red beans and rice I think I've ever eaten. Granted, Jack stole all of my crawfish, so I was really only left with a crawfish flavored soup, but it was crazy good, nonetheless! And the red beans were slap your momma amazing. Whew! We left there stuffed and happy and headed straight to Cafe du Monde to introduce the kids to beignets. From their looks of sheer joy, and the half inch thick layer of powered sugar on their faces afterward, I'd say the introduction went well. 

In the same area, we came across a Sucré, and Jonathan bought us an insanely amazing box of macarons! No, not macaroons...and yes, there's a difference. ; ) They were deadly, in the best way possible. I'm really glad the things cost $2 a piece, because otherwise I could eat my weight in them, and might end up looking like a macaron...round and mushy. But seriously,YUM!

While in Livingston, we had the chance to visit a church in Denham Springs for their Wednesday evening service. The pastor taught a wonderful message, and it was nice to see an old friend I hadn't seen in years. But at the same time, it made me miss our home church just a little. Ok, maybe a lot. One of the major trade-offs of this crazy adventure we're on is missing our family, friends, and home church.  So if you know us and we'll be passing through your area, or you'll be passing by us at any point, PLEASE stop and visit us and give us a big hug! Seeing friends along the way helps chase away the homesickness. 

We wanted to get the kids out of the house Friday morning, so I found a really cool looking alligator farm up the road in Hammond, La. It was a gorgeous sunny day, so I got us ready, got the kids all excited to see alligators, and we headed off down the road...into a giant rain storm. Sigh. So with a truck full of disappointed kids (and why lie, I was pretty bummed myself) we headed toward town to see if there was anything interesting to do in the town of Hammond. There was not. 
So I found myself wandering through the local Target with two sad little boys who could only talk about how badly they had wanted to see the alligators. So guess who left the store with new Legos to make up for their disappointment? When will I ever learn to stop telling them ahead of time that we are going to do something fun?! If I would keep my mouth shut, I could save myself tons of money in guilt-Legos! 

We left Louisiana yesterday afternoon and headed toward Alabama. The kids did really well on the car trip, in spite of our new DVD player deciding to bite the dust about 20 minutes into the trip. They made do, and about 3 hours later we rolled into Mobile, Alabama. The park we booked isn't the nicest or most luxurious, and I was a little leery about staying here. But once I met the incredibly sweet owner and her husband and a few of their friends this evening, I have to say I actually really like it. There's no pool, no fancy anything really, but the kind people make up for anything that's lacking. It's a possibility that I am so fond of this couple because they told me there was no way I was 30, and that they thought I was 17! Oh and did I mention they have 5 dogs and about a jillion cats wandering around? Yep, these are my kind of folks. And when they told me I could pick a kitten to have, that just sealed the deal! We are now besties. No doubt about it.

Oh, one last thing: a Junebug update! Ms Junebug is adjusting well to RV life and seems to really enjoy her time hanging out with the kids, begging non-stop for food, snuggling up with anybody who will sit still long enough for her to crawl into their lap, and lounging in the sun like a tiny little slob. She's definitely a handful, and she insists on only pottying outdoors. She will hold it until she's about to pop, then squeal for you to take her to the grass instead of using her conveniently located potty pads. So her potty pad training isn't working out too well so far. That being said, anyone with piggy potty training tips, give a girl a hand here! 

Well, we're about to visit a new church today here in Mobile, so I better go get ready!

- Molly

Launch!

Disingenuous. That's how I usually feel about people who say "I didn't know it would be so...(insert whatever comes next)." Maybe it's because my brain never stops running ninety miles an hour and it plays out every scenario that could ever possibly happen, or at least that's how it feels. Whether that's the case or not, rarely have I ever followed through with a big decision and felt like, man, I really didn't know it would be like this, or feel like this. But standing in my home church on Sunday after my dad (our pastor, for those of you who don't know) asked me to come up and say a few words since that was our last service (at least for a while), it hit me. That moment of clarity in knowing that I wouldn't be around every service like I had been for almost twenty-four years now. For you to understand, I have to start at the beginning...

(If you're only interested in hearing an update on our travels, feel free to skip the next three paragraphs as I reminisce.)

Growing up, my parents taught and worked at Texas Bible College in Houston. When I was six years old, my parents felt the call of God to start a church in the Lake Conroe area. When God provides direction like that, faith filled action is always required on our part, and so without a job or any kind of steady income, my parents and my two brothers and I moved out to Montgomery to start a church. We ended up in a subdivision named Walden, mainly because at the time it was where we could find the most affordable house. Just getting a loan was a miracle in itself - when was the last time you financed a home with no current (paying) job, no income, and no money for a down payment? That just doesn't happen, but God wanted a church there, so He worked it out. We had services in the living room of our home for a whole year. The second service we had, our very first saints attended, and throughout that year, God drew people to our little church. As you can imagine, pastoring a church of ten or twenty people, five of which are you own family, isn't very lucrative, so Dad worked tirelessly in different ways to make ends meet. One such job brought him into contact with a local business owner, who graciously offered to lease us a space in his shopping center for three years rent free if we would just complete the build out. The next three years we worshipped in our shopping center building, proud that we had a place to call our own. But when the three years was up, rent was too high and we were headed back to the house. That lasted for a year, until we were fortunate to start sharing a building with another church whose service schedule was different than ours. For the next four years, we shared that space, until one of our saints found a mostly unused old church building on Longmire in Conroe, our current location. After renting for five years and doing a whole host of improvements, we were eventually able to buy that and have continued improving it into the beautiful building that it is today.

But why tell you all of that? Well, when you're involved in something like planting a church, it doesn't leave you. I could never separate the burden that I have for my church from who I am; it's ingrained in me. Watching the sacrifices my parents had to make throughout the years but seeing their faith and faithfulness, and watching God provide again and again and again, it bred an innate knowing that I could trust God, and a love for the work that my parents fostered and built. Over the past twenty-three years, I think I've probably attended more Sunday services at our church than even my parents have. Even through college, I drove home most Sundays to be in service (and to see Molly, of course!) I've done everything from greeter, usher, sound man, church cleaner, Sunday School teacher, bus driver, youth leader, worship leader, musician, praise singer, organizer, and probably many other things I'm forgetting. I've not only grown up in, but also with this church. Sure I've had my own spiritual ups and downs, but this church body has rejoiced with me through the victories and cried with me and for me in the defeats. I've been blessed with lifelong friendships here, with meeting my wife here, with dedicating my children to God here. So you can understand why saying goodbye was a little tough.

In that moment, standing in front of some of the most amazing people I know, many of those memories ran through my mind, and I thought...man, I didn't know it would be quite this hard to say goodbye. But even in saying goodbye, I knew this was right. There comes a time in each of our lives where we make definitive choices that ultimately shape who and what we become. I can't tell you that I know what God has in store for me and my family, but I do know that when He opens a door, you walk through it with your head down and hands ready to work.

So enough of that! Needless to say, Sunday was tough, but exciting at the same time. The last two weeks have felt like holding your breath, just waiting to exhale; knowing that we were finally starting our journey was a welcome relief, even though we didn't enjoy the leaving home part. After church we had one final dinner with Molly's parents since we had spend the past week with mine, then we headed up to their farm where we were keeping the RV. Since we had to pull out early, we went ahead and packed the whole trailer and hooked up to the truck. We rolled out about 8am on Monday morning headed for Lake Charles. We arrived there around 1:30pm. I needed to stop at a client's office, so fortunately the Treece's were kind enough to let me offload the trailer in their church parking lot for a couple of hours so I could maneuver through the city unencumbered. After a quick lunch, Molly and the kids dropped me off at the office and while they ran to Target (of course), I met with my client. Once she picked me back up, we were able to run over to Starbucks and grab some coffee with our friend Lauren Beckham before pulling back out. After re-hitching, we were back on the road headed to Livingston, LA, just outside of Baton Rouge. This was our first official stop! The last four days have been hectic, at least for me. I've been visiting clients around Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and Molly and the kids have been hecticly...visiting the pool. :-)

We attended church in Denham Springs last night, and it was refreshing hearing Bro Johnson preach and feeling the same Spirit of God that we feel in our home church. Today I took Molly and the kids with me and after I made a few client visits, we drove over to the French Quarter and had dinner at the Gumbo Shop, then beignets and coffee at Cafe du Monde, then some macarons at Sucre. Afterwards we drove the kids around some of the tamer parts of the city and looked at the beautiful architecture here, probably my favorite thing about NOLA, second only to the food.

As I sit here typing this, I know that not every week will be this good. I know we'll have some challenges along the way, get on each others nerves at some point, and probably run into some difficulties. But I'm reminded of the verse that simply says, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified...for the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you."

~Jonathan

The Final Countdown

We've been home (well, technically my parents' and my in-law's homes) for the past two weeks, and took a short break from RVing and blogging. It's been a wonderful couple of weeks, and we've had such a nice time being with our friends and families before we head off on our first BIG adventure this coming Sunday! After our trip to Austin, we packed up and headed to my parents' farm outside of Brenham, Tx. My dad has RV hook-ups, so we were able to get it all set up and leave it at their place.

After dropping off the RV in Brenham around midnight Saturday night, we drove into Conroe so we could be at church the next morning with our families. We spent the night with Jonathan's parents and got to spend the day with them Sunday. We spent Sunday night with my parents at their new house by the lake. It was beautiful and the kids had a blast exploring the house, and they were thrilled with the cute little room my mom has set up just for them! Monday evening my parents threw me a birthday dinner at their house, and Jonathan invited all of our closest friends. Turning 30 has been really hard for me for some reason, but having all of our friends and family around to celebrate with me made it a LITTLE bit easier. 

Jonathan had meetings scheduled at the conference center at my parents farm, so we made our way back there and stayed through Thursday while he worked. Friday morning we dropped the kids off in Conroe with my mother-in-law, and Jonathan took me on an amazing date to celebrate my birthday yet again! We stayed at a beautiful hotel in Houston, ate a delicious dinner at Adair Kitchen, and then headed downtown to see the broadway production of The Little Mermaid! So much fun! I may be 30, but for those 2 hours I was 8 years old again. I sang along to every song, and made a total fool of myself, but I had a blast!

We got to spend all day Saturday relaxing by ourselves, which is not something that we will get to do often once we hit the road, so we made the most of it. We ate lunch at one of our favorite spots, Tiny Boxwoods, then headed over to Rice Village for a while. Saturday evening Jonathan had to go to the church for music practice, so he took Jack while I stayed at my in-laws with the little kids. We were waiting up for them, but when they hadn't turned up by 10:30, I started to get worried. They finally pulled in around 11, and I was ready to give them a good griping for being so late, when Jack came in and asked me to come help daddy get a few things out of the car. Grumpy and slightly annoyed, I huffed out to the truck to help him unload. I reached into the truck to grab a box when I heard a grunting sound...followed by an oink! I was totally shocked! Jonathan had brought me a teeny tiny baby mini pig for my birthday!! I almost had a heart attack right there...oh my goodness, she is the CUTEST piglet you've ever seen! I've spent the last week now researching pigs and pig care, learning how to deal with her temper tantrums, and picking out a cute name for her. I finally settled on "Junebug" for her name, but as for calming her temper tantrums, I'm still doing my research. ; )



We were able to be at our home church again Sunday, and my in-laws and their family treated me to dinner at my favorite Chinese restaurant for yet another birthday lunch after church. In case you aren't getting the picture, I like to make my birthdays into a month long celebration. Haha! You only get one a year so you've gotta make it count! 

I spent the next few days up at my parents farm hanging out with my kids, my sister-in-law Stacey, her kids, my mother-in-law, and my sister Amber, and her kids. Needless to say, we were well outnumbered by children. They had a blast in the pool for 3 straight days, and us moms had a nice time just laying around getting some sun and relaxing. 

We're now back in Conroe, finishing up a few last minute things we need to get done before we leave for our first big trip tomorrow evening! I got to meet my good friend and "ex-neighbor" Colleen for lunch Thursday, and Grey and her little boy Caleb were so thrilled to see each other. They've been best friends since they were itty bitty and have played outside together nearly every week of their lives, so they have really been missing each other these past few weeks. Yesterday we had a great time celebrating July 4th with Jonathan's family and some of our best friends. My in-laws threw a wonderful party, grilled burgers and hot dogs, and made sure we all had a really great time. Then we all headed to Lake Conroe to watch the annual fireworks display at Walden. It was beautiful and the kids were in awe. I love hearing their "ooooo's" and "ahhhhh's" after each one. Annie would say "That one is my FAVORITE!" Then the next one would explode and she would say "THAT one is my VERY favorite!" Having kids makes everything so much more fun. : )

Well, we leave tomorrow to start our trek toward Florida. This trip will take up the majority of our summer, covering 4 or 5 states, and I'm super excited! At the same time, I'm also really nervous. It's been a long time since I've been away from home for more than a couple of weeks, and the kids have never been away for more than a few days here and there, so it will definitely be a learning experience for all of us. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we take off tomorrow and officially begin our adventure! Can't wait to see some of you along the way!

- Molly