mobile HOLMES

We did IT!

We got our starting RV! IT is older but in great shape. it is a 28 foot Jayco.

It measures over 30  feet long and is plenty big enough to stand in.

 

It hsa lots of storage as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The best part is Phyllis likes it!

Hi! I’m Blayke Elizabeth and my Grandpa syas it’s time to start Blogging. I’m only 6 months old but I am at my mommy’s laptop so here I go. He says it’s never too young to learn. I dunno, what do you think?  I would love to go with Grandpa and Grandmommy RVing, but my mommy will not let me go cause she would miss me. Silly mommy.

One of the hardest things in life to do is wait.  We are not naturally creatures of patience.  Especially in today's world of instant gratification - waiting is a hard thing to do.  The Bible tells us that if we "Wait upon the Lord" our strength will be renewed, we will mount on wings as eagles.  But once again the Lord has directed me to Lamentations 3.  You know it is God talking to you when he keeps you in a specific book or verse in the Bible.  Lamentations 3 has come at me in several different ways over the last couple of weeks. Today, as I was thinking about timing, I was remembering the above verse, but as I did an internet search on scriptures about waiting, guess what popped up!  Lamentations 3:25, 26, "The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.  It is good that one should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord."  WOW!  Not just wait, but QUIETLY wait.  I take this to mean without grumbling! OUCH!

While in Tulsa this weekend visiting good friends, we thought how cool it would be to drive back in a new truck to pull our RV.  The truck we have will do the job, but it is getting old and needs a few things done to it.  So, we spent a lot of our time at dealerships looking and actually filling out paperwork for financing.  If we were to get it NOW, we could finance it and then pay it off when the house sells.  This really gave me a sick feeling, especially since this will be my last week at my job.  After praying about God's direction, we put our "excitement" emotions on the back burner and decided to not purchase a truck at this time.  Whewwwww.  What a relief.  No worries about how to make that payment!  BUT WE SURE DID SEE SOME PRETTY TRUCKS!

Bottom line is this:  When the time is right, the right truck and the right RV will be there for us at the right price.  It will be in God's time and not ours.  We will wait upon the Lord. 

There are many clichés that could fit here like when life gives you lemons make
lemonade, but I’ll skip them. As we have mentioned in previous sessions,  I had a
stroke a year ago, and a smaller TIA a week or so ago, so my health is an issue for us.
But I am fortunate and have to say that there is a God and he has blessed me in
so many ways, not the least in letting me be alive today. What I want to say today is
that while I have lost a lot of my health and some abilities, He has allowed me to be in
the  “position of freedom”.  This means that while we are not wealthy people, we now
have the income through my disability, and since I can’t and don’t have to go to work,
we have the time to be free and adventure out on this journey. And again I will give all
of  the credit and my thanks to God. Hopefully while on the road we will be able to come
across opportunities to help other folks who are in need. I hope that everyone reading
our blogs know that we wish each of you were on the road with us, and to
remember that when life throws you a curveball, or lemons, make some lemonade
out of it.  Great things can come out of bad times.  I believe this stoke of mine was the
prelude to the best times of our lives.   Caution, Great things ahead!

I am a firm believer that everthing happens for a reason.  While we may not understand the purpose for a long time, "All things work to the good for those who love the Lord".  When Mark had a major stroke one year ago  this month, it turned our lives upside down.  It was TOTALLY UNEXPECTED.  But God took care of Mark by restoring most of his mobility.  And He took care of us during months of the loss of 3/4 of our income until the disability came through.  As we approached the 1 year marker of this event, we were counting our blessings and looking forward to what lies ahead as a result.  Even though Mark is disabled from being able to work, we now had the ability to break free from the daily grind, purchase an RV and travel for as long as we want. 

Two days ago Mark called me as I was leaving work to let me know that he thought he was ok, but that he had called an ambulance because his left side had gone numb and did not have control over it.  TOTALLY UNEXPECTED!  We thought all was well, he was faithful (most days) to take his medicine, and afterall, it had been a full year.

Several months ago we moved an hour from my job and our family to a run down double-wide mobile home that we were restoring  We did this because of the lack of income and we would not be burdened with a house payment.  Two days ago this hour drive from my work to home seemed like 10 hours. 

Thankfully everything turned out ok... it was only a TIA (mini-stroke).  I say ONLY because there were no residual affects from it.  But the fact that it happened has made us step back and re-evaluate our situation.  Besides another follow up with the neurologist to adjust some medicines and discuss a little habit of Mark's that he needed to let go of - smoking!  Anyway... Mark was in agreement and is embarking on his journey to be nicotine free. 

All that aside, there were still some "what ifs" that needed to be addressed.  In my earlier post "OPPOSITION"  I discussed that we can't live our lives in fear of the "what ifs".  But when something like this happens, you do have to stop and evaluate some things.  There are some "what ifs" that are simply fears and you just have to trust God with them - like "what if he was driving and this happened?"  and "what if it had happened at a time that he was alone with the grandbaby for an hour or so".  But what we needed to evaluate was what - if anything - needed to be done to possibly be in a better position if it happens again.
We saw three options: 

1.  Move closer to my job and rent a house for the next 4 months.  That way we could only take what we REALLY needed and then  could REALLY start getting prepared for our RV adventure by getting rid of stuff and the house would be more accessable to agents trying to show so it would sell.  

2.  Quit my job that I absolutely LOVE and is now providing the extra income so that we can possibly start saving again.  And this would allow me to be around Mark and ensure he was eating properly and getting some exercise and he wouldn't be by himself all day everyday.  This would free me up to actually finish what needed to be done for the house to sell and I would have more time to keep it clean for showings.   OR

3.  Do nothing different and hope for the best.  And continue to be overwhelmed with coming home from work after 6pm and hoping to get everthing accomplished that needed to be done in order for the house to sell.

After much agonizing prayer and soul searching and seeking counsel, we came to the conclusion that moving was not pratical since we would only be there hopefully 4 months.  The stress and expense of a move wasn't worth it.  Doing nothing different really wasn't an option either... I just can't work and come home to take of everything myself.  So.... we calculated that quitting my job would save me a HUGE amount of money in fuel each month, and that considering moving and paying rent, quitting would be a wash financially. 

So with my heart racing and trying to jump out my throat, my stomach turning flip-flops,  and tears streaming down my face, I turned in my two week notice.  I KNEW this was what God wanted  me to do... even though I didn't want to.

So this UNEXPECTED event actually was a blessing in disquise.  I really believe that Mark is going to be fine.... for him I believe this was a reminder to do what he knew he needed to do.  And for me.... a push to do what I really had felt God telling it was time to do several weeks back. 

The PEACE you experience after doing what you KNOW God wants you to do is one of the most amazing things you can experience.  I am really excited that I can now really focus (after the next 2 weeks) on totally finishing my work here in this house and pushing to get buyers in here! 

THEN LOOK OUT AMERICA, BECAUSE THE MOBILE HOLMES' ARE ON THEIR WAY!

Well, here I am again. I thought this part of my life was over when my son, Joel, graduated from homeschool and my youngest daughter, Hannah, went back to public school. I never expected to be raising another school-aged child - non-the-less HOMESCHOOLING! But here I am AGAIN!

Since we will be on the road with a 2nd grader, I have to figure out what will be the best curriculum choice for her. She is very bright, and very much a hands-on learner. It is also important to us to use a curriculum that teaches Christian values as well as high quality academics. Years ago I did so much research on curriculum I could tell you just about anything you wanted to know about any homeschool curriculum out there. As I do my research now, I am finding that not much has changed, except the price! Wow! Who knew curriculum could go up so much in 10 years? I did come across a new curriculum for math that I am very impressed with! However, I have to say that my old favorite publisher is probably still my favorite publisher. It is very traditional in teaching values and very solid in teaching core subjects. I like the way it makes a child think and allows for creativity. The only problem is that there are more books involved than the other "popular" curriculum, and space is an issue in an RV. But I don't think that will deter me. I just feel that the other "popular" curriculum is too much rote (repeat) memory and teaches children "what" to think as opposed to my favorite publisher that tends to teach a child "how" to think.

We will be traveling to Tulsa soon and I will have the opportunity to go to a used homeschool curriculum store that is owned by a friend of mine. I can't wait to see up close all the things I have been looking at online, and checking out the USED prices! LOL And of course there is Mardel's that carries tons of new curriculum as well a huge selection of Christian books and music. The only problem is that I really only have 2 days in Tulsa to do anything and if I am not careful, I will spend ALL my time in these two stores! :)

It is always nice to hear from an old friend that haven't spoken to in a while. But it is especially nice to hear from her when she has had you on her heart.

A couple of days ago my good friend called me because she was worried that my opposition had discouraged me into backing out of traveling full time. She wanted to lift my spirit and tell me how much Mark and I deserved to be able to do this and how blessed we are to have the opportunity. And what a traggic shame it would be if we did not take advantage of it.

Thank you, Sherry! And we will be sure to send you postcards! :)