RV Family Journal

I’ve made a list of the top ten places I would like to go to when we are on the road. I chose these places because either I do not remember much of my experiences there, or because I have never been there but would like to see them.

I have heard a lot about Yellowstone, and seen quite a few pictures of it from my friend’s trips there. I would like to see Old Faithful blow!

I want to visit the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, because I like mountains and forests, and because it is eye candy! I think it would be nice to go hiking and hear the birds sing when I wake up in the mornings.

I want to go to the Everglades in Florida because I have never been to the ocean, and because I would like to see a manatee. I’ve always wanted to see the everglades.

Our first yard sale was a big disappointment, AT FIRST.

My goal was to get rid of stuff, not make money.  When I stopped considering the cost of my time and evaluated all the extra space we now had in the garage, I realized we

had succeeded.

Sometimes I get so focused on the details I forget the big picture.  That was certainly true of this situation and so

true of my life.

Although I would consider myself a visionary, I am definitely a detail-oriented person.  I can usually stay focused on the desired result, while working out the details one step at a time, but this was not the case today, nor the last several years of my life.

Patience is a quality that God is still working on in me.  It’s probably best I don’t accomplish everything I set out to do right away because there are many things I’ve attempted without thinking them through all the way, only to learn later that I overlooked some important factors.  Major decisions deserve major cogitation.

I’m a thinker, but I’m finding that too much thinking on the wrong things is preventing me from acting on the right things.

Somewhere on the middle age path of life, I started getting too focused on security.  God has removed many of the things I placed my security in, so without my cooperation, He has proved Himself to be the only sure thing in my life.  At first, I was disappointed.  Similar to my yard sale, I lost sight of the goal. God is to be my sure reward, not the “things” He blessed me with.

Once He got my heart right with His, I could see that I had placed too much value on the material things in this life, rather than my relationship with Him.  I have also learned that so much “stuff” had cluttered not just my house and garage, but my heart as well.

So this week I am thankful that God keeps His eye on me and He fulfills His purposes for me.  He never loses sight of the goal and all the details are in His hands.  I really need to just let go of the cluttered thoughts that set up obstacles in my mind, so I can follow God as He crushes every wall that stands between us.

Just like the result of the yard sale, my first response to the trials God had allowed was wrong.  But when I took the time to evaluate, I became grateful.

“I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” -Phil 3:14

We finally got in gear and started preparing for a yard sale.

If we are to ever get out on the road, we must purge and downsize.  Truth is, we’re long overdue for a major purging.  I used to do Spring cleaning every year but when I had to go back to work, the ‘major’ household responsibilities started taking a back seat to the regular, bare-bones, minimum duties.  That’s just one more reason to downsize, less space means less stuff.  Less stuff equals more time for quality of life.

After spending a week going through the garage, drawers and closets, I’m pooped!  I still have to get things sorted, priced and ‘marketable.’

Click the link if you want to use my 2-page PDF  YARD SALE CHECKLIST

We’ve chosen the date and time and the ‘yard’ will be the location.  Now come all the tiny details that ensure a potentially successful event.  I made a checklist to make sure I don’t forget something because I know there are usually several overlooked tasks that crop up at the last minute to derail me.  All part of Murphy’s Law I guess.

I have a lot of apprehension about becoming an RV family. For starters, I have to leave my extended family and friends behind. I have to sell off lots of things that I want to keep. I have to leave a really nice clubhouse behind.

But, the good outweighs

the bad. As it is now, we can’t go ANYWHERE. Just shopping and to church, maybe to a friend’s house.  If we were to RV, we could tour the country. We could actually go places.

We wouldn’t be confined. We would be out and about, exploring, finding neat places, discovering the national parks.

I want to try being an RV family, even if it means I have to part with old things.