New Beginnings!!!

At the beginning of December we moved out of our house for good to make way for the county's road widening plans. With only the possibility of renting in front of us, we decided to make a bold decision. Pack up the family, load up a travel trailer and hit the road. Without conventional school holding us down, we decided to turn our perceived "misfortune" into an adventure!

The first step was getting a trailer to pull behind our van. However despite our efforts, a costly mistake and a family crisis later Sara and the kids finished their trip to Wisconsin with no trailer. We hit the road heading back to CA just a week from needing a place to call home. We scouted possibilities from the road, but the prospects looked pretty bleak. We reached CA late Thursday night a little apprehensive. But we had committed this process to the Lord, and we were resting on the faith that He had it under control.

On Friday we began our physical search of RV lots, but they yielded nothing that would fit all of us that was in our price range. However, a couple of days before I left to pick up the family and drive them back, I had called a possible trailer option in Oceanside. He had called me back, but by the time I could look at it, it was Friday and I had to leave. Over a week had passed now, and we couldn't find this trailer available online anymore. But I still had his number on my phone from when I had called to inquire. He had called me back, but we had never spoken. It was a great deal but unlikely still available. Yet I felt this tug to give him a call. From an RV lot in Simi Valley I called him and left him a message. We hopped back into the van, not quite sure of our next step.

Minutes later he called back. I pulled into the closest parking lot and held my breath. Unbelievably, the trailer was still available! Not wanting to miss out, we decided to meet him the next morning to look at it. Knowing that we were coming up to a holiday weekend, I knew I had to make financial arrangements right away. As it turned out, the parking lot I had pulled into was my bank. So I went right in and took care if it.

The following morning Sara and I met the man selling the trailer and his wife at Camp Pendleton, where it was being stored. He is a Marine getting ready for deployment. As he showed us the trailer, we found out that they are a Christian family with five kids like us. They have three adopted kids and homeschool with the same curriculum as we do. They spent over 90 minutes showing us everything about the trailer. It was in amazing condition. They had pulled it originally with a van like ours, so we knew it would work.

We bought it then and there but we had no way to transport it because our van still needed some work done. They agreed to pull it the next day to a campground in Oceanside. There they spent another hour showing us how to hook it up. As they left they handed us a card. In it they left a note of encouragement saying that they believed that the Lord had orchestrated all of this and that they believed in what we were doing. The card also contained $300 of our money back as a gift!

I know that many uncertainties lie ahead for us, but isn't that the case for everyone? No matter how secure we think we are or how well-planned out we think our lives are, none of us know the changes that tomorrow will bring. Therefore our trust needs to be DAILY on the Lord. He WILL provide.