The Journey of Finding Calm in the Chaos

It has been awhile since I have written. It seems like a lifetime to capture in a short synopsis. This lifestyle makes it feel like several lives have been lived in a small amount of time. After leaving Connecticut, we were able to spend time with our families for the first time around the holidays, and then make it to Georgia for time with good friends and workcamping for a few months. We love this campground because we can really be at peace with our surroundings and let the kids run free. Then, we thought Utah would be a good stopping point after attending a marriage retreat in Branson, Missouri. It all seems like a whirlwhind. We went from a frigid Spring in Heber Valley to a house for the  month of May while we remodeled the RV. Then a little spot in a driveway just South of SLC that gave the girls a chance to meet new friends and be entertained by horses each day. And...So many reunions with good friends catching up.

 As I look back, I realize that we have not been in the realm of the unfamiliar for quite some time. We have backtracked and criss crossed paths that we have already been down. It was a good season. And now we are embracing the whole reason we chose this lifestyle...the thrill and adventure of the trek into the unknown. Today, I did not like the reacquaintance with the unfamiliar. Our unique way of life begging us to rely on faith and not security. I am sure the FB view makes us seem like we are just weaving our way around with no fear of the unknown. But our faith is tested on a regular basis. I do believe that is why this lifestyle was chosen for us, because had it just been us trying something out, we would have exited stage left a long time ago. The return on that faith investment is always, always worth it.

You know the feeling of moving from one home to the other...you have to shut down life in one location and begin the set up in the next location. Every few months, that is what we are doing. We need to understand where we are and where we can find things. We need doctors and dentists and mechanics and usually in the form of "immediately."  When we first got to Georgia we had to switch phone services because ours would not work , when we first got to Connecticut we needed a pediatric dentist and new tires, there have been two ER visits on the road, and yesterday I needed a doctor for Selah and I had no idea what part of town I was headed into. I was even told over the phone that the doctor was an hour away from my location, then discovered it was actually 17 minutes away.

 It leads me to believe that we are making life too difficult for ourselves. It has Scott and I scratching our heads asking "why do we do this?" The last week exiting and the first week entering our always filled with the highest highs and the lowest lows. We can even predict the chaos and anxiety and yet fall into the trap every time. And the kids...oh the kids...they just go with the flow. Teaching us each time that they trust us to not withhold good from them, yet we constantly question our heavenly father in times of uncertainty. Those Israelites that roam in the desert all through Exodus...that is us! I can read about them and say 'have you not learned anything!' and yet here we are doing the same thing. I have to remember to remember. There is always goodness just around the corner.

I have not formally introduced the way this all works for us. Friends are usually asking "what's next?" or "what's the plan?" We are always formulating a plan, but it never is the plan. Because "our ways are not His ways" and also not the Union's ways. Scott is a Union Pipefitter. The Union is the reason we have been blessed with this opportunity. I have to wonder if God was orchestrating this all along. Scott has been a Union Pipefitter since I have known him. And he never traveled because of it. Except to travel out to Utah to marry me. Scott has to speak to a Union Business Manager to discover where the jobs are located. He usually goes to the Union Hall with a direction of where we want to go. When I was pregnant we wanted to be as close to Memphis, Tennessee as possible. That is how we ended up at a Nuclear Plant in Georgia. When we were burning up in the South, we wanted to go North. The Union told us about a job in Connecticut. We took a break after traveling from Utah to Georgia to North Carolina to Kentucky to Tennessee to Connecticut (and all the states along the way to those destinations). Scott was unemployed for a few months (our sabbatical), and then we headed back to visit Utah after being gone for over two years. When the job ended in Utah, we started looking NorthWest.

This is where it gets really exciting for those of us accustomed to routine and security. There is not always a job, and if there is a job, it can be filled before we make it to the next destination. It is first come first serve, if someone shows up before us, they get the job. IT IS NEVER CERTAIN THAT THE JOB WE WANTED WILL BE THERE. It is also never certain when we will get that first paycheck. Scott has to pass a gate test to prove his skill, there are safety trainings and orientations, and start dates that do not always align with our timeline. We did not get our first paycheck for 5 weeks when we went to Georgia. So our savings account goes through major peaks and valleys.

We are in California. Originally, we were told to go to Portland, Oregon. But that job was filled and no longer had an opening. We have lived off of faith for so long, that we were just going to head to Seattle, Washington and wait for jobs that we were told would be opening up at any time. Then the day before we were going that direction. Scott received a call that he was definitely needed in Concord, California. We have arrived, and we have not been assured that there is a job. In fact, Scott was told the job we came here for has been filled. However, they expect that there will be a call for 40+ welders within days or possibly weeks. Scott will be taking a necessary training for the next two days to ensure he is ready for that call. Yikes! Just typing it makes my stomach knot up.

BUT I was frantic when I arrived in Connecticut. I threw a fit when I found out we were going to Memphis (why did I want to live in my hometown in an RV that was supposed to take me to new places), I was very hot and very pregnant and covered in mosquitoes and gnats in Georgia...and the list goes on. And God showed up in HUGE ways and the experiences have been AMAZING even miraculous. It becomes crystal clear why we are on this glorious adventure and the shaping and the molding that is taking place. We choose the hard way because the wide and predictable path is what will lead us to just that...a plan that we controlled and manipulated to feel comfortable. Trust me what is on the other side of the uncomfortable is what we all truly desire...the wild adventure we were created for.

*I do not believe full-time travel or living in an RV is for everybody. I do believe that getting out of your comfort zone is something necessary for true living, perhaps for even finding the truth.