Yahoo Headlines Deja Vu

Just saw this video on Yahoo Headlines.  Sounds familiar, no?

Family Road Trip of a Lifetime

Got a Bite

After feeling a bit discouraged this month with selling our house we finally got a legit bite.  The 1st open house we had there was a nice young couple who came through who were very interested and asking all kinds of in depth questions about loans and what not.  But then we heard nothing back and it's been 2 weeks.

BOO

They filled out a survey form at the end of the open house so we had their phone number but when I tried calling it wasn't working.

BOO

So I used my research skills and tracked them down on facebook( harder than you think because there are a lot of people with the same name) and messaged them.  Yep, total facebook creeper here.  But it went to their 'other' folder anyhow and they still hadn't viewed it as of today.  And I did stop short in friending them so I showed some restraint.

But i tried calling them again today in hopes that they were like us and just often use up their minutes and BINGO!  The wife was excited to hear from me and had a bunch more questions and said they would go to their bank definitely and let us know either way what they said.

YAY!

We realize that is no guarantee but are still hopeful and excited about the possibilities.  Not everyone has to like our house, just one person does!  And after a month of repeated no shows by potential buyers we keep reminding ourselves of that.

We've also been going to look at travel trailers with our kiddos and we are all biting at the bit now to get on the road( no disrespect to our family who we will greatly miss!).  I will share some of that coming up with my promised post on what we are looking for in an RV.  I will also be posting about the costs of RV full time because quite frankly I am sick and tired of hearing everyone saying,"That will be expensive!"  So it's time to set the record straight on the matter.

Please be in prayer also about a very close family friend who suffered a major stroke last weekend at the age of 37. He is a father of 5 and the youth pastor and worship pastor at a local church and we also went to school with him.  Our two oldest kids are best friends with a couple of their older kids also.  They could sure use all the prayers they can get.

Many Blessings,

The Mama

Cracking the RV Code

We've been checking out RV's(recreational vehicles) and I have learned more about them in the last month then the rest of my life combined.  So for all of you who don't speak RV here is a little tutorial with pictures because who doesn't love pictures?

Confused yet?

Yeah so was I.

 RV is a general term used for all vehicles you use for recreation.  You can see where the name came from.  Then RV's get broken down into specific types:

The Class A Motorhomes mean the really big, bus like ones that you drive.  Think the movie "RV" with Robin Williams. Class B is a smaller driveable RV and then Class C Motorhome is considered a "Winnebago".  It has a truck chassis and you see the part that goes over the cab of the truck?  That is a sleeping area. That's how I can always pick them out.

Still with me? Hang in there.

The SURV Motorhome is often referred to as a Toy Hauler- it has living area plus an area in the back for your 'toys' ( 4 wheelers and such).  The travel trailer picture is so old.  That must have been taken back in the 70's.  But you attach the travel trailer to a truck or SUV and tow it.  You cannot ride in the trailer or anything that you tow while driving( no seat belts).  If you have seem the RV episode of Duck Dynasty you will understand when Si attempted something similar.

The 5th wheeler needs a truck to haul it.  You see that black thing sticking off the front, that connects to a special hitch in the bed of the truck.  The SURV Trailer is just for your 'toys' and then there is the pop up that folds down and then the truck camper.

My head hurts too.  Back to us though!

This is what we learned- 

We cannot have a driveable motorhome since the front area are seats so that means not enough sleeping area. So that rules out Class A, B and C.  Boo.

We cannot have a 5th wheel( even though they are very nice) because there is no truck that will tow it that will fit the 7 of us.  

And obviously a little pop up camper is not gonna do the trick for a family of 7 living in it for a year.

So that leaves us with a Travel Trailer(TT).  And there are about a thousand different kinds of those.

  But here is one we are looking at that we like:

It is 40 feet from hitch to back, about as big as they come.

In my next post I will tell you more about this TT and what we discovered was our lists of must haves in an RV.  I will be sure to include lots of pics of the interior too. 

And real quick, Sissy is on a missions trip right now to an inner city in the states.  Please pray they have a safe trip back home tomorrow night!  It is amazing how just having one child gone totally throws me off.  You really feel that hole in your family.  

Here is a pic of her spending time in the Cambodian neighborhood today that some of the leaders posted and shared:

Many Blessings,

The Mama

It's Official

The sign is  in our yard. 

We have spent the last 3 weeks working on our house-All.Day.Long. 

We had our 1st open house yesterday and have a very interested family who is planning on talking with a bank about getting financing.  They are 1st time home buyers so it would work out great since they are currently renting.

But we also have 2 other families who I have been messaging with and they are equally as interested and have scheduled showing or this week.  So we'll see what happens.

We officially put the sign out July 1st.  We felt strongly that God wanted us to do it precisely then.  I have no idea why.  But we have learned to not ask questions just to obey.  ;)

During that 1st week of not a lot of interest in the house I had many doubts and panic moments.  We had really put ourselves out there with this RV thing.  What if our house didn't sell?  We would look like idiots.

We had also decided to step out in faith when we fixed up several things in the house that were not cheap.  Those bills would be coming due soon and how we would we pay for those?  We had planned on using the profit on the house.  

I have learned that those quiet moments are when satan loves to sneak those doubts in.  It is so hard to be still and wait.

But then I realized 2 things:

#1 These are exactly the moments God loves!  When we have put ourselves out there so far in the name of God that we will look like utter fools if he doesn't come through.  It is those opportunities that God can be lifted up and glorified because we are no longer relying on ourselves but clearly on him.  And everyone knows it.  

#2  So what if our house doesn't sell immediately?  Does that really change our plans?  NO.  We would just have to find temporary work for my husband while we wait so we can pay for our current home.  But we would still leave after we sold our home.

We have also been praying about our financial situations.  We have been doing fine so far.  We had  a little money in savings and some checks that were still coming in from my husbands previous job and a bit coming in weekly from unemployment. But those are running out.  Quickly.

My husband was till being considered for a police position till the end of June when he officially heard that they were pursuing another candidate, which we had heard rumors of anyhow.  But we were still waiting to hear for sure about that opening and that sufficed unemployment.

So now we were left trying to figure out what God wanted us to do.  Does God want  us to have total faith that our house will sell quickly and therefore not get a temporary job right now?  And what will that do for unemployment? Or should we try to find something, which is what our humanly nature is screaming at us?

("HOW ARE YOU GOING TO PAY THESE BILLS CRAZY PEOPLE?!")

And if the Hubby should get a job for now, what type of job?  We don't want to have him enter into anything that would leave his employers hanging when we picked up and left.

Then yesterday my Hubby and I both had the same thought cross our minds and it was that it was time to find something.  It was just clear as day suddenly to the both of us and we were both thinking of the same type of job.  

So that is where we are at- still trusting and praying and listening. 

Oh and our family and friends have gotten over the shock I think.  I wouldn't say they are embracing this change in events, but they are moving to the path of acceptance.  We can't ask for more than that.

Thank you for all the continued prayers!  Keep them coming!  

Many Blessings,

The Mama