Final Blog Entry

Last night we arrived home.  It was a surprise to all.  We told our family we wouldn’t be home until Thursday, but we showed up Wednesday night instead.  It was amazing to surprise them and watch their faces.  It was amazing to hug family.  It was amazing to be home.  This morning I am sitting in Chloe’s room, looking out the window at our yard, in our big recliner/rocking chair.  Oh….how we missed this chair.  Each baby was rocked and fed and loved in this chair.  It is good to be home.

Saying “goodbye” when we left for California was difficult.  It was hard to leave our family and friends behind.  It was scary because we were starting a new chapter of our life and we only had each other.  And our sole reason for travelling was the money…or so we thought.  The day we left my dad whispered something into my ear that I won’t ever forget.  He said, “You are doing a great thing, but it is not about the money. This is about the experiences that you will have.”  I remember thinking…..what????....yes it is.  The money is why my husband is taking me across the country without much of anything….away from our home and friends and family.  We are doing this for the money.  But…Dad was right!  It was the experiences that made this adventure life changing and awe inspiring.  We now have memories as a family unit that will be talked about for years to come.  We grew as individuals and as a family.  We laughed and cried together as the experiences taught us so much about life and about God. Why is it that our parents always know more than we know before we even experience it?  I guess one day I will get to do that for my girls.

And now to answer the initial question that started this journey of blogging…..no, we are not THERE yet, nor will we ever be there.  If there is anything I have truly learned from this adventure it is that we will never arrive at anything spiritually, emotionally, physically, and mentally. We are pliable creatures and always learning and growing and experiencing life on earth.  We have multiple goals for being here. 

We did arrive in Ashland, Ohio….finally….but our journey is continuing no matter where we are.  Now when we travel again and I hear the words, “Are We There Yet?” from the kids, it will have a whole new meaning for me.  It all started with posing the question on Facebook for a title of the blog.  Someone suggested it, I took it, and the title has had meaning all along the way.  It was so fitting for our adventures.  At one time I thought I could arrive at something.  I thought if I read the right parenting book, or the right verse in the bible, or maybe had the right conversation with someone at just the right time…then I would master something.  But that is not true.  There is always something to learn and never an arrival time.

I remember back to how I felt the night before we left for our beach vacation and then on to California.  I was scared, frazzled, stressed, excited, overwhelmed, optimistic, hopeful, nervous and unsure all at the same time.  I have never felt so many emotions all together.  I remember feeling like my head was going to explode.  And then we got in the car and began the journey and it was pretty amazing.  All along the way we laughed, cried, rejoiced, praised, questioned, and loved as we could only depend on God and each other.  

God told Dan to follow this adventure.  He listened.  We were blessed.   We drove away with only the clothes in our trunk.  There’s a story in the bible in Luke 9, where God told the disciples, “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt.”  Have faith.  He also says, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”  And this is what we did…..this is how my husband obeyed and our lives changed.

This adventure challenged me personally in so many ways.  I was literally brought to my knees at one point….toward the end of our journey.  I experienced loneliness and doubt like never before.  I struggled emotionally and had very difficult days.  There were some dark days, but days that I will forever be thankful for.  It was in those times that my faith in God was stretched and it grew. 

In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 it says, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  I agree!

So in a nutshell…what did I learn while away?  I learned that I would love to write a book because I have so many thoughts about what I learned.  I learned that Dan and I are in this thing called “life” together.  I learned that God doesn’t always make the path ahead clear, but He does always make a path to get there.  I learned that my kids are my first priority always.  I learned that my kids are the coolest kids.  And I learned that I don’t need a lot of things to do “life.”  God is the same no matter where you are and that is all we need.

So now the journey begins at home.  The house is a mess as we take everything out of the basement and back upstairs to its original place.  We have large lists in our head about what we want to do to improve the house once we are out of debt.  So now we get to plan, dream, praise God and just enjoy the luxuries that were never luxuries to us before.  It is so good to be home!