There’s a pretty big story behind what led my husband and I to buy a fifth wheel, renovate it, and travel with our children. It’s a story full of wrong turns, dead ends, divine intervention, and lots of grit and faith. We were pretty unsettled with life as is, the status quo, we definitely feel the Lord tugging at our hearts to discover His will and His plan for our lives. And we will share more about this in future posts. 

But if you want to know one of our big whys, it’s found in these pictures I shared with this post, it’s relationships, it’s reaching into people’s lives, and finding a way to let the love of Christ flow through us. Two of the girls in these pictures are ours and two of the girls are new friends. A little backstory, we had our rig in the warehouse at The Flipping Nomad site in Emmett, Idaho, doing renovations under Cortni’s tutelage. On a Saturday in September of 2020 we happened to be out there working on a day we weren’t scheduled to work, and in walks this family that was staying at The Flipping Nomad site. They are a full time RV family and they were getting out of the smoke and fires that were happening in Oregon at that time. We chatted with them for a bit and for the first time in my life I invited complete strangers to come have dinner at our home. We wanted to hear more about their story and all our kiddos wanted to hang out too. And the next day, on a Sunday evening, we lingered into the night talking to people we had only known for 24 hours, finding some of the deepest and most heartfelt conversation and encouragement that we’ve ever experienced. This family spoke life into us. Their story and journey touched our hearts, the way God has been ever-present in their lives stirred us. And we had the opportunity to share our testimony of God’s faithfulness, and be vulnerable and honest. Man, it was good stuff. Connecting in this deep and intuitive way was absolutely surreal, our hearts were hungry for more.

The next day, while I worked on the Voltage, our two youngest girls and their daughters spent 11 hours playing in dirt, exploring old barns, checking out vintage cars, painting their nails, and never once bickering or arguing, or asking me to watch a movie, or play video games, they just explored the world around them. In my heart there was such a deep confirmation about what it is that Phil and I are doing, we want to show these two daughters, that are still at home, what it’s like to meet perfect strangers and build a relationship with them, so that you can encourage and lift one another up. 

This is the kind of life we are seeking, a deep and intentional life, we want to be busy with the Father’s business, reaching into lives, and serving.  We want to stop our attachment to things, and start connecting with people in real ways. Yes, there will be many fantastic sights to see along the way, but our deepest intention is people. We want to support and encourage others in the ways we have been supported and encouraged.  We have been intensely and radically loved, and to God’s glory, we want to intensely and radically love others.  Let The Inspired Voyage begin!