A Multiplicity of Healings!

God has brought us such a long way in such a short time!  We are no longer living in the 5th wheel rv; we are in what may as well be a mansion to us - a beautiful 3-bedroom, 2 bath apartment!  Emily has her own room (with a door!), Andrew has his own room (with a door!), we have a washer and dryer IN our apartment, our puppy is back with us, our stuff is once again all in one location.  I LOVE OUR HOME!

We are still a one-car family, but our one car is now a NEW car (a slightly used new car), that runs so smoothly, and has air conditioning, and just enough room in the trunk for Randall's equipment.  He rushed right out and had his Okie Bugs logo put on it - looks great!  Makes him feel so much more professional.  Me - I'm just relieved to have air conditioning this summer!

The health problems i dealt with for 8 months are finally healed because i had surgery at the end of February.  I like to say that i finally have my life back; Randall likes to say he has his wife back.

We made it through the first year of a new business - ALL praises to the Lord! - and are looking forward to a busy busy bug season over the next 6 months.

On February 8 we also celebrated our 20th year of marital bliss, the same day we moved into our apartment.  So since we spent the whole day (actually several days) moving we really didn't get to "celebrate" in a way that i had always pictured celebrating a milestone like 20 years. But it's impossible for me to complain about that when i am married to a man who can stand by me with such patience and devotion during those health problems i mentioned above.  I simply don't know why God gave me such an amazing husband.  Gratefulness and thankfulness does not begin to cover it.

Life is certainly not perfect for us, as it's not for anyone, but God has given us a respite from the trials and adversity we've been straining under the weight of for the last 2 1/2 years, particularly the last year, and most especially the last 5 months.  The thing is, during the months that i was processing all the epiphanies and revelations from our hardships in Italy i was so confounded by God's amazing-ness that i told Him repeatedly,  "Let's do it again, Lord!  Next time i'll trust You more."  Well, we did do it again, only not in Italy like i had pictured, but right here in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  I knew the whole time we were going through such oppressive adversity that this was something of a test to see if i would trust Him, and i'm so relieved to say i did.  I think i've learned that lesson - at least for now.  I pray i NEVER forget it - that just because we have trials, tribulations, suffering or adversity in our lives does not mean that God has abandoned, betrayed, or forsaken us.

A precious lady at church who was suffering with shingles told me one day last fall that during times when the pain was particularly unbearable she would say over and over again, "Thank You, Lord, for this pain", because she didn't want satan to have any triumph over her trials.  Wow!!!  I'm all about not giving satan any credit, so every day that i looked into our post office box and no checks were there to pay the bills or put gas in the car, i would say, "Thank You, Lord, for this empty mailbox."  I can honestly say i did not feel thankful; it was enough to put me in a bad (no - foul -) mood.  But i said it anyway to remind myself that we are to "Consider it a great joy whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance." (James 1:2-3) During other moments when it seemed impossible to take another step or another breath i would say out loud, "I trust You, Jesus. I trust You, Jesus."

So my life right now is wrapped up in giving my children the stability and routine they've lacked for several months, as well as chasing my never-ending quest for simplicity.  And overflowing with thankfulness for my home, family, and church. And i will praise the Lord for bringing us through the fires, and i will praise Him for the times of refreshment.

Life in the Playhouse

Church mice – again.

Short background:  many reading this are not aware that we’ve been living in a fifth-wheel RV since November 10, 12 weeks so far.  Through Andrew’s birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Randall’s birthday, and New Years and through periods of much rain and much cold, (though thankfully, not as much of either as what it could have been considering that it IS winter.)  At the time of posting this blog, we’re hoping to move into an apartment any day!

So much of what we’ve been going through in the last 3 months is reminiscent of our 3 months in Italy.  Even down to the fact that we are once again church mice, this time living behind the church instead of above it.  Every single day is a struggle, often a MAJOR struggle.  It seems that EVERYTHING is a struggle and ALMOST nothing is making sense.  I almost always feel like we look like idiots so keeping focused on what’s really important can be difficult.

So what exactly is it like living in an RV?  I’m sure many of you reading this have gone on vacations in an RV, so you would be familiar with it on a short-term basis.  Extend that familiarity to 3 months.  With 2 children.  Specifically a 16-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy who can be like oil and water.  Sounds like a blast, doesn’t it?

For those of you who have never set foot in an RV, let me give you a tour!  To start with, think of a room in your house that is about 38 feet by 10 feet, or 380 sq. feet.  Some of you have kitchens that size, or bathrooms, or closets…. Now add furniture.

Picture having to go outside and fill up the water tank every day so that you can have water to shower, flush the toilet, and wash dishes (some of you RV experts will wonder about this one – normally this is not a necessity if you’re hooked up to a city water supply, which we are, but there’s a pressure problem).  Every time you flush the toilet, you have to step on the pedal to fill up the bowl 3 times to shove everything through properly, so it doesn’t get hung up.  You sure don’t want THAT to happen!  The “black water” tank has to be emptied on a regular basis, for us it’s usually once a week, and that means hooking the hose up to the sewer connection and flushing it on out.  

Propane is the primary heating source.  When you use it for heating the RV, the tanks have to be refilled every few days, which runs about $25 each tank.  After about a month of this nonsense, we bought 2 space heaters, a small one for our itty-bitty bedroom, and a larger one for the other, main room.  Now we only have to fill the tank about twice each month.

Speaking of our itty-bitty, cozy bedroom, I have not measured our mattress.  My queen sheets are a little too big for it, and I’m sure full size would be too small.  Randall & I are not tall people at all, but our feet hang off the end of the bed when we stretch out.

Emily & Andrew both sleep in the only other place available for them – the main room.  Emily sleeps on the sofa bed, which sags in the middle, and Andrew sleeps on an air mattress that is just his size, at the foot of Emily’s bed.  So every night they get their beds out, and every morning they put them away.

Our playhouse has no internet, so when we need to get online we have to walk over to the church.  Or go to Barnes & Noble or Starbucks.  And speaking of life outside the playhouse, our “area” is surrounded by a chain link fence with a gate that must stay locked because of church property and a cell phone tower within the fence.  We like to refer to it as living in a “gated community,” except there is no automatic gate to open from the comfort of your car.  No, that would be far too easy.  Instead, you must get out of your warm car, open the combination lock, PUSH WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT to open the gate, get back in said warm car, pull through, get out of warm car, PUSH WITH EVEN MORE MIGHT to close the gate and lock the lock (hopefully without smashing your fingers), get back in warm car, and drive 30 yards to front door of playhouse. It’s really invigorating to do it in a cold rain or when the wind-chill is in the single digits! 

All this said, it only takes one bitterly cold night (which we’ve had many of lately), or seeing someone holding up a “homeless” sign at an intersection to know how good we’ve got it.  The fact is, we can cook (we have a full kitchen, just in miniature, sans dishwasher or garbage disposal, naturally), take a shower, go to the bathroom and watch DVD movies on the 2 TVs (not in the bathroom) all in a warm dry place.  Andrew has the largest “yard” to run & play in that he’s ever had, and that’s just within our fenced area – beyond the fence are a couple of fields.  And we are relatively safe.

So, the BIG QUESTION YOU HAVE… why are we subjecting ourselves to this “misery”, you ask?  Having an infant business, as Okie Bugs will be one-year-old next month, does not usually allow one to make a decent living.  We have made it through our first year with no debt, and me getting a job to help out has not been a possibility due to the health problems I had last fall.  We made the decision to move out of our duplex and into the RV in order to be financially responsible.  No, we were not evicted; nor did we leave anyone hanging.  We just needed a few months to “catch up,” make sure we can still be in business this spring, and honor God with our finances.  It seems that so many people these days choose debt over sacrifice and end up worse off in the long run.  We have always chosen to walk a different road than many of our peers, being drastic when we need to be and trusting God with our today, not our credit cards.  Our children have been learning how to manage their finances and know how valuable a Dollar is (despite what so many think it’s worth, or not). We have been reminded (once again) that there is more to life than ‘stuff’ and will appreciate simple things more.  In the future, as we distance ourselves from this chapter i know we’ll look back and see the humor more than the sarcastic mumble we carry today.  

Despite what others think when they witness our struggle as heavenly discipline or self-inflicted, we just long to hear the words of Jesus "Well done good and faithful servant."  He is our redeemer and He will defend us.

Sherry