I hesitated posting this because so many people have told us that we’re crazy for doing this RV adventure and I really didn’t want to hear a lot of people say “I told you so”. I decided not to let nay-sayers steal my joy. I’ll use this time to journal through what I’m feeling, to process, and to think about what lessons can I learn from this experience.

During our 2+ years traveling in our motorhome, we have met a lot of wonderful new friends, visited beautiful places, and spent quality time together. Our marriage has grown stronger and we have received a ton of support, encouragement, and have heard a lot of people say, “Oh man, we’d love to do that someday”. Since none of us know how many “somedays” are left, we wanted to follow our dreams while the timing was right for us.

As we’ve shared our story with so many people, I’ve been surprised at how many have said, “You two have a lot of courage!” Courage? Really? We had never thought of it in that way… until this past week. This past week has taken some courage, as well as a toll on the nerves for the first time during our 2+ year journey.

Jeep damage

On Sunday, we were traveling from New Mexico heading north to Colorado when our airbrakes on the RV had some type of mechanical issue, which resulted in an accident. As He always does, God was watching over us. No one was injured and no other parties were involved.

RV Damage The RV has some pretty significant body damage and the Jeep has a little. Both vehicles were still drivable, so we headed back to our trusted RV repair shop in Tucson. We knew if any team could get our RV back to her beautiful self, it would be them. The repairs will likely take about 3 months, so now we’re really “homeless”.

I realize that anyone’s home can be damaged and temporarily unavailable, so this isn’t a unique situation and certainly not the end of the world but some personal baggage is making this personally harder on me than it might be for others. My whole life I have struggled with feeling safe, secure, loved, and valued. Nothing like homelessness to test those insecurities! This is yet another “test” that I’ll look back on and am sure it will be added to my personal ‘test’imony, but it’s hard to see it when you’re “in” it.

This is where I really need courage. Courage to know that God’s got me. I am safe, I am secure, I am loved, and I do have value. I will get through this, we will get through this. We’ll find a place to stay until our “home” is livable again. I will take care of my furbabies and get them through this. And most importantly, I won’t let the stresses of the situation drive a wedge between John and me. I will have faith. I will humble myself and accept support and encouragement from others. I will give myself grace. That’s courage!

Cuddle time with dadMom hold me