NEWSLETTER // DECEMBER 2020
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MISSION: Share the love of Jesus with those living in the RV/Skoolie community.
Currently in the US, a million people live full-time in their rv. [source-RVIA]

The Windshield Saga Continues

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The Windshield Saga Pt. 48 (or something like that. It’s been going on for a long time now–Since June!)

Well, it’s been 2.5 months since our original departure date and I’m starting to wonder if God is trying to teach us something. Yes–PATIENCE and trusting His timing.

It’s been a rollercoaster to say the least, with a main delay being the windshield that needs to be replaced. A little over a month ago, after having tried 2 other glass installers, we got in contact with an installer who had quite a bit of experience with vintage vehicles, including vintage buses! We thought for sure this guy could get the job done and a renewed hope of leaving sometime this century crept into our hearts.

We spoke on the phone a few times trying to arrange a time for him to come out and take a look at the bus and windshield so he could decide how best to approach the install, since there was a possibility that some of the glass on the new windshield would need to be ground down to fit the opening in the bus. Week after week I would call him to see if he could come out and look at it but nothing seemed to work out. Finally after 4 weeks straight of trying to get him out to even look at the job I decided it was time to look for another installer.


After a few phone calls, we found a shop just 5 miles away from our house that could do the install, and get us in in 2 days! It was now the Monday after Thanksgiving, and I was excited to get a windshield in. Tuesday arrived and we loaded up the new windshield still in the shipping crate to bring to the glass shop, along with the bus. I drove it down to the glass shop and was smiling the entire time, not just because I love driving the bus, but because we were FINALLY getting the new windshield installed!
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Things went well at the shop. The guys there didn’t think it’d be a problem installing the new glass and thought it might take a couple days since they were squeezing it in around their other installs already scheduled.

Wednesday came and went and I didn’t hear anything from the shop. I figured they probably hadn’t started things yet, but I was still excited to get the bus back. On Thursday I got message from them! Only it wasn’t the message I was hoping for. “JD, this is Megan from the glass shop. The guys are just getting started on your bus but I have some bad news. The new windshield has a crack in it, so we have another one on order. Since it’s going to be a little while before we can work on your bus would you mind swinging by and picking it up?”

My heart sank. Our “loose” plans for departing next week would have to be pushed back, again…

The glass shop kindly put the cracked windshield in the bus so I didn’t have to drive the bus with the old windshield that was held in with painters tape but I was still not too happy with the whole situation. It’s a little frustrating thinking back about this cracked windshield. It's been tucked safely in the shipping crate it came in, sitting next to the bus for the last 3 months, and cracked the entire time. But, we know that God is, and has been directing this whole situation. When we gave our lives to Christ and decided to live for His purposes and desires, and not our own, we knew that it meant not relying on our own wisdom and understanding. When things don’t go according to our “plan” we can still trust that things are going according to God’s plan, no matter what, so that’s what we’re going to do! We know that the bus is going to get a windshield installed in God’s timing, not our own. We just need to remain faithful to what He’s calling us to do right now.
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Staying faithful to what God has called you to do isn’t always easy, but it is worth it.

About a month before our Launch Date of September 16th we were asked to help lead an online small group Bible study with some couples from our church. We were going to be going through a 12 week program where we dive into Scripture and help people discover the freedom that God intends us to live in, hence the name of the curriculum, Freedom. We had gone through the course earlier this year ourselves and it was super good, but to be honest, we didn’t really want to lead this Freedom group. We had enough on our hands trying to get out of here by our Launch Date, but felt like God was wanting us to step up and lead this group. We didn’t really have many excuses not to, as it was meeting Tuesday evenings online via Zoom, after the boys would be in bed. If we were going to be on the road, we could still lead as long as we had internet.

We slightly reluctantly said we would help out, and looking back on the last 12 weeks, I’m so glad we did. Yeah, there were weeks where we didn’t want to lead and could think of a million other things we’d rather be doing, but the impact we were able to have on 5 couples, (and them on us) as we studied God’s word together and learned about His purpose and plan for our lives was incredible!

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JD SHARING AT HIS PARENTS' CHURCH IN ND

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AN UNEXPECTED TOOTHACHE

(Not that they are ever really expected). The last 2 weeks have also found JD with some pretty bad tooth pain. It started a week before Thanksgiving, and kept progressively getting worse. Thanksgiving was miserable and finally JD was able to get into the dentist the following Monday. Come and find out, a tooth under it was dying under a crown he had done about 7 years prior. The 2 options were either have the tooth pulled (covered by our dental insurance, yay!), or have a root canal done (not covered by insurance and costs about $1500, yikes!) JD talked to the dentist about the options and she thought that pulling the tooth wouldn’t be a good option as his other teeth would shift to compensate for the missing tooth, which would then throw his bite off and could lead to ongoing jaw pain.

For some people this is a simple decision, but it wasn’t so easy for us. We are huge fans of saving money, but at the same time we don’t want to make fast decisions that have lasting consequences without praying about them and weighing the pros and cons. JD told the dentist we would let her know our decision the next day so we could think about it. That evening we some time praying and asking God to lead us in this decision.

We decided to go with the root canal, even though it wasn’t covered, even though one of the downsides was that it meant having to wait for a dental specialist appointment. The soonest opening was that Friday morning, which we booked. The rest of the week was extremely painful, but Friday finally arrived and JD was able to get the root canal done. Everything went good and even by that evening JD was in considerably less pain. Praise God!
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Looking back on the whole situation, it’s so cool to see how God orchestrates things. Yeah, having an unexpected root canal and the bill resulting from it isn’t fun, but we can only imagine how much more difficult it would be to go through this out on the road. By being delayed in departing we were able to see our regular dentist, and JD was able to have his root canal done by a Dr that is on the national board of Endodontics! (that means he is really good at what he does). It’s easy to think that God isn’t at work when things don’t go our way, or when bad things happen, but I believe that what Romans 8:28 says is true all the time. “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose for them.” This includes being delayed in hitting the road, and having an unexpected root canal.

Projects we finished during our delay:

  • Fix leaks in holding tanks and reinstall all the plumbing.
  • Rack and AC installed on the back of Bus
  • Hitch and Luggage carrier installed on the PT Cruiser
  • Heater core installed in bus for heat while driving
  • House nearly ready for short term rental on Airbnb
Thanks for your prayers last month. Please continue to pray for us, as we seek God's direction, and purpose through continued divine interruptions.
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