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COUNTDOWN STARTED,
LAUNCH SEQUENCE INITIATED
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MISSION: Share the love of Jesus with those living in the RV/Skoolie community.
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Currently in the US, a million people live full-time in their rv. [source-RVIA]
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If you’re not quite sure what a Skoolie is? Read this blog that explains it
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The living room was still dark,
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except for the pineapple lamps stationed on either side of our fireplace that we often leave on as a night light. I had been restlessly tossing in bed for the last half hour and finally decided to get out of bed and make some coffee. Lia had been up a couple of times earlier that night tending to a sick child, so instead of gently waking her up as I usually do, I decided to let her sleep. My alarm clock said it was 5:33am, and it felt every bit that early, but the day had finally came, the day we were going to officially set our DEPARTURE DATE!
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A little backstory
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In mid February we had felt strongly that we needed to set a firm date for when we are going to leave in the bus. It would give us something to work towards and also allow for us to plan projects and initiate the “launch sequence” for this adventure. Back in February when this subject was first brought up, we decided, instead of setting a departure date, we would set a date for when we would set our departure date, because, well, that’s how we roll.
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So for about a month, we prayed, spent sometime fasting, and explored a few different dates that we should consider. We wanted to leave sometime in the summer/fall but felt like there should be significance behind the actual day we leave, not just some random day. Well, we tossed around the idea of leaving on Columbus Day, Cheese Pizza Day, Skyscraper day, Be Late For Something Day, Fight Procrastination Day, and a few other days. But the one that kinda hit home with us the most was September 16th, Mayflower Day! (Mayflower Day commemorates the day the pilgrims set sail from Plymouth, England to their destination the New World, where they could have religious freedom.) The Pilgrims were some pretty cool dudes, and they had sweet hats, so why not leave on that day?! Since nothing else really stuck out to us, we decided to keep thinking and praying about Mayflower Day.
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Back to the opening of this story
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The day had arrived when we were going to make our departure date official, but I still didn’t have the “confirmation” that I was hoping for. Yeah, I liked the idea of leaving on Mayflower Day, it gives us the spring and most of summer to complete our Launch Sequence of getting the bus ready, and I liked the idea of setting out similar to the pilgrims, but I felt like it was missing something. I know it’s not wise to base major life decisions on just feelings, so I was hoping for more confirmation from God in setting this date. I’m not sure if it was an uneasiness in my heart or if it was just me wanting something more. Either way, that morning I was asking God for wisdom, like James 1:5-8 talks about.
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The sun was starting to make the horizon glow as I looked out the window from my living room chair, sipping my cup of coffee that was steaming lightly. I had just finished reading my morning devotions and was praying for wisdom in setting this departure date, asking God for confirmation. I finished my prayer and decided to do a little Googling on my phone about Mayflower Day and see what came up. I read that it was on September 16th, 1620 that the pilgrims set out in the Mayflower. I continued reading a few other interesting facts about their clothes and that 3 women were pregnant, one of which gave birth to a baby on the voyage, etc, then something hit me. The pilgrims left in 1620. It’s currently 2020. That means it’s been 400 years since they departed! So… if we leave on September 16th, 2020… we will be leaving exactly 400 years after the pilgrims… and they left in the Mayflower ship… and we’ll be in our Land Yacht (the Renegade Bus)… IT’S A SIGN FROM GOD!
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As this realization hit me, a smile broke across my face as I sat back and laughed out loud, literally. A person could say it’s just coincidence, or that I was looking for something significant so that’s why I found this, but I believe God doesn’t do anything by coincidence. I believe God orchestrates every little detail of our lives on purpose and that this detail, 400 years since the pilgrims set sail in the Mayflower on September 16th, was the confirmation God had for us in setting this date!
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Not long after this moment, Lia sleepily entered the living room, and sat on the couch next to me. I excitedly shared with her about the pilgrims and Mayflower Day and 400 years since they left and the confirmation I felt like God had given. She listened intently and agreed this is the date we need to set for our departure. So we bowed our heads and prayerfully submitted Mayflower Day, September 16, 2020, to God as our departure day. As we finished praying we both looked up at each other with smiles on our faces and knew that with a date officially set, it’s time to INITIATE LAUNCH SEQUENCE!!
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JOIN OUR COMMUNITY
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If you'd like to skip the reading, and WATCH updates in real time during launch sequence, consider supporting us over at patreon.com/therenegadelife. Current proceeds we raise will go towards preparing the bus. In return, you'll have access to many (54 so far) behind the scene & update videos, along with chat boards with us.
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AS A SUPPORTER, you can watch JD & Lia tell the full story of how we decided our departure date.
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AS A SUPPORTER, you can watch a fun clip of how we spend some of our time during the COVID-19 quarantine.
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You've Had Many Questions
In our February Newsletter (read here) we talked about a few different aspects of this new adventure we are embarking on to share the hope and love of Jesus to people who live in their RV/Skoolie’s. We’ve been blown away with how many people have reached out to us to show support and ask questions about the journey! It’s so awesome to see the connections that God is bringing together and we’re excitedly getting ready for what He has in store!
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Are you guys selling your house and moving into the bus?
While we want to be open to whatever God has planned for us, as of right now we are planning on keeping our house. We feel that having a “home base” to come back to where we can park the bus, work on it, and refresh with family will help us be more effective during the time we are on the road. We have an amazing church, family and friends here that we want to stay close with and it just makes sense right now.
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So, how long are you going to be out on the road?
For right away, we are planning on being out for a month or so for our first tour. I like to use the term tour, because I feel it's similar to when I played in a band and we would go out on tour to play shows. We leave on Sept 16 and plan to return to MN to regroup in mid October. We'll assess how things went, and start gearing up for the next tour. Right now we see ourselves being on the road, off and on, for a total of 4–6 months out of the year and back in MN for the remainder.
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Is the corona virus situation going to delay your departure?
We don’t see it delaying our actual departure date, but it’s already impacting our launch sequence for the good. JD has a little more time at home which has allowed for more time researching and networking for ministry.
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WHAT WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED
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Since February– We bought carpet squares!! Lia and the boys went to 5 different Menards and dug through over TWO THOUSAND squares to round up enough neutral grey tones to make it work. Lia used her fancy photo retouching skills to create a mockup of how the floor will look when it's finished. We’re excited to show you guys the finished product, hopefully next month!
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If you made it this far reading, you are AMAZING! Thanks so much for partnering with us as we embrace this new journey! Please be praying for us this next month that God would be connecting us with the right people as we make further plans for departure.
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IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SUPPORT US YOU CAN:
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• Make a monthly donation at Patreon
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• Subscribe & give us a thumbs up on our latest youtube video (new ones posting in the near future)
• Like & comment on our Instagram
• Simply tell your friends about us!
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