NEWSLETTER // MAY 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]

We took a trip in the BUS!

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As we mentioned in the April Newsletter [read here] we’ve been spending a lot of our time working with a few churches and their online services due to the Covid19 situation. To be honest, it’s been more then a full-time job, but we knew going into it that it would just be for a season. Even though we knew this, we’ve still been pushing things a little too hard for a little too long. We could see some of the signs of burnout starting, and having just gone through some pretty intense burnout 2 years ago while youth pastoring, we could see the warning signs and make changes.
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Enter, JD’s dad and mom to the rescue!

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My parents were gracious enough to take our boys for 9 days at the end of May so Lia and I could get caught up on a couple of the video projects we’ve been contracted to do. We also were able to take an over-night trip in the bus!! Yes, you heard me right. It was glorious!! We hadn’t started it, much less driven it since last fall, over 8 months ago!

It was kinda funny how it all came about…

It was a Tuesday morning. I was sitting in the chair sipping my first cup of coffee and doing my devotions. Lia was sitting on the couch with her tea. We had dropped the boys off with grandpa & grandma the day before and were enjoying our new found freedom of sitting quietly reading, with no distractions.

After we set our books down and finished praying we started discussing our week and what all we needed to accomplish. It came up that I needed to drive to Joy, one of the churches we help, which is in St Cloud, about 1.5 hours from our house for worship practice that evening. Then the following day for meetings that we were both invited to. Lia jokingly said, “we should take the bus!” My immediate reaction was, “it’s not going to be ready to go for another month.” But after thinking about it for a minute I realized that we didn’t have the boys, and all we really needed to do was clean up all the tools strewn about, and take it off the leveling blocks we had it up on.
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With the wheels in our heads turning we decided it’d be good to ask the pastor at Joy if he’d be ok with a couple of slightly odd hooligans parking their bus in the church parking lot over night. Once we got the approval it was a scramble to get it cleaned up and ready. Since it’s an oooold detriot diesel engine that usually doesn’t like to start if it’s below 60 outside, I decided we should make sure the thing would still fire up before we got too far along. I checked the fluids, checked the battery for charge, made sure the manual transmission was in neutral (learned that lesson the hard way once), then decided it was time… I turned on the ignition in the cab and walked back to the engine compartment at the back of the bus. I glanced over the engine one more time to make sure I wasn’t missing anything then slowly placed my finger on the starter button. As I got ready to push the button I softly muttered the prayer Dear God, please help this start.” I pushed the button. The engine turned over, and to my amazement the engine fired up right away!! I was so excited I couldn’t stop smiling!! It sat there purring like a kitten. A very large… smokey kitten. But a kitten non the less. (We documented the morning over on our Patreon page if you’d like to subscribe and check it out)

The rest of the day was spent cleaning and lowering the bus from its perch atop the blocks that keep it level all winter. Finally we were all loaded up and ready to hit the road! I slowly backed out the driveway with Lia as my spotter to make sure I didn’t squash any unsuspecting cars that happen to be coming down the road. Once the driveway was clear, Lia joined me in the bus, and we were off!

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The bus drove like a dream all the way to St Cloud! I could tell the air bag suspension and new tires I installed last summer were holding up nicely. We could taste what it’s going to be like driving this rig all over the country this fall.

The rest of the trip was so enjoyable. The church had an extension cord ready for us to plug into for the night and I managed to fill the fresh water tank right before leaving so we had working plumbing as well. It was the first parking lot that we’ve camped in! ...And I’m sure it won’t be the last.

JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

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 (95 so far) behind the scene & update videos, along with chat boards with us.
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AS A SUPPORTER, you can watch a video on how the FIRST DRIVE OF THE YEAR went!
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AS A SUPPORTER, you can watch an insider update on the wood stove installation progress
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WHAT WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED

☑️ JD Built new retaining wall & ramps in the driveway for level parking.
☑️ Lia sewed sleeping bag, bags.
☑️ JD worked more on the wood stove installation, specifically bolting it in.
☑️ Removed old vinyl tile & started installing carpet squares: 3 so far. Every project starts somewhere!
You made it to the end! Cheering! Thanks for your prayers last month (we asked for wisdom in decisions with how to spend our time) we've said no to some good things in order to say yes to some great things. Please be praying for us this next month as we solidify our core focus and mission within The Renegade Life.
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IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SUPPORT US YOU CAN:
• Pray for us!
• Make a monthly donation at Patreon
• Make a one time donation through our safe giving page.
• Subscribe & give us a thumbs up on our latest youtube video
• Like & comment on our Instagram
• Simply tell your friends about us!
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