The First Day

This morning came quickly (a little too quickly for several of us who stayed up late finishing trip preparations), and we were all excited about our trip. Grandad, Grandma, Nathan, and Melanie came over to say good-bye, and Grandad prayed a special prayer of blessing and protection for us as we travel. Grandad’s prayer is a highlight to the beginning of our trips. (Notice our sweet Golden in the middle? She’s always sad when we leave, but Nathan and Melanie take good care of her!)

praying as a family

After praying and saying good-bye, we headed out for our month-long trip. Dad could tell our trailer was feeling different than our other trips, so he phoned the place where we bought the trailer. Dad shared in a blog post last week about how right before we leave on a trip, the pressures and trials come. This trip was no exception. Dad had discovered an issue with the trailer last week, so he’d taken it in to be worked on. When the repairs were finished, everything appeared fine. (Dad after he had pulled the van into the trailer garage in preparation for the work we thought would need to be done. But, as it all worked out, we didn’t need it!)

Dad - at the repair shop (still smiling!)

As we hit the interstate and were up-to-speed, the trailer began swaying. Praise the Lord for His protection, and Dad kept control of the van and trailer. We drove to the nearby trailer place, and Dad, Joseph, and John worked at reloading the trailer. We knew that improper loading could cause it to sway, and that’s why we had bought a scale to verify the tongue weight. However, we had weighed it incorrectly. Instead of the 700 pounds of tongue weight we thought we had, we only had 200! So, after the guys had re-proportioned the weight to the correct amount, we were set. Dad praised the Lord over such an incredible answer to prayer.

We plan to drive to Dayton, Ohio tonight. Then, tomorrow, we’re on to our first conference stop, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We hope to meet many of you this trip!

Only for Jesus,
Sarah

I’m glad I don’t have the job of packing the inside of the trailer. Dad is the expert packer!

Inside of the trailer

Dad and the boys had packed all the heavy books and other books last night. This morning they loaded all our personal bags and other things.

The trailer

7 thoughts on “The First Day”

  1. What a beautiful photo of all of you holding hands and
    praying. What a blessing to see. Thanks for sharing that.
    You have inspired me to do that with my family. We will
    pray for your journey. God Bless you all and have a safe trip.

    Keri

  2. What a precious photo and a special way to begin your travels. We will be praying especially for your family these next several weeks as you travel. We pray that the Lord keeps you safe, healthy, and that His Spirit will touch the hearts of all those with whom you share.

  3. Thank you for sharing your days with us. We currently have 6 homeschooled children and your experiences have encouraged me to share the gospel more and devote more time to prayer and Bible reading. I just read “10 Peas in a Pod” and your family trip is reminding me of what they did.
    God bless. We wish we could have met up with you, but we are at the far end of the Jersey Shore.

  4. Well, I was just blessed to see one big family like yours to be able to stay together and travel at the same time. Wow! and the focus is simply God! It’s really something to discover that there are still people on earth like your family. I pray tha you could imfluence some of the backsliding people of God today.

    And perhaps, be able to convinced the so tired world to try living simply like yours. Many Christians today, are finding it getting more and more difficult to live like it was 2 decades ago.

    Just to see you live like you do, makes us feel like home! I just want to say, thank you.

    We pray for you. Pray for us too!
    Tony & Joy, Manila, Philippines

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