It doesn’t really seem as though we’ve been on the road for six months, but the calendar doesn’t lie. We left Columbus 23 February, and it’s now 1 September, 190 days after our departure.
My apologies for not keeping the blog up over the last six weeks or so. Our internet access has been limited.
We arrived at Marmon Valley Farm for what was supposed to be a 2 ½ week stay. Our boys had a week of summer camp, then two of the girls had a week of camp at MVF, making it pretty centrally located. We emailed them before we left in February, offering to trade a couple of weeks of work around the farm for an RV site. It was a new experience for us and the staff at MVF. We had never workamped before, and they had never used workampers. But Wrangler Matt Wiley knew us from regular visits to the farm, and agreed to try it out. Near the originally planned end of our stay, he asked me “How much longer are you guys planning on staying?” We talked it over and decided to stay until mid-September, just after their Family Work Weekend.
Farm living is, well, different. The kids have grown up in the city, and even though I was raised in a rural part of Ohio, I grew up in town, not out in the county. I’m not used to being up by 7 or so, and taking a break for breakfast. Making and putting up hay. Mucking the stables. Standing inside a round hay baler as the hatch closes, so you can manually rotate the baling chain. Baling hay by moonlight. Getting a recalcitrant horse to move so you can saddle her. Helping dig a 400-foot ditch. All of them new experiences and I love it.
God has been working with me and our kids throughout our stay here. I’ve learned a whole new respect for people I hadn’t realized I had looked down on when I was growing up. I’ve learned that clothing is just stuff, and it can be replaced. I’ve learned that my kids are more resilient and flexible than I had ever dreamed they would be, and that my youngest daughters are quite the charmers (each week, they seemed to get adopted by a new cabin of campers). I’ve learned that I can handle 95° inside the rig when our air conditioner goes out. (I’ve also learned that we should have bought the second AC unit when we bought the rig, but oh well.)
Adam says he’s learned the value of personal space. Owen says he’s learning to trust God to lead you, but it’s hard. Welcome to the world, kiddo. Eli notes that it’s hard to fit a big family in a small space. Erica has learned that she needs to work on her patience, and not losing it so quickly.
Favorites:
The Night of the Tornado
Kentucky Horse Park
Marmon Valley Farm
Oklahoma
Least Favorites:
The Night of the Tornado (No, it’s not a mistake that this is on both lists. My kids are like that.)
The 4-Day Jump From TX To PA (I’ll go along with this. It was hard to get back in the truck for the last day.)
We’re here at MVF until 12 September, when we head back to Muskogee, Oklahoma. We may or may not be headed for an Amazon gig in October. It’s that whole trusting God thing again.
3 Comments
Craig Terrell says
It was great to meet you and your family. Thank you so much for showing us your home. We look forward to keeping in touch and watching God use you as you travel around with your family.
You now have my email!
Craig
Bob says
Glad to meet you guys as well, and I hope we keep in touch.