Arkansas, Lake Catherine State Park

I am playing catch up a little bit today as I realized I never posted a thing about our stay in Arkansas.  Maybe  because it was sandwiched between utter exhaustion and violent illness.  I'm not sure.  However, it was the BEAUTY in the middle of our CHAOS.  After our short stay in Glen Rose, TX we camped for several days at Lake Catherine State Park in Arkansas.  We found the people in Arkansas to be very friendly and the state to be much more beautiful than we expected and kind of wish we would have stayed longer.  

In retrospect I would stay at Crater of Diamonds State Park, which we visited to dig for diamonds because of the unique features of that park.  It has a VERY COOL water park which opens Memorial Day weekend (we missed it by a week) and of course, the diamond fields.  

While driving to the Crater of Diamonds State Park where we were going to dig for diamonds, we saw a poor turtle stranded in the middle of the road.  Concerned for his safety, we sent Abigail, our turtle rescue ambassador, out after him.  Once in the car, we decided he needed a name.  After batting around several ideas we decided to call him FLASH! 

 
The turtle stayed closed in his shell until we stopped at a Sonic and put him down on the concrete.  And then he took off, living up to his name, he was pretty speedy for a turtle. 

He went with us to the diamond fields digging in the dirt and swimming in the mud.  We smuggled him in and out of the gift shop and generally enjoyed watching him.  Just before we left in the morning, we set Flash free to enjoy the State Park as much as we did.  Pleasantly surprised by the friendly people and beautiful scenery, we would definitely go back to Arkansas.

INSPIRED!

Show Hope Weekend Highlights:

Beautiful, incredible, amazing, and inspiring, the Show Hope weekend was a lovely end to a month of challenges and trials becoming accustomed to living on the road.  The day we were supposed to go to the festivities, I was in bed with body and head aching, so tired to the bone after dealing with sickness and injuries and RV fiascoes.  Doug had been out of town when the kitchen flooded and Ben hit his head and everyone was barely over the stomach virus.  I cried. Doug prayed. I got up and we trekked into Franklin, TN to the Show Hope offices.

Cool Swing IN the office!

Over the next two days I would come to acknowledge that my “light and momentary” troubles are nothing compared with the troubles of abandoned children, brokenhearted mothers, and seemingly insurmountable needs of orphans worldwide.

For the past ten years, Show Hope has been meeting these needs by providing much-needed medical care and helping orphans find forever families.  In July I will have the privilege of traveling to China to love on these babies in Maria’s Big House of Hope. 

Celebrating with them, we toured the Show Hope offices meeting staff and the Chapman family.  Then we spent the following day at an outdoor fair picnicking with Princesses who painted the girlies nails, watching an animator who penned a particularly life-like portrait of Travis, and blowing bubbles near bounce houses and bungee runs.  

At the concert that evening we saw God’s grace poured out as family after family shared their testimonies of how Show Hope helped bring their babies home.

We left challenged and inspired and filled with the Holy Spirit motivated to make a change in the life of an orphan. 

Travis, Ben, and Caleb... no not THAT Caleb :)

Gloriously Normal

Yesterday was a gloriously normal day.  

Nothing flooded.  

No one vomited. 

Nothing broke, including me.

We played at the park, sans injuries. 

We drove into Nashville and toured the Tennessee State Museum and downtown Capitol area.  We saw some beautiful architecture.

We ate fries and sprite from the McD’s drive thru as a snack.  (5 lg sprites, 5 lg fries – one per row and one for Mom!)

We made our meals in the RV.

Sarah Grace lost her first tooth!  Daddy helped her pull it.

Thank You Lord for Gloriously Normal!

Continuing to "Be Honest"...

Yesterday after, "Being Honest" was posted I finished up the last of the laundry, went back to the RV where Emily made a delicious dinner and we ate.  Then I took the kids on a walk to the park while Hannah and Abbie did dishes. 

At the park, on the money bars, this happened... 

It looked bad.  However, after consulting medical professionals, I decided to monitor him at home.    While getting him settled with meds and ice I noticed water on the floor. 

The water was seeping. Opening the under the sink cupboard, I saw it leaking from the pipe. 

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!! 

Our gray water tank was apparently full and backing up.

So, Hannah set about draining the gray water into a separate holding tank we have (lovingly called the Doody Wagon) and the three girls (Nat, Abbie, and Hannah) took it up to the dump station while Travis tended Caleb and Lily and Emily helped me clean up the kitchen. 

Praise the Lord Ben slept well and looks ten times better this morning.  Swelling is down, pupils are normal, no nausea and he is his normal goofy self. (A little disappointed that he didn't get black eyes!)

With everyone on the mend with no more tummy upset, we are headed into Nashville today to tour the Capitol and museum, then pick up Doug, who also is feeling much better, at the airport.  

What a dang week. 

Thank you to all who have prayed and posted notes of encouragement.  You have no idea how much it means. 

I will continue to update.  

Being Honest...

I won't lie, it's been a pretty rough transition.  From working all day on the house getting it ready to sell, to driving all day across the country, we are feeling the pain of transition.  

I've uttered over and over the past few weeks, "There's a reason the toughest part of labor is called 'transition'." And it's true.  

One foot in each world, the past and the present, not quite sure of our footing in this new, strange land of "On the Road."

Some things we have control over and are part of our learning curve, like how far we travel in a day.  We can fix that. 

Some things we don't have control over like stomach viruses and bed wetting and babies who don't sleep.

Yesterday, Doug flew to Houston for a business meeting and ended up sick as a dog unable to even go into the office. 

The kids and I are hanging out at the campground doing laundry, playing on the playground and doing some easy walks because some of them still have tenuous tummies. 

So prayers are appreciated, as are encouraging words. 

I keep saying to myself, "Buck up Camper! You'll hit your stride."

And I keep remembering this scripture:

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Therefore we do not lose heart. 

Though outwardly we are wasting away, 

yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, 

but what is unseen is eternal.

Braver, Stronger, Smarter (#5)

“Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”  - A.A. Milne

I've always loved Pooh Bear.  These words spoken to him by his BFF Christopher Robin seem to be resounding in my head quite frequently these days as I am pushed to my limit.  Recently, all sorts of difficulty including sleepless nights, sick kiddos, and scary storms have tried to steal my joy.    

I'm tempted to grumble, "I can't handle this.  It's too messy, hard, tiring, fill in the  blank.  Then I stop, take a moment, and realize, God has a plan in this.  I have rough edges, lots of them, and they need to be chiseled away.  As we learned today at the diamond field (where we didn't find any diamonds, by the way) diamonds become diamonds through heat and pressure, lots of it. 

In scripture, Paul writes, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."  I love that encouraging passage. 

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. ~ Phillippians 4:12-13

It's almost as if the circumstances are irrelevant.  It's Christ's power flowing through him. That's what we want! Lord, help me remember it's YOU who gives me strength.  

In what circumstances do you need to be 

Braver than you believe? 

Stronger than you seem? 

Smarter than you think?

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly #4

Yes, today had all three and you said before we left you wanted to know. 

The Good: 

 * Emily got her DRIVER'S LICENSE!  Way to go Em!  And got to spend the morning with her good friend Zane and her Daddy. 

 * We packed, sorted and further organized the RV making it more livable and finding "homes" for more of our stuff.  Also, we have a donate bag which is full of stuff we STILL have too much of!  Really TOO MUCH STUFF!

 * We arrived at our campsite safely. 

The Bad and the The Ugly: 

Had insomnia for about 2 hours last night, Caleb slept well and I did not.  

Lily Anne had a tummy ache (solved by more fluids and prunes!) and cried in the car for TWO HOURS.  Do you realize how long two hours is with a screaming two year old?  Emily was the ROCKSTAR sister that loved her and sang to her and helped her through it .

Another child also cried because they had to go to the bathroom and didn't tell us until we were in the middle of nowhere and there was nowhere to stop.  (Our online water storage tank was damaged so although we can use our bathroom in an emergency, which we did, it doesn't flush properly until we hook up to water.)

We arrived at the campsite after dark (again) and had to set up in the dark. 

Through it all I know this is an AMAZING experience and ADVENTURE!  

I am eager to explore our new digs tomorrow and find out all about Lake Catherine State Park. 

More later.