An adventure awaits

Today, I haven't done much in the way of thinking. Not too much is on my mind except what's right in front of me, like the laundry and the messes.

Evie and I did have a nice long visit while Izzy and Korban were away at VBS this morning, though. It is so much fun to watch an 8 month old explore her world. Especially one like Evie. She is so good natured and grins up at me every few minutes with a face that seems to say "isn't this great? Aren't you and I so great?" She is a pure joy. Watching her explore the water and her toys in the bathtub, splashing and grinning, is, like I said two days ago, pure therapy for a stressed out over-rushed mama.

I also find myself daydreaming a good bit today. I'm planning a great road trip in my mind. It's a lot of fun to do these things when they are purely theoretical. No one makes messes or screams for an hour in the back seat when it's all happening in my imagination. There are also no mosquitoes.

Anyway, we have a tent/camper and at least a couple of months. Maybe six months, maybe a year. We are going to visit different people and places and sleep out under the stars sometimes. We'll learn to appreciate the little things like a hot meal and a soft bed, and we'll experience nature the way God intended it to be. I think we'll go across the country.

There are details to figure out, of course. We'll need a bigger tent and have to plan a route with some cities along the way. There will be a lot of beans and rice and noodles, since it will be hard to make money on the road.

Of course, this is all a big daydream, as it would be endlessly complicated to travel the country aimlessly with 3 small children. I'm pretty sure I'm up for that challenge - I think I would benefit from getting jostled around a little, and it would definitely help the kids develop a healthy worldview, to get to see so much. At least Izzy would. Korban and Evie are too young to understand or remember much.

The main thing that makes this seem impossible, though, is the money. I keep telling Dennis that he needs to become famous and write a book or become a traveling speaker so we can live on the road. I suppose I could do that, too. We could both write from the road, taking turn using coffee shops as our "offices".

Oh, it all sounds so...lovely.

One of my favorite authors, Donald Miller, says that it's important to ask yourself "what if" once in a while. If we only dwell on what we think is possible, it's entirely possible that our dreams could go ignored and our greatest potential could never be realized.

Maybe it's ridiculous for a woman like me to imagine life on the road with three kids, but maybe it's just as ridiculous for our family to sell itself short because we think our dreams are out of reach, when really they are just out of the norm.

Times up! Today's rambling was inspired by Donald Miller and I just finished rereading his second book, Through Painted Deserts. I hadn't picked that one up since the summer I turned nineteen and I spent the summer teaching English in China. I'm telling you, this girl has got traveling in her bones.