Treasure Hunting

Currently checking in from East Menlo Park, California. I'm sitting in my sweet friend Jenni's sunny living room, trying to catch up with my head and heart from the past three weeks of being on the road. I'm listening to the sounds of Nate vacuuming out our van (I love him) and Annabel playing in the bathtub, narrating the adventures of the four little ducks she got out of a quarter machine at a Nevada gas station. (Don't worry, she's not "unattended" - I'm about ten feet away and can hear her every splash and wiggle.)

Just about everyday on this trip I've started writing some kind of blog entry in my head, with intentions of typing it out...sometime. But "sometime" never seems to come around - a pretty accurate description of this trip so far. Downtime has been precious and rare, and when I get it, I usually end up sleeping or  trying to get details worked out with all the wonderful people we want to see. Or, you know, catching up on Project Runway. I thought I'd be able to type during our long car rides, but that time has mostly consisted of much-needed reconnection for me and Nate while Annabel contentedly watches Blues Clues in her backseat "tent" with her "little pink headphones."

Annabel's chill zone, under the shelter of her bedsheet fort. Don't believe for a second that she's sleeping in this picture - she's a total faker. She just was not in the mood for a picture and closed her eyes as an assertion of her will against mine.

We've been on the road for 19 days now, and while I'm kind of amazed it's already been that long, it does feel like that long. The exhaustion is definitely catching up with all of us - Annabel's actually in the best shape of the three of us at this point, I think. Unlike the rest of us, she's actually gotten a nap almost every day. She gets to just be along for the ride, while Nate and I have a bit more responsibility on our plates.

But I have to say, this has been an incredible journey so far (Clown Motel included). Though I've been feeling more often lately that it would be nice not to be on the road anymore, I don't feel like I want to be "home" yet (wherever that is). I still feel like this is the most awesome and memorable adventure for our family, and I'm not ready for it to be over yet.

Over the past few months as I've told people we were gearing up for full-time support raising, the most common responses I've gotten are something like "Wow, I could never do that" or "That sounds really hard" or "Are you scared?" And yes, those would be pretty normal responses to the idea of traveling the country with a toddler in your third trimester of pregnancy, asking for financial and spiritual support from lots of different people in lots of different communities.

And when responding to these people, I often get surprised looks when I say something along the lines of, "I'm excited about support-raising. I feel really privileged to live that life." But honestly, the further we've gotten on this trip, the more I love this life we've been called to.

Everyday has been an adventure of seeing God provide for us and, as one of our mentors put it, "discovering" who it is that God has set apart to be on our support team. It really has felt that way - less like desperately seeking something we're not sure is there, and more like treasure hunting with the certainty that the treasure exists; we just have to find it. Far from something that we're working so hard to scrounge up and create out of sheer willpower or persuasion, our support has been something we get to discover and joyfully receive. We're showing up in all these places where we have connections with people from past and present, and all along the way, we uncover new "treasures" of support, whether in the form of warm hospitality, prayer, encouragement, or finances (or all of the above). And seriously, who wouldn't want to live a life like that!? (At least, that's how I feel about it!)

I can honestly say that I feel so privileged to be called to support-raised ministry. Instead of just getting a paycheck in the mail, my "pay" comes along with a whole crew of people who believe in us, love us, are excited about what we're doing, and who are there to keep us accountable and pray for us. It's a built-in support network for our family, who will be there for us regardless of the economy or the million other changes in circumstances that can happen at any moment. Definitely not just talking about money here. How cool is it to have a core team of people who we know are invested in our lives, and who we can reach out to anytime we need it? (I seriously think everyone should have a "core team" email list like we do - so many times already on this trip, we've reached out to these people and tangibly felt the fruit from their prayers. Such a gift.)

So anyway, I love this life we've been called to, including these five weeks of traveling - even if it will be nice to return to our own memory foam mattress topper on October 12th (and maybe even go out on a date - gasp!).