Another wish

Essi looking in the wish book

  One of the pages in my wish book is a camper van.  A small, easily maneuvered, secure camp home that allows exploration nearly anywhere.  I've had that wish since my mid-twenties.  The big dream was to do a circumference journey, tracing the edges of the nation. 

The camper van wish became an even bigger wish when I had to give away my tent.  I was a tent camper for decades, and when we married, my beloved grew to enjoy the tenting experience as well.  But after a couple knee surgeries, the kneeling and crawling required for tenting were no longer a part of my repertoire.  So the tent found its way to a new home to make new happy memories, and we waited for retirement, united in our dream, our wish, our maybe-we-can.

We learned that our retirement savings could sustain this purchase.  (That knowledge in itself was such an enormous blessing.) We began looking online.  We prayed for concord and unity in our decision-making, and were blessed with exactly that.  We went out looking and learned that these little vans are harder to find than we thought.  Especially the kind we could afford: used, decent mileage, not-too-old, well-maintained...  I know.  Pretty specific.

Our camper van sitting in our driveway

 We found it!  We have it!  We've been in the process of adjusting little things to make it work for us, to feel like home. This feels like really grown-up camping:  a bed, a bathroom, a little kitchen.  There's even a little combo oven.  

There are so many stories about how we came to find and purchase this little home on wheels.  We are confident, after praying through each step, that we are in the center of God's will for this season of our lives.  That we will be used well for His purposes.  There have just been too many big and little blessings to believe otherwise.  

Organizer shopping at IKEA

 We've picked up up our license plates and we've enjoyed our first adventure.  We're learning about hook-up and dumping and setting up the awning.  We've shopped for the perfect organizers and homey touches.  Even though we have the inside amenities, we're still planning to be outdoor campers - cooking, washing-up, relaxing outdoors.   

But if it rains, we're covered.  Literally.

Our beautiful little gypsy wagon is sitting in our driveway, but it still doesn't seem real.  We have adjusted our responsibilities, cleared our schedule and offered alternative ideas for the way we participate and serve.  You know that freedom we all think we want?  It is happening for us.   

We really do feel retired!  We are so grateful for this season in our lives.   

A friend at church said,  "You're living the retirement dream!"  Yes. Yes, we are.