New Beginnings

This is what I woke up to one morning this week:

I did not alter these photos in any way


Within seconds, the sky lightened
In minutes the vibrancy of the sunrise was gone


I was laying in bed (in our unimpressive 5th wheel trailer) and I could see a radiant pink coming through the window. I threw on some shoes, a jacket and grabbed my camera to head outside and capture it before it was gone. Much like this sunrise, I don't want to miss the beauty of my life around me.

For the past 2 months, the 5 of us have been sleeping in a crowded 5th wheel trailer on the back of my parents' property. I haven't mentioned this to many people for a few reasons. The first being that I didn't want people to worry about us. We are doing fine financially and unexpectedly great emotionally, thanks be to God. We needed to take this leap of faith without the approval of others. The last thing we needed was people worrying about us or criticizing us. So we went for it, even knowing we'd be staying in a little trailer with 3 children for a season.

So, all of our belongings have been in storage and we've lived very minimally. That tiny trailer is so cold at night, you wouldn't believe it. The kids all share a snug room with one bed and a trundle air mattress. Cal and I have been sleeping on a crowded full-size bed. It has been anything but glamorous. The funny thing is, I wouldn't have missed these past 2months for anything.

At first, I wondered how on earth we'd make it through this time, living in a tiny trailer. We wondered if we were completely scaring our children for life. Soon, I grew more and more grateful and could see this is a good part of our journey. I realized that this was a great adventure for our children on the road of gratitude and away from the trap of entitlement. Instead of thinking about all I didn't have, I began to focus on how much we DO have. Yes, the temperature isn't ideal at night, but we never froze. We've had shelter all along. How many people don't even have that? We have each other. We have loving family all around us. We have food, clothing... everything we need to live. We had laughter and joy. We have old memories and new hopes. Perhaps, best of all, we have had simplicity.

Tomorrow, the movers will bring our countless items and furniture out of storage. The power was turned on yesterday to our new house. There is a fireplace and a lovely view. So many things that are little blessings that I don't want to fail to notice and be thankful for. I think the house will serve it's purpose nicely and I'm looking forward to it. But, I don't want to forget this time of living off the bare essentials. I am so thankful to have experienced our "long term camping adventure". I'm thankful for the fresh perspective and the realization of just how little we need. Happiness absolutely does not come in the things we have.

I'm excited about this new beginning. A new year. A new home. A new perspective.