The First Stop!

The last week spent at the Farm was a busy one. We were not quite sure what the next step would be. Israel seemed a slight possibility, but neither Pete nor myself felt that it would come through. HaYovel had sent out an email to their British contacts to see if anyone felt led to take us in, we had one generous offer from a lady in Essex but didn’t think it was where we should be going. Although we enjoyed our time on the farm we didn’t feel that we were accomplishing much in the way of Israel, and as we discussed various options we felt led towards buying a caravan/camper and travelling through Britain, being led by the Holy Spirit. This excited the whole family, and so Pete spent hours scouring eBay and Marketplace for the perfect caravan. He found one about 8 hours away, which was ok, but not ideal. There was something that didn’t grab my attention. Generally the layout is similar on most caravans with a “kitchen” in the middle of the living space which comprises of a sink, cooker, fridge, a bit of worktop and not enough cupboards. This is generally not a great place in the caravan as everyone is constantly walking past you, not to mention that the bit of worktop is not adequate to do much on. It did have a nice shower room though. Thankfully Father pointed Pete’s attention to another camper that boasted an L-shaped kitchen at the back, with plenty of cupboards, a bit of hanging space and not too far away. After a conversation with the owner we decided that this was the one. As the lady who was taking over from us was officially starting we could now go where we wanted when we wanted and so off we went. A beautiful rainbow showed up the morning we drove off and we felt God’s face shining over us.

We arrived at Pete’s parents house three days later with our new caravan and started dumping our bags in the conservatory and small lounge. I dived straight in and started organising because there was much to get done. The bags in the roof needed to be brought down and sorted while the bags in the house needed to be sorted and then stored back in the roof. Living in a six berth caravan meant that yet again we had to redefine what ‘essential’ actually means. We managed to get essential to about 14 bags when we were packing for Israel. Now it would be much less. We decided on 5 sets of clothes each, two pairs of shoes each, a coat, waterproof and gilet each and whatever else the children could sneak in. I was also elated to find a set of Pampered Chef pots in the kitchen cupboard of the caravan once I’d started cleaning it out. Whoop whoop. Very posh.

Another issue to resolve was the sleeping arrangements. We had to fit 9 people into 6 berths. We decided to have two on a bunk. There are two really sturdy built in bunks and then a small seating area opposite that turns into two more bunks. The girls were keen to share the built in top bunk, then David would have the top small bunk opposite that would need to be dismantled in the morning to turn it back into an extra seating area. Faith and Havah the lower built in bunk and Ben and Reuben the opposite bunk. After a week and a half we had mostly sorted our stuff out and then decided to move into the caravan to see how it all works out. Turns out Lana and Anya are now too big to share a bunk… Pete spent a bit of time mulling it over and rearranged a no-quibble sleeping plan. Lana on the small top bunk as she’s the biggest. Anya and Faith share the top built in bunk. David and Havah the bottom built in bunk and Ben and Reuben the bunk opposite. After an initial fire from a couple of them they all settled in nicely and I already see a friendship or two growing :)

After a lovely two weeks which consisted of lots of unpacking and packing, visiting, a few walks and a couple of beach visits and a birthday celebration, we headed towards Bodmin. We joined the Camping and Caravanning club as they have something called Certified Sites, which are smaller sites that tend to have only a few facilities. The one we are currently on has electric and a shower and toilet. Its very quiet and close to our friends. And speaking of friends, we have been busy every day since being here. Seeing friends and buying plastic boxes to organise our small living space. Its been so lovely and we have been so blessed. We will be leaving on Friday morning the 29th of October to go to Launceston for a few days.

During all the busyness I’ve been trying to reflect on our current situation. As a family we are so excited about this adventure, and in no way have we been concerned about anything. I see that over the last year and a half Abba has been teaching us about His provision. To not worry. And honestly, I have no doubts about that side of things. What I do see as challenging right now is getting the (younger) children to all sit around a table in the caravan and not lie down and kick their neighbour, or end up with half their plate of food on the CARPET. I am working on that and currently I am offering a piece of chocolate to those who eat with only a knife and fork, keep their feet in front of them and have zero crumbs on the table. Lunch went really well!!! The power of chocolate.

And also to make sure that Pete and I are always on the same page. Sometimes that’s hard for me as I tend to be more of the driving force behind some things. Sometimes thats good and sometimes it’s not. Its so important to hear Fathers voice daily, ask for direction hourly. Sometimes there are periods of resting and others of pressure where things have to be dealt with. This is one of those seasons. But its good, and a good friend of mine said that although these periods are hard, you know that its a time of refining, and that God is dealing with your ’stuff’. So I am thankful and excited.