January- February 2009- recap of the last year

For a few days in January, we visited with family in Ohio and Mark helped at the truck stop.  We even traveled to Toledo to help up there for the weekend.  We had a good time but still felt unsettled about what we should do.

The trip to Texas was very fun.  Our family had traveled many times to Ohio but had never been to Texas.  We enjoyed the trip but especially the change in weather.  Ohio had been -34 with the windchill.  The day we arrived in Texas, it was 80 and sunny.  However,  two days later, there was an ice storm.

Also, because we had bought the camper after it was regularly below freezing in Maine,  we had not had time to try everything out.  In Texas, we realized that some of the water lines were broken.  Mark and Justin spent two days restoring water to the kitchen sink, and that camper never again saw water flow to the toilet.

We enjoyed many good times with people from the Dallas/ Fort Worth area.  We met some ladies from India who made wonderful Indian food.  We enjoyed meals and fellowship with the saints at North Richland Hills Bible Chapel. We even had supper with a trucker we had met at the truck stop chapel in Toledo.  The Bible Chapel threw a very nice surprise baby shower for myself and a lady named Shiny who attended the church.  It is great the love shown by other Christians.

Over this time our family adjusted well to life in the camper.  We settled into a routine that was very different from the one at home.  To make breakfast,  I needed to wake the girls to get them off the bed so that it could be turned back into a table.  We had to take turns getting dressed by climbing up onto the small bed and lying down.  This was the only place to close off, except the bathroom that you could not turn around in.

We realized God may have something different for us than the truck stop chapels.   He had worked in amazing ways to get us to this point.   I wrote about Mark feeling the need to live in a smaller place.  God had put the desire to move into our hearts so it was on the market and cleaned out.  He had supplied us with a camper that we may not have chosen to live in but were willing to stay in.   If God had not orchestrated all of this, we would have had to many excuses of why we should stay where we were comfortable.  A Christian life is not always comfortable, but God will never leave you nor forsake you.

God was now leading us to continue working with Justin as he traveled to work with churches in San Diego, California.  The adventure continues.........

January 2009- recap of the last year

In January, we had a survey trip planned to Ohio.  We had put our house up for sale.  The trip was to look at apartments and see what the Lord had for work for us in that area.

8 days before we left,  Mark was doing his personal prayer and bible study time.  He felt that we should go join his friend Justin Humes who was in Texas, to help with door to door evangelism.  Mark felt our 2 week trip to Ohio should be followed by a 4 week trip to Texas.  So I suddenly had to pack for 6 weeks instead of 2 weeks.  Remember, this is the middle of winter in Maine.  It was very cold to be packing the camper we had just purchased.

4 days before we left, Mark felt that we should clean out the house.  It was for sale and we did not want to drive back just to deal with the house.  We signed power of attorney over to my parents and began packing the entire house (in 4 days).  We got it done but everything was either thrown into boxes or tossed into the camper.  Nothing was really organized.

We left Maine not knowing how long God would have us gone for.  It was really hard to say goodbye to my mom and dad, not knowing when we would see them again.  We were excited to see what God had for us but also not sure how our family would adjust to such different circumstances.  I was 25 weeks pregnant at this time.

Catching up on our story October-December 2008

When I started blogging in January of 2008, I never knew the changes God would have in store for our lives.  My last post announced that I was 10 1/2 weeks pregnant and we were planning a trip to Ohio.

The trip to Ohio really was a turning point for our family.  We had gone to Ohio to visit family.  It was mentioned to us, while we were there, that a truckstop chapel had just opened down the road.  Mark has always been of the mindset that we should encourage fellow Christians, so we stopped by.  That one stop to visit turned into another visit and another.  He probably stopped by 4-5 times during that trip.  He saw the benefit the truckstop ministry had in encouraging the truckers, and sharing the Gospel to an industry that is difficult to reach due to erratic schedules and long hours away from  home.

Both of us felt that God had something more for our lives than coming back to Maine and going back to our regular lives. At the time, we both thought God must be leading us to that truckstop.  Little did we know that God had much better plans.  Going home we both felt that we were wrapping things up, not the enjoyment of returning home after vacation.  The decision was made to sell our home so that we would be able to do whatever the Lord was leading.

We spent the next few weeks preparing to move.  We were thinking of renting an apartment so Mark could go to the truckstop everyday.  This meant getting rid of lots of stuff.  During this time,  the chaplain from the truckstop asked us if we would be willing to travel every other weekend to another chapel.  We decided that if we did this, we did not want to be split up as a family.  So we started looking for a camper for weekend living. With the thought of a weekend here and a weekend there in mind, we began the search for a camper to stay in on the weekends on the road.

Within a month, God provided a 24 foot fifth wheel.  The camper had about 150 square feet of living space.  That is the size of an average sized bathroom. This included a queen size bed, couch, table, bathroom, and kitchen.  Nathaniel would sleep on the couch and the girls would sleep on the table which folded down.  This would definitely work for weekend travel but God had other plans.

to be continued...

We are back online, sorry for the delay

This is my first post  in a long time. For that, I am sorry. There is so much to tell, and it could take pages to get out all that has happened in our family since my last post here. You should check out our family blog for the basics, and I will post more as we go about how our new life  in an RV has changed our  family.

So, please check in from time to time, we would love to hear from you all, and hope to be an encouragement to you as you seek to honor the Lord in your family life. For family and ministry updates, see the family blog here.
Our family website has links to our "one  anothering"  blog and also Nathaniel's blog, called "A Christian walk for kids"

We recently were blessed with the birth of Samuel David Cowperthwaite. Samuel was born February 8, 2010 weighing  in at  7 lbs. 9 oz. and is a happy little boy (despite being sick this past week). We will be leaving Maine March 21, Lord willing, and headed back on the road, picking up our camper in Georgia.