blog-jim

Reflections and Post Script

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:36:44 +0100

Thirteen months of traveling is a vast time-frame to summarize. I agree with travel author Rick Steves: “Travel is intensified living.” Our trip was like being in college, when I had tons of input and plenty of time to learn. It was intense, in a way that could not endure forever. Here are some crystallized thoughts and reflections.

The world is full of wonders. Our travels in Europe opened us to great new vistas. Yet even in the United States, each place we visit has its own personality and character: language, beliefs, history, music, perspective, art, architecture, economy, community, literature. Exploring these places has been like meeting new people. (And it is largely though meeting new people that we get to know the places.) Just as a person has particular traits – and to learn these traits is to know the person – so each place has special traits. Becoming friends with these places has been a delightful process of discovery.

Spending such an extended time with Pam and the kids has been “intensified family”. We enjoyed living together, free from the responsibilities of school, work, and home ownership. As a result, we laughed and played and talked more. We developed family culture: language patterns, rhythms of life, and shared memories. We saw very clearly one another’s weaknesses. And I learned, through the painful process of repentance and reconciliation, many of my own weaknesses. (See the previous entries in my personal blog for more details on this last point.) Through the ups and downs, we grew as humans and we grew closer as family.

November, 2010

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 03:13:41 +0100

I tend toward thrift. So paying $100 and $200 a day for gas was hard for me. We had budgeted $25 a night for campsites, and when I could not find anything under $40 one night, that was tough. But it was during our visit to New York City that the expenses really took off. I spent over $600 one day just buying bus tickets for our commute into the city. The next day, I spent over $300 buying tickets to one show! And the next day, I again spent over $300 buying tickets to one show. But strangely, it seemed easier this time. And the bus tickets, they were easier, too. Now, every once in a while a campground costs $40, $45, even $50. Ah, well, it’ll be OK.

Lesson 7: Spending money gets easier with practice.

October, 2010

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 11:54:31 +0100

The National Parks that we visit consistently delight and inspire me. I love the natural wonders of the world. Sometimes on my morning prayer walks, I just look around me and admire. It is all so deliciously gorgeous. I want to be one with this beauty. There is nothing else I’d prefer to do than spend all my time alone out here in the wilderness.

And there is the danger. After one park visit, I found myself giving highest honor and value to the creation, when I should reserve that honor for the Creator. He alone deserves my worship. His creation is beautiful; but it is assuredly not eternal or spiritual. It is natural, not supernatural. And when I rightly worship the Creator God, I find myself enjoying nature in a healthier way. It is no longer addictive. I can say no. Then I take on my God-given role as steward of the world, as caretaker of creation.

Lesson 6: Creation is beautiful but the Creator alone is to be worshipped.

September, 2010

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 13:13:32 +0100

While resting in a freeway rest stop, we heard a flurry of knocks on our door. A very excited man told us we should come with him quickly, that the TV cameras were coming and a man was giving away $100 bills. All of us but Lindsey hopped out to see what was happening. The man led us to a small crowd of men standing and one man sitting on the ground with money. The story was that the sitting man had won millions of dollars in the Powerball lottery and that he was giving a lot of it away. At one point, someone mentioned that his religion required him to give away a third of his earnings, and he wanted to give it away to regular people. The man sitting on the ground had some cash in his hand and some playing cards on the ground. Seeing this, Pam took the kids back to the RV. I, on the other was, felt excited about this opportunity for free money. Greed grabbed me and drew me into the scam. The man had three cards and if you picked the correct card, you doubled your money. Someone gave me $5 to get me started. I handed it to the seated man, pointed to the ace, and he gave me back two fives. Next they asked me to see what I had in my own wallet. I had $156, handed it over, and chose the wrong card. Feigning surprise and compassion, someone asked me whether I had more money in the RV. But at this point, my eyes were wide open and I knew I was sunk. No, I said, just give me back my money. They all encouraged me to hurry and get what I could from my RV to earn back what I had lost. No, no, I would not make that mistake again. One of the bystanders invited me to his truck so he could show me what he had received, offering to lend me some. I followed, and then he withdrew his offer. Big surprise. I was the fool, and I learned an important lesson.

Lesson 5: If an activity involves money and chance, it is gambling. Avoid it.

July, 2010

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 12:45:38 +0100

We plan to spend time with both family and friends during our year of travel. It surprises me how much I enjoy these visits, even during this first month on the road. For example, we visited former neighbors of ours from Elk Grove, the Van Bergeyks. Though we had exchanged only Christmas letters for the last four years, in our brief visit with them, it felt like they had never left. Both Pam and I enjoyed great times of conversation with the parents. Our four kids quickly developed an excellent rapport with their three. And even though we have been gone only a week, our time with these friends met a deep need in my heart: the need to know and be known.

During our visit to Corvallis, OR, we attended the Calvary Chapel Corvallis, along with my mom and our friends, the Hellestos. That morning we heard a sermon on all of Proverbs 18. One verse stuck out to me, and it underscores the lesson for this month.

Lesson 4:

Some friends play at friendship but a true friend sticks closer than one’s nearest kin. (Proverbs 18:24, NRSV )

November, 2009

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 12:45:49 +0100

These first three lessons came to me during our “practice trip” in November, 2010. We leased Harvey (our RV) for Thanksgiving weekend to see if it would serve our family’s needs. On the last day of our trip, I was hurrying to empty the sewage tanks at our campsite. Meanwhile, the girls inside were cleaning up and getting ready to go. Now, the extendable slides extend over the sewage compartment doors. So I had the sewage door open, and the slide was retracting. I heard the sound and thought something had gone wrong in the sewer line. Then I saw the slide squeezing the trap door and I identified the sound: metal stress. I yelled inside for them to stop pulling in the slides, but by the time it stopped, the door and the slide were badly damaged.

That afternoon, at home in Elk Grove, I parked the rig in front of our house to unload it. To make it easier to vacuum the bins, I decided to turn the vehicle around, to face the other direction. In my rush, I backed into our mailbox. Though the collision caused little damage to the mailbox, it caused more significant damage to the back corner of the RV and it sheared off the rear turn signal. While disgusted at the morning’s event, it was almost an excusable accident. But the later damage was from my own incompetence. I was thoroughly disgusted with myself. Yet the accumulation of events taught me three important lessons:

1. Lesson 1: Ask for help.

Lesson 2: Communicate.

Lesson 3: Do not rush.