Little Bus, Big Dreams

Yes, I am young, maybe a little crazy, and definitely easily excitable but still this bus dream is actually becoming a reality in my life tomorrow.  That is, Lord Willing, my hubby and I will be moving it into our backyard on Friday, and then the transformation process will begin!  So, I figured, it was about time to start blogging our journey.  One step at a time, prayer after prayer, we are moving forward in faith!

As I think about the beginnings of this dream, having a house bus, my thoughts rush back to stories and pictures of times before I was even born.  You see, when my mom was a young girl she would often help teach Bible stories out of a bus  that my grandpa had remade into a classroom.  Yep, you heard that right, my grandpa used to renovate long vehicles into lovely living spaces before my hubby and I had the crazy idea ourselves.  

This bus dream tracks back to the days my husband was in a rock band too.  When we first met, he was playing guitar everyday, writing songs and hoping to share his music in front of audiences someday.  He did eventually get to travel around in a car with a trailer full of band equipment, but it wasn't quite a luxury tour bus.  As we began dating at the end of highschool and thinking through a possible life together, it was so much fun to imagine a full time life on the road, sharing a passion for music, art, and beauty with everyone around us, but most of all, we agreed early on, that God would have to lead the way.

Fast forward about ten years and, here I am, blogging away at 6am in my cozy kitchen that smells like fresh peppers and cheesy eggs.  After the yummy breakfast, I said goodbye to my handsome hubby (*swoon* my highschool sweetheart), and then he grabbed his lunch box and left for work.  He and I are living the "American Dream"- owning an adorable little home together, a sweet ride in the driveway, and taking care of two gorgeous kiddos.  I can't really imagine wanting life to be any other way!  I am so blessed right now, as it is.  So, with all this goodness, why would I want to buy a bus?  

I do believe that any person would ask themselves the very same question: 

Why a bus?

To which I will reply:

Why not a bus?!

No, but really, I hope it won't be unsatisfying to anyone for me to just say that I think this is something my family and I are supposed to do!  The most important things in my life really aren't going to change- I will still be looking toward God to lead the way, my hubby will be a hottie and a hardworker, and our kids will be the sweet gifts that we enjoy and care for each day.  The difference will be in our proximity to each other, a bus will literally make us a lot more physically close as a family, and ultimately, my prayer is that we will be more intimately connected as a whole and to The Lord and His Will for our lives.  I also hope that God will use this little bus to inspire thankfulness for simple living, a sense of His great adventures, and a deep loving unity among my friends and all those I have yet to meet!

This bus dream still feels pretty surreal right now!  Tomorrow will drive the reality straight into my yard though, so the strange awakening will happen soon.  Stay tuned and join my family and me, we are probably going to need all the help we can get.  

Also, here is a blog I am beginning that is specifically for documenting our bus pregression: BossMovingCastle.wordpress.com

Blessings to you fellow traveller ;)

"I raise my eyes to the mountains, where does my help come from?  My help comes from The Lord, the Maker of Heaven and earth." - Psalm 121:1&2

Jane Eyre and Beautiful Language

Truly, eloquent words inspire the mind!  My dear little sister and I just finished watching Jane Eyre at this ridiculous hour of 3am.  What a hertwrenching and unimaginably hard story!  And yet, through each emotional high and low, between the scenes of her story, I am no stranger.

As a young woman myself, I am not separated from Jane's overwhelming feelings and haunting memories.  I would even openly deduce that we have all, as human beings, at one time or another, even in the very simplest of forms, felt every consuming reality of love that Jane felt.

Maybe there is still life to be lived in your own story in order to fully understand the love and righteousness that Jane's story transpires.  However, the whole thing is oddly relatable even though Jane's character is written from a very unique perspective of a person whose life is so different from our American lives today.  Her walk through loneliness, persecution, pride, rejection, humiliation, and suddenly friendship, kindness, hope then death.  And, oh how recently I have experienced the last few steps, yes, Jane, you feel like an old friend.

One who doesn't give up in the face of death, but rather stands up, learns, teaches and moves on, never forgetting the deep love that friendship and truth gave.  Hastening ahead to a new chapter of growth, this girl is faced with mystery and independence!  While she is also placed within a new realm of responsibility and relevance.  Suddenly with this new frame of mind, her ideas and dreams begin to crowd around her and to make her feel stuck in her surroundings.  Desires come heavily upon her to explore even more of the power found in the freedom that she has only begun to taste.

Liberation drives her on to exercise her body and suddenly a strange event occurs which alters her entire life forever.  She meets someone!  A person who needs her more than either of them could have ever imagined.  

From the first meeting of Mr. Rochester a long line of strange and yet lovely happenings begin.  Apologetic at first, Jane asks to be of service to this man she has only just met.  He replies roughly, annoyed at the circumstances he has fallen into (literally).  And yet, as he says out loud later, this young girl has bewitched him and he, in turn, seems to have bewitched her as well.  

Isn't that how love seems to feel when we first are interrupted by it?

Love changes everything!

In fact, just like the idea of magic, it is powerful and it feels so unexplainable.  It dominates our thoughts and opens up the very darkest parts of our souls.

May I remind you that Jane is just another symbol of the truth that God is Love.  He is also mightily in Control, even though things may seem all wrong at times, He has a good and gracious plan.  A design that is set aside especially for those who choose to trust Him wholeheartedly.

I hope that wasn't too crazy a jump or conclusion, but this story of Jane so vividly portrays the passions that follow in my own daily life, I can't help but reflect them back to the Romance of my Savior.

He loves us with such a fervent and wonderful love, stronger than even the echo of Jane and Edward.  And after just experiencing the up close and personal way that they ferociously cared for each other by watching them on film, it seems like I am saying a lot to compare them as a lesser love to my God.  Of course, Jesus really does love more passionately, but also more gently.  He loves Self sacrificially, in a way that Mr. Rochester only finally learned to do by the end of the story.

Oh how I pray I will learn to love beyond myself by the time my ending comes.  

Thank you dear Father for life. 

My greatest appreciation, Lord, is that I have been given the chance to Love...  Fully...  Inescapably...  Completely...  Through Your Love!

May I be filled with your strength each day, my dear Prince, to love as You have loved me...

Amen.