Monday, June 21, 2010

Memorial Box Monday: "The Trip"


Memorial Box Monday was created by Linny over at A Place of Simplicity(http://www.aplaceofsimplicity.blogspot.com/). She keeps a memorial box filled with mementos reminding her of God's love and faithfulness. Each object in her box ( and mine) has a story to go with it. These stories of God's faithfulness support and carry us through life. The idea came from Joshua 4:1-9. You can read more about it at Linny's blog. Please go there and link up to share your own MBM posts, or read those of others.

Today I am going to write about the time our family went on a 4 week trip from Minnesota to Washington and back. We took 6 kids, ages 17- 7, and our dog, along with our pop-up camper, our clothes and food, and an extra tent. Our 9 passenger station wagon carried us and pulled our camper.

It was so unusual for us to be able to afford to go on a real vacation, that our children call this adventure "The Trip". Those two words immediately identify and bring fond memories to mind for us. We sold one of our vehicles just to be able to go. We had $1200 to spend for the whole month and knew it would be a challenge, but we also believed this trip was important and we could do it.

We visited friends and family, and also a parish we had served 3 years before. Sometimes we stayed in campgrounds, and other times we parked our camper in the driveway of those we were visiting! We toured a couple of colleges,too, as our oldest was going to be a Senior and was thinking about where she wanted to go.

We only dined "out" 3 times in the whole month, other wise buying our food at grocery stores and cooking them on our camper stove. Between those meals and the meals our friends graciously served us, we ate well!

This trip included wonderful fellowship and seeing several sights including Mount Rushmore, Devil's Tower, the Pacific ocean, and Seattle's Space Needle. We were able to see where I was born in Pasco Washington, and visit the Black Hills and Deadwood where I lived as a young child. The Trip was wonderful and having 6 kids of various ages did not seem to create a lot of sibling rivalry. We even came home without spending the whole $1200.

So, where is God's faithfulness is this story? Certainly the whole trip was a blessing, but the amazing goodness of God comes when we returned home, and through another unexpected source, we ended up receiving a check for $1200. The exact amount we took on the trip! God is full of surprises!

I think I will put the small travel journal I kept on this journey we took in 1985 in my Memorial Box to remind me not only of all the fun we had, but of how God provided the money we needed for the trip, and then replaced it when we came home! Amazing Grace!!

6 comments:

Andrea said...

Thank you so much for your prayers, encouragement, and support.
Blessings,
andrea

Renee said...

You are welcome, Andrea....

Goodness and Mercy Mom said...

Renee, I love your MBM story. A beautiful example of how God provides for those who are good stewards of what He's given them. I bet your children still talk about that trip--such a sweet memory of a fun adventure.

By the way, I love your photo of your whole family together. You are certainly blessed.

Much Love,
Kathie

Dominique said...

That is so like God! Love that!

BTW - THAT is a big family! Wow! If the number of family members is any indication, you are truly blessed!

Renee said...

Hi Kathie
So glad you enjoyed my story....and the photo of our family. It still makes me smile when I see it on my blog myself!

Renee said...

Hi Dominique
Thanks....yes we do have a big family and that is not all of them either! Ha!