Dear Friends and Family,
Greetings from Houston, Texas! It has been a cold winter here, so I hope you are cozy wherever this finds you.
2013, for us, will be remembered as the year that we sold our house and tent-camped for a little less than five months. Many of our friends and family have heard fragments of this story. If you would like to know exactly what is going on... Great! I have just the Christmas Newsletter for you! Here is the story of how our camping started and has been going!
In the early months of the year, Josh and I began praying consistently over our budget and about how to alleviate the feeling of just "barely getting by." We had made some good strides the year before by paying off our van, but with Josh's student loan and now a 30 year mortgage on our plate, we were beginning to feel financially bogged down. We loved our house, location and had even planted six small fruit trees in the backyard where Josh had also put together a big play-set for the kids. We had no immediate intention of leaving.
By around March or April of this year we found out taxes had gone up that would significantly affect our monthly payment. Going to our knees again in prayer, we continued to ask God what He would want us to do.
Josh and I began to explore the question of "what if we didn't have this 30 year loan? How long would it take to pay off our student loan debt? If we didn't have any debt at all, how much better could we contribute to the people and causes we feel strongly about?
As we sat together on a date praying in late April, we asked God to show us some way that we could pay off our debts and not live under the burden of another loan. We couldn't get an apartment as it would actually be more per month than the house. We couldn't rent a house because of the same reason. So, we thought about living in a trailer park. Not exactly a dazzling prospect, but surely cheaper right? As we had driven around a local trailer park earlier that we week, we realized the same problem was at hand: we didn't have enough to buy a trailer outright and paying the monthly costs wasn't a big enough savings to significantly allow us to pay off the student loan. So, here we were sitting together on our date thinking "surely there must be a way to live in America without debt?" And then we looked at each other and I don't remember who said it to who but one of us said "how about an RV?"
We drove to a local RV park, talked to people, went inside their campers, asked questions... Lots of questions. Called places, researched, and calculated gas costs. We weren't blown over by the RV park environment. We did, however love the environment of the state park.
Looking around and studying the park's rules and regulations, we asked ourselves, well... How much would it cost to camp here? If we camped here, how much money could we throw at the student loan? If we were able to put a lot toward the student loan, when would we be able to pay off that debt entirely? Would it be possible to camp year round in this climate? Where would we go during the hot days? How would we handle the cold nights?
We calculated fuel costs, test-camped for 10 days to accustom ourselves, decided upon homeschooling at a nearby library with private study rooms and asked the church if we could go there to do school work on the days that we drove in as a family. We talked about how Josh would have proper clothes to wear to work. We talked about how we would store food, switch campsites, keep kids clean, wash clothes, where we would keep important belongings, how much stuff would we have to get rid off, and how/when would we sell the house.
We prayed again and again. Getting up early in the morning, Josh and I would walk on the sidewalk in front of our house fervently seeking God's lead through every step of all of this because this was such a radical and drastic change. The more we prayed, the more God worked everything out.
The first day of our house being on the market, we had three showings and an offer. By that weekend we had 20 scheduled showings and 4 official offers. After a complete week we sold the house for a full cash offer. We were so thankful to close on the house while we were in Michigan in the middle of July. We had lived in the house about a week shy of 2 years.
Our camping adventure had begun! As we left Michigan, we came home to our first night of camping on July 21, 2013.
Many funny, hard, delightful and interesting experiences have transpired since we started camping. We have had rainstorms. We have had wind storms. We have experienced nights at 92 degrees and nights at 29 degrees. We have had raccoons jump on our tent, a gecko in the tent, a gofer underneath our tent and lots of mosquitos and ants that have made us discontent. It's been unforgettable and we've loved it!
We have been to about 6 different Texas State Parks and 1 National Park. We have torn down and pitched our tent an estimated 30 times. We have seen wild tarantulas, wild hogs, a roadrunner, alligators, snakes, foxes, deer, butterflies, bees, ducks, many species of birds, spiders, armadillos, dragon flies, turtles, squirrels, cottontails, lady bugs, owls, and caterpillars.
I know that this whole way of living sounds unfathomable to some, but we love the outdoors, we love not having much stuff and more than anything, we love God. Wherever He leads, that's where we will go.
So, where are we now? Well, currently we are on the road driving from the Lansing area to the Detroit area. We just got done visiting Josh's family and will be spending a few days with my family for Christmas.
We were rear-ended by a Ford Expedition in Houston one week before we were supposed to leave for Michigan. God worked it out for the good and with the money that was received from our totaled Chrysler Town & Country, we were then able to purchase a truck and pop-up camper!
Yes! That's right, we will now be in a pop-up camper! We are moving up!... Up off the ground that is :)
I am excited to see my folks, but I am also tickled by the idea that we will now have air-conditioning, heat, a small sink, stove and electricity to charge our phones. The entire experience has developed a huge appreciation for the little things in life. Probably one of my favorite parts of the last 5 months has been the stars though. When we are just falling asleep, they are there. When we have camped in west Texas, they are there. When we have camped in east Texas, they are there. When it is cold, hot, windy or quiet... The stars are there.
In the still evenings when I get anxious (as moms sometimes do), I come close to Josh and stare at the splatters of white paint across the black fleece sky. Josh usually senses my worried heart and says "you know, He knows all of their names." I take a deep breathe, look at our four sweet peas cozy in their sleeping bags and fall asleep feeling as though I've snuggled right into the wrinkles of my Heavenly Father's hand.
So, yes. We were living in a tent (soon to be pop-up). I don't know where this camping will ultimately lead, but I do know the One who is leading us.
In some unhurried moment of this new year, step outside and look at the stars. He is telling you He loves you. He knows all of the hard things that have happened in 2013 and all the hard things that will come in 2014. Just watch night's glittering light show and say to yourself:
"He knows them all by name."
Because just like the stars, no matter where you are, He is always there.
Love,
Lindsey on behalf of the Feldpausch Family
"He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name." Psalm 147:4
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