Quartzsite, Az

We are once again in Az for the winter. We arrived just before Halloween. The girls participated in the Bouse Elementary School carnival where Michaela took first place once again for best costume in her age group. This year she went as a Red Hat Lady.
We spent Thanksgiving with my parents. We had a nice day with the traditional turkey meal.
We are now out boondocking in Quartzsite. We have had the pleasure of meeting several other fulltime families in the past 2 months. We really enjoyed the Schriers coming out to rough it with us for a few days. We had a blast digging for selenite crystals (Frank even found gold!!). We also enjoyed making homemade marshmallows with 3 families.
I had to get a local job this year to help out with things. I was not sure about going back to work, but I am loving it. I enjoy seeing and talking to the other fulltimers that come in to shop.
We are now preparing for Christmas. This year my parents are coming out to "our Place" (we usually go to theirs). The girls are excited about decorating a Palo Verde tree instead of a Pine tree.
Stay tuned for my next blog on how boondocking for Christmas went :)

Miley Cyurus, Judging, Gay Marriage, Tattoos ... And God

I have kept quiet on these subjects for quite a while, not wanting to "offend" any of my friends. But if you know me then you know I live by what the Bible says and I stand for what i believe in. I live what I preach and raise my two daughters this way as well.
This afternoon when I turned on the computer and loaded my browser the first thing that popped up was an article about Miley Cyrus and her new tattoo supporting Gay Marriage (Yahoo is my homepage).
First let me say this: Many years ago in the Hannah Montana craze I like Miley. She stood up on stage during an interview when asked "do you have a boyfriend?" she replied "there are only two men in my life .. Jesus and my dad". I respected the girl. ..... Then she turned 18 and was done with Disney ....
Ok back to the subject; it is not so much that she got a tattoo that bothers me or the fact that she supports gay marriage. She went on Twitter and said: 
"Where does it say in the bible to judge others?" she Tweeted to one of her followers. "Oh right. It doesn't. GOD is the only judge honey. 'GOD is love.'"

When someone says something about someone else people are quick to jump up and say "aren't you Christian? The Bible says not to judge". No that is not what the Bible says.
Many people read Matthew 7:1-5 out of context. 
“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. ²For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. ³Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? ⁴Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? ⁵You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye"
It is saying do not judge without first judging yourself.
Psalms 37:30 says "The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgement"
A Righteous person will talk of judgement. He will not refuse to judge. He will talk judgement.
A few more scriptures telling us about judging:
Amos5:14-15; Isaiah 59:8; 1 Cor. 1:10; Romans 16:17-18; 2 Cor. 6:17; 2 Timothy 3:5-6; 1 John 4:1

I am not for gay marriage or gay rights. I am not prejudice, I just believe what the Bible says and believe it is wrong. I have friends that claim they are gay and were born that way (but that is another blog subject entirely). I have seen many many people delivered from homosexuality and are living good Christian lives. They will tell you they thought they were born that way, but weren't.
Leviticus 18:22 identifies homosexual sex as an abomination, a detestable sin.
Romans 1:26-27 declares homosexual desires and acttions to be shameful, unnatural, lustful, and indecent.
1 Cor. 6:9 states that homosexuals are unrighteous and will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Whenever the Bible mentions marriage it is between a male and a female.

Tattoos ...
I see so many people with them nowadays. Especially Christians! They will get a tattoo of Jesus, or a cross, or in memory of a loved one. But the Bible speaks clearly against it.
Leviticus 19:28 "Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print or tattoo any marks upon you. I am Lord."
1 Cor. 6:19-20 tells us our body is a temple of the Holy Ghost.

So Miss Cyrus before you go tweeting and telling others what the Bible says, I think ya better read it honey!

Treasure Hunt Blog Hop

My treasure has been posted.
While you are here please look around my blog and comment on posts you see fit to comment on. Don't forget to check out the awesome products I am promoting in the sidebar.
My blog is new so do not let the small amount of posts discourage you. Please subscribe to the blog to get email updates on new posts, or you can bookmark the blog and come back often :)
Thank you for stopping by today!

Come Join the fun! Our blog group on facebook Blog Central http://www.facebook.com/groups/188756621392 is having a Blog Hop Treasure Hunt!
We invite you to explore our blogs, leave comments, and find the treasures we have placed there.

If you would like to join in just click the link to the facebook group, get the details, and start hunting and having fun!

A Little About Who We Are

I am creating this blog for my friends and family (or anyone interested) to follow us on our travels. I attempted this a couple year ago and let it go after about a year. This time I will try very hard to keep current. I will try to blog daily and share thoughts, memories, pictures, tips, and maybe even a recipe or two.

For those that do not know us personally let me introduce ourselves. We are a family of 4 (5 if you count my fur baby) that have been traveling full-time in an rv for the past 3+ years. We started out in the 5th wheel we used for camping trips. After a year we upgraded to a 2 bedroom 5th wheel. After another year we decided that we needed something more sturdy and that had more conveniences while traveling, so we converted an old charter bus.  It has been almost a year in the bus and we are loving it!! I will post pictures of our home another time.

Why we live this lifestyle:
In April of 2008 God spoke to my husband and I and said we needed to sell what we have and go on the road full-time in the evangelistic field. We were moving in this direction anyway. Within 2 weeks we packed what we thought we needed (key word being thought) into the 5th wheel and sold or gave away the rest. We spent the next 5 weeks at a friend's house sorting through the stuff we thought we needed. Purged half of it (but still had way too much).  We hit the road and headed north to Idaho where we spent the next 3 months. In that time we purged half the stuff once again.
3+ years later and we are settled into this lifestyle. Actually we were settled into it by the time we got to Idaho.
Since January of 2009 we have been involved in tent ministry. For those that do not know what that is, we do tent revivals.  We are currently a ministry of helps to a very good friend (and spiritual father) of ours. We someday hope that God will bless us with our own tent.

In another post I will introduce us all individually.
Until then I look forward to you getting to know who we are and what we are about.

The Thomas Family

In my previous post I explained what we do and why we do it. In this post I will introduce each one of us individually.
We are:
Michelle (aka Chelley) - Mom

She roadschools/unschools our two daughters, we do a lot of life learning. She enjoys baking and cooking (which can at times be a challenge in such a small kitchen). She loves our lifestyle and experiencing new places and wonders with kids. Loves crafting of all kinds. Some of her favorites are quilting, sewing, and beading. She also likes to read the Bible and Christian fiction (especially Amish fiction).

Derrick - Dad

He is the chauffeur of our 40 ft home on wheels. He is a missionary evangelist and enjoys his calling. He is a "Jack of all trades" and can fix just about anything. He is the one that did the conversion to our bus. You can see pictures of the bus and the conversion process by clicking on "The Bus" on the menu bar or on the right sidebar under categories. He enjoys reading the Bible.


Michaela - Daughter (age 10)

She was diagnosed with Autism. God has miraculously healed her. She has never been on any meds, vitamins, special diets, etc. and has never been in any special therapies; yet she has improved and come so far. We know that God is not through with her and are believing in a complete "healing". She is a very special little girl and loves everyone she meets with her whole heart. She enjoys coloring and putting puzzles together.

Riona - Daughter (age 5)

She is our little diva! She is definitely a "girlie girl" and loves to have her clothes match her shoes and her hair done just perfect. She is our prayer warrior. If anyone has an ailment of any kind she is the first to suggest prayer or pray herself. She enjoys coloring and playing with her Barbies.

July 2011 Blog Hop

A fellow FOTR (Families On The Road) friend of mine is hosting a "Blog Hop" this month and you all are invited!!

For those that do not know what a blog hop is, let me explain.
It will basically be like geo-caching on blogs.
There will be a list of participating bloggers that have all hidden a "treasure" in their blogs. You will hop from blog to blog seeking the different treasures. While on the blogs you are encouraged to read posts and leave comments.
Treasures will be something you feel is a great deal or bargain, a place where you are at where you have hidden a treasure, a fun area to explore that you think of as a treasure, or even a coupon for something special that you think others might want to use.
You do not have to be a member of FOTR or be a fulltime family. Everyone is welcome to join in, please invite your friends.

If you would like to join in the fun ... or would like more information ... please go to the Blog Central Facebook Group at
http://www.facebook.com/groups/188756621392

Recommended Resources

On the right side bar of my blog you will see a section for "Recommended Resources". These are legitimate products and are part of an affiliate program. They are digital products (example: ebooks) from real people trying to make a real living ... possibly even by another fulltime rv'er like myself.
A lot of the ebooks are written by well known authors, ministers, doctor's, marketers, etc.

Please feel free to click on the picture or link if you are interested, there is no obligation to buy anything.

Homemade Pudding Pops

We are currently parked in eastern Oregon and the weather here has been quite hot. To cool off a bit I made some pudding pops for the girls. They were so easy and inexpensive to make.


Recipe:
1 box instant pudding mix, any flavor (we used lemon today)
Popsicle mold or small paper cups with popsicle sticks (we found a mold that makes 4 at a dollar store for $.50)
Follow directions on box for instant pudding. Scoop into molds and freeze.
In an hour or two you will have a delicious cold treat.

The Bus

The bus is a 1977 MCI MC-8. We bought it in Kentucky in June 2010. It was converted by us in Oklahoma that same summer.

We owned 2 different 5th wheels before the bus. We love the layout and space a 5th wheel provides, but the convenience and sturdiness of the bus is far better.

The Bus: The Conversion

It took Derrick 2 weeks to gut and strip the interior of the bus. Another month and a half to do the conversion. We are not completely done with it.

 

Before we took the seats out.

 

Completely stripping the interior.

 

It took 2 weeks to get to this point.

 

The new laminate flooring.

 

Building the wall frames.

 

The wall frames.

 

The beginning of all the wiring. It is ran in the ceiling and in the walls.

 

Electrical panel.

 

Putting the pine ceiling in.

 

The ceiling. There are 3 of those ac units. And the square where you can see the metal was cut out and a Fantastic Fan put in.

 

Building the queen bed in the master room.

 

Storage under master bed.

 

Storage above master bed and framing for side wardrobes.

Building the bunks.

 

The bunks.

 

Door leading from bunk area to bathroom. There is another door just like this leading from bathroom into master room.

 

Closet and drawers in bunk area.

 

Linen closet in bathroom. Shower is to the right.

 

Building the kitchen cabinets.

 

Bookshelf and passenger seat area.

 

Another picture of the passenger seat area. It also serves as Derrick's desk.

 

Installing the couch. We also installed 3 seatbelts here.

 

The tanks before plumbing. The fresh and grey are each 120 gallons. The black is 66 gallons. There is also a fuel tank on the bus that will hold 178 gallons.

 

This is where the bus's ac unit was. It now houses our huge generator.

The Bus: After

Here are a few pictures of what the bus looks like after the conversion. The pictures truly do not do it justice, but will give you a good idea of what a great job Derrick did converting it.

 

Passenger seat ... also doubles as Derrick's desk. In the background you can see the bookshelf.

 

Cabinets above couch and dining room table.

 

Kitchen. The cabinet just to the left of the drawers is where we keep the garbage can.

 

View of the microwave (which very rarely gets used for anything more than a bread box) and upper kitchen cabinets.

 

Pantry and blue flame heater (the ac units also double as heat when he are hooked up to power).

The dining room table.

The fridge. Above the fridge is the electrical panel.

 

The bunks (not looking their best).

 

Ahhh .. A better view of the bunks.

 

Not a very good picture, but this is the closet in the hall/girls' room. There are 6 large drawers below.

 

Each girl has a dvd player with headphones in their bunk.

 

The shower.

 

The vanity in the bathroom. Toilet is just to the left of this (and shower and linen closet are across from it).

 

The queen size bed in master room. The head board is made from the same pine as the ceiling. There are small wardrobes and night stands on either side and storage above.

 

There are two of these large wardrobes in the master room. Each one has 2 large drawers on the bottom.

 

The outside. We covered the middle section windows with aluminum. There is a flood light on either side. Eventually we will paint the outside.

On top of the bus we have our internet satellite, 3 ac units, and 2 solar panels.