Napkin Dreams?

For many years, Marty had the secret dream of taking a year or two on the road with his family, living in an RV and seeing this amazing country of ours. This always seemed like a distant dream out of reach and so he never spoke much of it. A few hints here and there to his wife Patsy and even to his two older sons may have revealed some of the dormant desires of his heart, but nothing ever came of it. One day he watched a video interview with Lisa Welchel and her family's RV trip across America and something woke up in his heart. He felt like he was tired of accepting no for an answer to this dream!

So first he prayed and prayed. He really felt God gave him an exciting dream of combining two passions into one! He has always had a heart for helping churches catch a vision and become more effective at ministering to children and families. After 18 years of successful children's ministry, he has been asked a few times to speak to churches and help train volunteer and paid children's ministry personnel. Marty and Patsy have been asked to do children's retreats, camps and crusades as well. This has always been a source of great joy.

To top it all off,, both Marty and Patsy were sensing God directing them to take a season off of pastoral ministry. With five boys (three little guys who were recently adopted), a strong commitment to raising them and a strong desire to not miss the high calling to parent all five of these boys, they felt they needed a break from the high demands of pastoral ministry.

So with this as a backdrop God began to plant in Marty's heart a five step plan to see this God-given dream become a reality. First he had to talk it over with Patsy. In the fall of 2009 they began to dream and scheme. They looked at RVs online to see what would work. They prayed and cried and dreamed! They even argued a couple of times. Next was to talk to the two older sons, Blake (age 12) and Tanner (age 10). Both boys seemed up for the adventure! Then we took the boys to see some RVS. The three youngest took one look at a motorhome and said,

"We want to live in that!"

Part three was to pay off all debt. Everything. We have used Dave Ramsey's plan to totally rid ourselves of all debt. This was essential to living a simple life on the road. Part four was to slowly tell family and friends. So far everyone has at least been tolerable of our dream. The final step has been to pare down. We are keeping some things in storage but are taking a look at everything we own and ruthlessly cutting back!

In January of 2010 our entire family sat down around our dining room table and wrote on a napkin what our dreams for such a trip would be, hence the name Napkin Dreams! We hope our story and travel tales help inspire your family to dream big dreams together and see what God has in store for you!!