Deputie Family Vacation 2018 Part 2

Tuesday morning I got up early and took full advantage of that exercise room! It was so nice to have that time alone with some ear buds in running and lifting some weights. 

We all got up, ate the continental breakfast, and brushed through everyone's hair. As we were getting ready to head to the Omaha Zoo, the Lord so faithfully told my husband to separate his cash (my husband pays for everything in cash) from his wallet. 

When we arrived at the zoo the Lord also led us on how to tackle the zoo so that we could see it all in two days. Little did we know He planned it so perfectly!

We viewed most of the outdoor exhibits that first day, and it was HOT, HOT, HOT! We had ice cream for brunch just to keep on going. 

Thankfully there were sprayers along the path and many places to rest in the shade while the kids ran and explored. This zoo was very interactive!

A few hours before closing we wanted to check out the Imax theater. Alex and I planned on napping in the air conditioning while the kids watched the show. Haha. 

Long story short, Alex went to a few desk fronts since we found out a mistake was made and instead of purchasing a zoo membership which would allow us to benefit from the IMAX theater for free, he purchased a daily admission. As he was resolving this mishap, he pulled his license out of his wallet and place his wallet on the counter next to him. This wallet was more then likely swiped off the counter.

We alerted the zoo staff and searched the surrounding trash cans. Alex kept searching with the boys while I took my girls to a desert building and spent some time with them. It as air conditioned, and a very special time I got to spend one-on-one with my girls. This was probably the second sweetest time of the whole trip :)

After this, we met back together and Alex sat the kids down to explain the Lord's Faithfulness and provision and the importance of being led by His Holy Spirit.

You see, because my husband obeyed the voice of the Lord in even the small things, we were without loss. All the cash he needed to pay for our hotel, our food, our gas was safely tucked away in his pocket. Even his license was pulled out of his wallet before it was taken. We took a moment to praise the Lord for how good He is to us and then continued our day at the zoo.

We all knew that the Lord would return the wallet, but Alex decided to cancel a couple of his cards anyways.

We spent the following day at the zoo continuing to tackle it the was my husband and I felt led to. Even this was ordained by the Lord since we got to join up with our church family at the end of the day for some of the buildings we hadn't experienced. Those happened to be our church family's favorite places to visit on their only day at the zoo.

Me hiding from the bats! YIKES!

I also got to have a very edifying conversation with a couple ladies I ran into at the kids play place.

As we checked out of our hotel on Thursday, the zoo called and said the wallet had turned up encouraging them in their walks with the Lord!

God's Faithfulness is a fact. So is His Goodness.

Our circumstances, not always good.

This world, not so good.

Our feelings, shifting and changing with every light breeze.

But God, He Is Good.

We check out of the hotel and head over to a family from the Calvary Chapel in Bellevue, NE. My husband was praying over whether or not to stay in a hotel for this portion of our trip and he decided we would need to be boarded by the church.

The couple we stayed with blessed our socks off and we blessed and ministered to them as well. We spent several late nights worshipping and praying together. Our staying with them had an important part to play later on...

During the conference, Alex and I both wrote down what the Lord was showing us and they lined up so beautifully with one another as well as with decisions we are facing in the near future. 

Our plan was to leave Saturday, but as we began to pack out things, Alex had a stirring in his heart. He kept saying something wasn't quite right and he believed we were supposed to stay another night. We wouldn't have been able to do this if we had gotten a hotel, but since we were staying with people, we asked if we could spend another night. 

News came soon after this that a sister in the Lord was heading to the hospital during the last portion of the conference. Because we made the decision to stay another night we were able to meet the needs of the family that was staying at the hospital with food, clothing, and a place to stay (the same family we stayed with! Praise God)!

Kids all praying together.

The drive home was uneventful and filled with conversation, laughs, and good food. We made it home later that night and spend the next 24 hours recovering from the week. 

What sweet fellowship with had with our Lord and with each other.

We learned several things on this family vacation:
(1) Use the website or app "RoadTrippers" to plan creative destinations along your route. Plan to stop about every 2 hours
(2) Always pack a potty chair, toilet paper, paper towels, wet wipes, garbage bags, zip lock bags, paper plates and utensils, and disposable water bottles for road trips. 
(3) Less is more when it comes to things you want to squeeze into a day giving lots of time to roam around, soak in the beauty or the information you're surrounded by.
(4) Rent a suite with a full size kitchen so you can cook, but also make sure your hotel has breakfast and possibly a light dinner available. 
(5) Plan ahead as far as what you're going to do and what you're going to eat, but listen to the Lord and allow Him to direct your steps.
(6) Save your change all year long and cash it in. Use that change to bless the kids with money to purchase anything they want for family vacation (books, games, food, sleeping bags).
(7) We need a family vacation every year!

So the moral of this trip was this:

Be led by the Holy Spirit.

Rejoice Always

Pray without ceasing

In Everything Give Thanks

This is the Will of God.

Simple Enough

Deputie Family Vacation 2018 Part 1

God uses us all the time.

He always desires to work in you and through you.

If you are a minister of Him, you're never "off the clock."

Ministry isn't a "program" that a church puts on.

Ministry is being a servant to Jesus Christ with every moment of your life.

Every plan, every circumstance.

Knowing every conversation is one that God ordained for you to minster to Him and others.

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This was our first annual family vacation.

We set off Monday morning with our destination being Omaha, Nebraska. My husband had planned attractions along our route to break up our trip a little, and to add some site seeing and historical flare (after all, we are a home-educating family so you know there has to be some learning along the way). We stopped at the Spam Museum, Berstein Bear Museum, Clear Lake, and a Botanical Garden.

Not all of these places were "planned" but they ended up happening in such a beautiful way! 

The first stop was the Spam Museum which was a little over 1.5 hours into our drive. My kids had never heard of Spam before. We briefly read up on the history of Spam on our way to the Museum. 

We had lunch at the Museum (some potato and hamburger hash we made the night before as well as a couple captains of SPAM). Aryeh loved playing with the little pigs. All the Museum workers fell in love with the kids and gave them each a little pig to take home. 

Across the street was a little, curious bookstore. We went in and they just happened to have the largest collection of Bernstein Bear items in the world (or so they claim...). We spent a little time browsing through all that and then piled back in the car for some iPad time. 

Our next stop was a traditional stop to Cabin Coffee, a small Christian coffee house we accidentally discovered years ago. We got our coffee and Alex went to the car to start making sandwiches for lunch. 

While he was crafting sandwiches, my oldest 4 kids and I wandered around the little town and moseyed our way down to Clear Lake. We found a dock and ventured out to listen to the waves.

It was roughly 97 degrees out and VERY HUMID, so naturally the water looked very, VERY inviting. After about 30 minutes Alex found us with Evelyn and Aryeh. We ended up wading in the water (well... the boys stripped down and went all in), exploring the shore, having a picnic, and singing praise songs to God acapella. 

It was the sweetest, most intimate time of the whole trip and totally unplanned. 

Just in time for nap, we set off. This time we were going to try to make a History Museum in Iowa, but they closed at 5pm and we wouldn't have time. We noticed an interesting building off the highway. Turns out it was a Botanical Garden.

They also closed at 5pm, but we did get to use their bathroom and play around in their outdoor garden for a good 40 minutes before venturing onto the last stretch of our trip to our hotel. 

We grabbed some Chipotle, were able to witness to the workers and customers as people are always asking, "How Do You Do It?!?" or saying, "Your kids are so well behaved!!". We always reply with the good news of Jesus Christ and what He's done in our lives!

Our hotel was a two bedroom, two bathroom suite with a kitchen. It had a pool, hot tub, exercise room, continental breakfast, and "light dinner" provided. We built a relationship with a number of people during our stay and were able to give glory to God through our behavior and conversation. 

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The very first day of our trip was so refreshing and felt like a week in itself. It wasn't rushed. It was a time of real bonding and laughs. We kept frustration at bay and spent 12 hours getting to our hotel that was only 6 hours away. It was so much worth it!

I went on several family vacations as a child, and Alex none (unless you consider being a refugee a vacation...). Although I recall them being fun, I also recall family vacations being stressful, hurried and exhausting. 

The Lord showed us how sweet a family vacation can be when it's led by His Spirit, when it's slow and about enjoying the small things without stressing over the big things. 

Even when events occur that could have gotten our eyes and hearts distraught....

Check out what happens next on Friday!

PHOTO BOMB