HOMELESS!

Our motorhome, Chance, was dead and left behind in New Hampshire. We were homeless. Our daughter and son-in-law agreed that we could stay with them while we figured out what was next. They cleared out a space in their finished basement, and we set up our beds which we had used in the motorhome. We stored the items we believed we might need in their garage. It was just a few boxes. We rented a second unit at our current storage facility and unloaded the rental truck.

Two hours after we had heard that the motorhome was dead, I got a call from the Texas Regional Director of Christian Resort Ministries (CRM). This is the organization we had committed to serving with as a Chaplain for the winter. We were committed to serving at Sunshine RV Resort in Harlingen, Texas. I told him we had lost our motorhome and would probably be unable to fulfill our commitment. He told me that his travel trailer was available for use. The 2021 Grand Design Reflection could be available for us to rent if we were still willing to come. After a few days of discussing and praying about it, we called him and told him we would take him up on his offer.

We stayed with our daughter’s family for five weeks. It went very well. They made us feel welcome every day. It’s no small thing to have two people join a family of six, including the dog, even if they are your parents. We helped buy the groceries and helped with chores and cooking. Truthfully, the five weeks passed very quickly for us, and we enjoyed every moment of it.

Mary and I began the process of consolidating two storage units into one. We sold some of the stuff, repacked some, donated some, and eventually got everything into a single unit. Immediately after the motorhome died, we were both in agreement that we were done with RVing. But by the time we traveled from New Hampshire to Michigan, our “No Way” had become “Maybe Someday.” So as we were going through the storage unit, we saved most of the items we would need if we did hit the road again.

We took three days to drive the 1,645 miles from Michigan to Harlingen, Texas. CRM’s Fall Conference was held at the RV park where we would work. Our RV was in place when we arrived, waiting for us to move in. The Grand Design Reflection was a beautiful and roomy home for us. The Fall Conference lasted five days. It was a time to get oriented to being an RV park chaplain, getting to know the other chaplains, and finding inspiration.

On the last Saturday of October, we moved the RV to our permanent spot for the winter. We spent our first week getting settled into our RV, getting to know our park, and meeting people who live here. We began holding worship services on the first Sunday in November and will continue services on the last Sunday of March.

We are essentially Work Campers. We provide our services in exchange for our lot and utilities. We love the park we are in. It is a beautiful place. We have a roomy site. There are lots of activities to be involved in, and everyone is very friendly. Even though CRM considers me a chaplain, the people here call me their pastor. The congregation here turns out to be the second largest church I have pastored. Our church has a choir, and we support missions; we function much like any other church, with the exception that we are seasonal. We support a Children’s home in Mexico About thirty miles away and another ministry in Mexico. Mary and I have been to visit both ministries in Mexico. Recently we had Missions Sunday and had the leaders from both ministries come and speak. Each week we have two bible studies, and on Sunday evenings, we have a hymn sing right before the park’s Ice Cream Social.

Very early on in our stay here, Mary and I both began feeling that this was not to be a one-and-done experience. We have no doubt that we are to return here next fall. That raises a few issues like, where we live next season, what will we do when we leave here? We’ll talk about these things in my next post.