We get that a lot. Family, friends, neighbors who have to keep watching our dogs...complete strangers who read the blog. Well, not complete strangers they continue to remain completely silent and just lurk! That's alright.
Anyway, as I was saying. I've heard this question time and again. When we only had two kids (you know way back a whole four years ago) we always said the Character motto is, "Go, go, go!" Not as in, "Go get in the van we have yet another extra curricular activity to participate in." But as in "Go, get in the van we're going to do something fun and I bet mom can work in educational as well!"
Now, I'll say it takes all sorts of families to serve God for His glory. I've seen it time and again. There are those who live in the country and grow their own food (both the kind that makes noise and the green stuff). And then there are those who like to be five minutes from Wal-Mart, or Kroger, or Winn Dixie (except we don't have those here anymore)...well, you get my picture. There are also those who prefer to snuggle up at home and not go anywhere or find it troublesome. And then there are others who tend to just throw caution to the wind and just go. I'm sure you can guess, from reading our blog, which category we fall in. Yep, we're the city dwelling, travelin' fools.
We like to travel for several reasons and so, I've ordered them in a nice neat little bulleted (and numbered list). I'm sooo over organized! Enjoy!
1. Traveling gives us a chance to see first hand God's amazing creation and beauty. We've seen His Hand in shuttle lift-offs and oceans and canyons because we got to physically go there to see it. (And yes, God had his hand in shuttle launches...He created the men and women who created those machines). It's amazing how this earth (and universe) cry out praises to Him.
2. Traveling gives us time together as a family. While we don't have many extra curricular activities, or a tv, or super over involvement in church, or...well, you get the point...we're not wrapped up in keeping up with the Jonses' kid but we do have to live. And living involves a lot of maintenance when you live in a home with seven other people. Traveling locks those same seven people in a vehicle with you and you're forced to laugh, talk, and generally "put up" with each other. We don't have to worry about cleaning up our home or doing every other day to day maintenance when we're out of town either on a day trip or other trip. We can focus on each other and working on building up our strengths and getting rid of our weaknesses (like arguing). In general, traveling together brings out the worst and the best in us.
3. Traveling is...wait for it...an educational opportunity (said in my best grown up voice). I've heard so many people say, "The world is your classroom." We fully believe that. Although, we haven't gone global...yet (and not sure we want to with all this new TSA stuff). Anyway, we love taking the opportunity for our kids to get their hands on history, science, and other activities. They learn so much by physically being somewhere to learn. I love giving them the opportunity to experience education and not just sitting down and looking at it through pictures in a book (although we've done that too).
People ask us if it's difficult traveling with a bunch of younger kids and honestly, it's all we've ever done. We just don't know any different and it's something we enjoy as a family. So, yeah, it's hard, but it's totally worth it and it's something we're completely used to.
I have to admit, sometimes though, we do like to stay at home as a family and snuggle under covers and read books and watch silly movies. This week will provide that opportunity and I'm so thankful for it. But, I'm excited to share where we've been and what we've done...and hopefully, I can do that before we leave again.
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