A Life of SMILES is a concept that has been running around in my brain for the past several years. Three years ago, I was living a wonderful life with a good teaching job, the mom to 3 healthy boys, a loving husband, a nice house with a pool on a quiet cul-de-sac, and living in the county that I grew up in, so friends and family were near. 

However, as my boys were getting older AND I was getting older some things started to become apparent. As a middle-school teacher for the past 5 years, I saw the majority of my students pull away from their parents in those years and get sucked into sports, activities, friends, and technology. It struck a chord in me when I asked a student what his mom’s favorite things were during a mother’s day project and he responded with, “I don’t know, I don’t really talk to mom, I just go up to my room when I get home.” I was shocked and to be honest a bit speechless. You would think this was only a handful of kiddos, but it was more than it should be!

Realization: I want to know my boys and I want them to know me. 

My hubby and I also felt like we were trapped in a box. The traditional, normal, routine, mundane, suburban box. Most things in our life were routine with flares of extraordinary and adventure mixed in. We love to travel and experience new places, new things, new people, and new adventures. So we thought, “What if we break out of this box and step out into the unknown?” 

Realization: We don’t have to follow the “normal” path. We can pave our own road. 

Added to all this pondering and mulling, my hubby worked as a physical therapy assistant in many rehab facilities and nursing home settings. Too many times to count he would be talking to his patients about dreams and traveling and they would share similar desires and comment, “we planned to do that, BUT…my wife got sick, my husband died unexpectedly, I fell and broke my hip, we had to take care of our elderly parents, etc.” More often than not, the plans of his patients got usurped by an unexpected tragedy or obligation. And then there are the stories about a couple that survives to retirement and wants to travel and explore, but then when that time comes, their health is not in good enough condition to do that.  

Realization: Let’s not wait until retirement to live our dreams. Let’s do it now with our children!

One day a friend and I were talking, and I realized that I had only 8 years left with my oldest in the house (now it’s 5!). Wowzers! Knowing that we have limited time with our boys before they grow up to live their own adventures, we wanted to make the most of it. We made the hard, yet exciting decision to leap into the unknown and break out of the box! We sold most of our belongings and moved into a 34 foot travel trailer to explore the country in order to intentionally put our family first. 

Realization: Live simply. Be intentional. Cherish and make the most of the brief time we have together. Try something new. 

Living in the suburban American Christian culture, we were falling into the trap of going to church on Sunday morning, praying before dinner & bed, attending weekly small groups, and the boys attending a private Christian school. However, were we consistently reading the Bible together as a family? Was I having a consistent Bible time/prayer time of my own? Were we serving & blessing others? Were we living lives like Jesus commanded and modeled? Not always, no. After 2 years of traveling and living in our camper full-time, we have embraced a slower pace of life. It’s interesting to notice in the Bible that Jesus was never hurried and yet “busy” characterizes our current culture to a tee. We have consistently implemented family Bible reading time every morning during breakfast. It’s actually a family goal of ours to read all 66 books together and celebrate with a family trip to Israel! I have been able to get up early and have my own Bible/prayer time in the quiet of the morning which has been absolutely lovely. We are prioritizing serving and blessing others into our daily and weekly lives. 

Realization: Instead of living such a comfortable life where God gets put on the back burner more often than not, let’s embrace a little uncertainty, a little less security and force ourselves to depend more on God & put faith first in the life of our family. 

We believe that we should choose joy, look for beauty, and be positive.

We are on a family mission to live a life of SMILES- will you join us in this life changing quest?