Traveling isn’t for the faint in heart….but it’s worth it.

Today we are in Arizona. It’s amazing. The heat is wonderful, the cactuses have us oohing and aahing, and the mountains are incredibly gorgeous. But guess what else happened today? Our rental had an air conditioning malfunction. That’s right. The heat is incredible….unless you can’t get away from it. Then it’s just HOT. After spending the night without air conditioning, we decided that it was a REQUIREMENT of these hot states. Whew. But this wasn’t the only thing that happened today…..

When we decided to travel the country we purchased a tiny trailer to carry our luggage. It’s tiny tiny. 4×6 feet to be exact. It was almost impossible to find one so small, but we did! Little did we know that many places would frown upon our teeny trailer. When we were in Davenport, we were met with the first issue. They said, “you cannot bring that on our property. If I let you sneak it in here to unload, you need to have it gone in an hour”. So we did. We found a Cube Smart close by and rented a storage spot for it.

In Fort Myers, we also had complaints about our trailer. It wasn’t allowed to be outside under any circumstance. So we parked in the garage. In fact, while we were in the hurricane, we put the trailer outside and parked our van in the garage for protection from the elements. Even during this 24-hour crazy weather, we still had another complaint about our trailer. Apparently, HOA’s are almost always against them… even in hurricanes.

So here we are today in Arizona. Minding our own business, trying to get our air conditioning to work while it’s 90 degrees inside, when we get a knock on the door. The ‘uptight’ manager told us we would have our trailer towed TODAY if we didn’t move it off of the grounds. In fact, she didn’t even know we were staying on the property (the owner needed to send her this info) and was also irritated about that. For a second I was concerned we would need to evacuate the premisis.

So why do I tell you these stories? Because I want to show you the cool ways God used us in the midst of it. God uses people when they are uncomfortable and things aren’t working out how they “should”.

Our air conditioner didn’t work and we’ve been hot. Yet, the man who came to fix it was here for over an hour. He and Aaron talked about every possible subject and had a great connection. We listened and learned a lot about his life and his family. Aaron was able to pray with the man when he left our apartment. How great is that?! Definitely worth a night sleeping in some heat. Turns out that it was a simple fix, but God had made this appointment – and it couldn’t be rushed!

And what about our trailer fiasco? Well, it turns out that the property manager was actually quite a nice lady. She seems busy and overburdened. So we picked her up something yummy and brought it back to her (after dropping off our trailer into storage). She was shocked and thankful that we thought of her. I’m sure we will have the opportunity to spend more time talking to her and this has created a great way to break the ice. ***High fives Aaron for thinking of it!!!

So what is our plan here in Arizona (now that we have air conditioning)?

WELL, I have a friend here who I have never spent time with before we arrived. Her name is Jennifer. We have been friends for over 5 years online through my sewing business and we have finally MET IN PERSON!!! She has a wonderful husband and two amazing kiddos that are the same age as Claire and Elijah. Our main goal while we are here is to spend time with them. To get in their space, go to their church, gym, restaurants, house, school, and any other way we can infiltrate their life. We want to press in and bless them with friendship and love. We are aware of many other connections we may have (like our air conditioning guy), but for now, the Jones’ family is our main focus.

While we are here we also plan to take a trip to Sedona to see some sites and hike. We also want to take a trip to the grand canyon for some experiences and memories. There are a gazillion places to walk and hike. Once we are entirely settled in, our plan is to start hitting some of these trails! It’s cooling off here at this time of year, so it’s manageable temps to do the hiking trails and outdoor activities. Our pool in the complex is pretty sweet too, so we plan on spending a lot of time there while getting to know families from this area.

What do we need?
Prayer. Always. Please lift us up in prayer. God has protected us from some incredible things during this trip: Joy almost drowning, Miranda crashing and missing death, Aaron with covid, Joy almost poking her eye out with a pencil, any car crashes, any food poisoning, Jellyfish, a shark circling Aaron and Claire, Aaron breaking his prosthetic leg, and the list goes on. Protection is a serious prayer that we need during our journey. Please remember us when you come before Him.

Overall, our first few days here have been incredible. We are so thankful for the opportunity we have at this place. This is our last stop before we head home to Michigan for the holidays so we will see many of you soon!

Love,
The Singlers