We’ve had a lot of changes recently with Bradys mobility. I know. Understatement alert. Nonetheless, its the truth, so let’s talk about it.
Camp looks a lot different this year compared to last. I don’t desire at all to dwell on the bad, but I do want to be honest and address it. Last year, Brady could stand.
And this year, he doesn’t.
That right there is a tough dynamic to navigate, for everyone involved. He is much more limited, and everything he does do has to happen in his wheelchair.
We also have three babies. You may have heard that. Three babies in playpens take up a LOT of space in the camper. They did last year, too, but last year, the wheelchair never left the van. Not. Once. So once Brady is in the camper, he can basically make it to the bed, and that’s all. Not the water cooler. Not the fridge. Not the sink. Nothing.
We can confidently say that camping was HARD. Part of that was the first weekend. Part of that was all the prep going into making the space work for us. And part of it was just the reality that roles need to change, making me much busier and Brady feeling slightly more helpless.
As I said. Its a HARD dynamic to navigate.
Yet!
Both Brady and I feel more optimistic about this summer. Things are absolutely challenging, and will likely always feel that way to some degree. I imagine this will be our new normal soon enough and we’ll find our way, but our way will likely never be very easy. And actually, I think thats super ok.
God has blessed up with an incredible community of people who are eager to support us and show us all the love they can possibly muster. Camping would be next to impossible without our village 💜
This dear Dahlsjo family in particular has committed to loving us, no matter who and what we bring. That is real love. Unconditional love. And we feel it around every corner. Camping would be SO much harder without their huge servant hearts.
Plus the guy who donated us the use of this platform lift for the entire season. That was also a pretty generous gift of love.
The weird bunch of saluting weirdos is an added lovely bonus, if you ask me.
Not to mention the fact that Cher cleans for us and works in our home every single week.
Not to mention the grandmas who actively babysit, and fill in on jobs they see along the way.
Not to mention the meals that still come a few times a week, just to take a load off of our minds, bodies, and brains.
This is a wild season. I feel like I’ve been saying that for a solid 4+ years at this point. But our village continues to support us in a way where we can live a really full, beautiful life without having to give up the things we feel really strongly about.
To sum it up. Camping is hard. Harder than it has ever been. But it won’t stay that way.
And! If it does, we will keep going 💜 Rarely is the right thing the easy thing.
Thank you, Lord, for Kinasao, and for the beautiful people in our life who help us get there time and time again!
Next weekend, we lay patio stone! And by “we,” I mean the group of people who have volunteered to do it for us. Yet another thing to be overwhelmingly humbled by and grateful for.