Life in the RV is generally very satisfactory. It was difficult transforming our family from near 4000 square ft of living space to around 400 square ft. we now occupy in our home on wheels. Life continues to transform us as we continue to realize we are not home, we are like the Israelites who wandered through the desert waiting for God to lead them to the promised land. We have no right to expect comfort and I thank God for that message.
We have learned a lot about RV life over these past 16 months. After about 6 months as full timers we noticed a water leak around one of the slides of the RV, water was somehow getting into the bedroom and dampening the carpet in a corner of the room. At that time we were parked in Ocala and decided to return the RV to Lazy Days RV in Tampa where we bought it and have them fix it since they would be most familiar with the coach and they are the largest RV dealer in the world. While I was at work in DeLand, wife Wendy and Madi drove the coach to Tampa for the repair. They spent the day in the waiting room while the rubber gasket was being replaced, paid the bill and had the bus back in Ocala late that evening. After several weeks of no rain we had a rain day and the leak again was present with more water than before. Contacted Lazy Days and made another appointment to make the 2 hour trip again to Tampa. Wendy and Madi made the trip down and spent the night because the service department needed to spend more time to get it right this time. They put it through rain bays to insure the RV would never leak again. So after spending 10 hours in the waiting room doing school and the night sleeping in the garage bay it was released and they drove back to Ocala.
With the RV now finally fixed we relocated out near Daytona, two weeks later after a good rain you guessed it, the area was again just as wet as before. I contacted Lazy Days, they were very apologetic and promised to get it done this next time so we made another appointment. They also agreed to fill up the gas tank as it is very expensive to drive a 45,000 lb RV that gets 5-6 MPG around much. Made the trip in February back to Lazy Days, spent a week there while the RV was being repaired. I drove back and forth on I-4 through Orlando and made the 3-3.5hr trip each way to get to the office daily while Wendy and Madi sat 10 hours a day in the waiting room. Lazy Days did put me up in a hotel a couple of those days to limit the drive while they would "get it right this time" We finally pulled away from Tampa early March with the RV finally fixed, got back to DeLand late on Tuesday night and enjoyed sleeping in our home again. The next day while teaching a Dignity Serves class at Stetson Baptist in DeLand the heavens opened, we looked at each other during the class and cringed to look at the bedroom when we returned home that evening. Water was pouring out of the exact same spot in the bedroom. This past Saturday we returned the RV to Lazy Days to they can "get it right" this time. They are putting us up in a hotel in Lake Mary near Orlando while the repairs are being done.
There are times like this that just don't make sense, why can't the largest RV dealer in the world stop a small leak? As you can imagine this has been increasingly frustrating with no immediate end in sight. It has been difficult at times to maintain a positive attitude, an attitude that allows Jesus to be seen through my actions. However my family has shown me those attributes, such a level of patience and caring, actually sharing our mission with the folks in the waiting room and with those exact service folks trying to "get it right". How cool it is to understand that God has placed our family into this ministry to love people. And we are called to love those that are different than us, those that we don't agree with and those that just cant get it right. Praise God.
