I feel fortunate that Shane has been on his own journey of growth as I have been on mine. We continue to work together and lift each other up as we work on become our best selves. He has always been a huge source of inspiration for me as I have worked toward becoming more loving, kind and peaceful. Those of you who are lucky enough to have Shane in your life already know this, but the world is a better place for having him in it.
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I always thought that we would have boys, because this world could use more honest, loving and kind-hearted men like him. Now I am grateful that we are raising girls who will have an unwavering sense of how a REAL man takes care of his wife, children, family and friends and they will expect the same of any man they bring into their life.
Since returning from our desert trip, Shane and I have started some new habits...My favorite new habit is that we get up at 5 to do yoga and meditate, then we spend some time writing. Shane has been writing about lessons he learns from our trips. I will be posting some of his writing from now on so without further ado......Here is the first installment. Written in the desert of Mojave National Preserve.....Enjoy.....
Lessons Learned
by Shane Johnston
Life is full of lessons if one stops to listen. For our family, going on road trips allows us the time we need to stop and listen. When we come home from these trips, the lessons we learn allows us to redefine our purpose and re-evaluate what is REALLY important in our lives.
One of the biggest lessons we have learned is how simple a life we can lead when we are gone for weeks out on the road, living out of our car and tent.
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| Dinner at the base of Stirrup Tank in Joshua Tree National Park |
This simplicity allows us the freedom to move at will. It allows us the time to do the things we enjoy the most like biking and hiking. When planning our trip, we go over our master list and make sure that every item on that list is ESSENTIAL and serves a purpose. If we find that an item is not necessary for us anymore - we get rid of it and take it off the list.
We have also applied this mindset of "Does it serve a purpose?" to our house. After every trip, we come home and are ALWAYS able to take a car full of items that no longer serve a purpose to the Goodwill. Our last cleaning out event we decided to try and make some money instead and that earned us $300 from a garage sale and $500 from items sold online.
Our neighbor was recently over and the girls wanted to hide and have her find them. Jill hid in our hallway closet, which is empty. When Jill was found, our neighbor said.....
"Who on EARTH has a completely empty hall closet?"
This family does!!
