TornadoTomatoVolcano

I love our tiny RV. I love the lifestyle living small affords us. And If you live in a big ‘ol house, I don’t judge you one bit. Sometimes I get the feeling that this whole tiny house movement has made people a little judgey – Like the size of your home is inversely proportional to the size of your heart. Well, I’m here to tell you that ain’t true! And I have a great story from this week to illustrate my point:

Tomatoes, Tornadoes, and Volcanoes...

If you live in Texas, as we do, you will remember that the day before Halloween was rife with freakish storms. That morning, Caleb went to work as the rain was pouring down. I had plans to visit a friend who lives nearby. Just as I was clearing off the breakfast dishes, I found out there was a tornado warning issued for my immediate area. I quickly stuffed some necessities in a bag, grabbed my kids and ran to the truck.

The rain was falling so hard that I was drenched after running ten feet. We headed for my friends house to take shelter. The roads were already flooding and I was so thankful to be driving the Beast (our Ford F-250). When we arrived, my friend and her kids were in the bathroom, hunkered down watching episodes of Daniel Tiger on the iPhone. My kids and I joined them and there we stayed for half an hour or so until the tornado warning expired.

While huddled in the humid bathroom, our kids started talking about what was happening with the weather. As Abby understood it, we were hiding from a tomato. Levi asserted that it was in fact a volcano. I could not help but laugh thinking that the present danger was in fact somewhere between a benign fruit and a deadly explosion.

We stayed for a few hours after the danger had passed. But when we tried to leave for home around lunchtime, I found that the main road was closed due to flooding and several trees were down. So I turned the truck around and we once again sought refuge from my friend. By then I was completely exhausted, with a pounding headache and an emo-stink that could put a skunk to shame.

Once we got the kids down for a nap, my friend let me take a bath in her garden tub. Ahhh! I cannot tell you how wonderful it felt to soak my cares and headache (not to mention my stink) away. A bath is one of those luxuries my RV life just does not provide, and it makes me sad. That’s why I am so glad I have friends with houses…and bathtubs!

I love that my friends with big houses invite me over for play dates on rainy days so my kids don’t go crazy. I love it when they let me hide there when tomatoes or volcanoes strike. I am so thankful to have friends with such generous spirits. So don’t believe the hype, people in big house can also have big hearts. I know my friends do!