This Is Us

Grit and Chaos - Chris - Post #1

Plan (noun)

/plan/

1.      a detailed proposal for doing or achieving something.

2.      an intention or decision about what one is going to do.

Well, we do have “an intention or decision about what one is going to do,” but I cannot honestly say that we have a “detailed proposal” for doing it. But that is where the “fun” (i.e. faith) comes in. We are a family of 7 from Montrose, Colorado. My name is Chris, my wife’s name is Crystal, and we have 5 children; four boys and 1 girl. We had a very comfortable life in Colorado, where we have been living since Crystal and I were married in 2003… Now, we are semi-homeless, and drifting about the east coast looking for a floating home; a sailboat, specifically. Sounds like a mid-life crisis, I know, but it is more than that.

(This is us, all moved out of our Colorado home, and ready to hit the road)

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5 years ago, we got the crazy idea that we should move our entire family of 7 onto a sailboat, and explore as a family. I am not positive it was a serious idea right away, but the idea took root, and became a dream that we would spend many hours, many months, and many years talking about, dreaming about, and then finally making “plans” for.

I tried reasoning my way around the crazy idea. I had a good job. They kids were doing well. We had good friends, and family in the area. There was nothing wrong with our lives in Colorado. There was no big reason to need a change in our lives. But God kept putting this sailing idea back in our hearts. We believe that it is God that is leading us into this. We do not know what the purpose is, but there have been so many instances, and confirmations that He is, in fact, leading us this direction, that we cannot ignore his call.

So, we set out. We closed down our life in Colorado, and hit the road with this “plan” to get to the east coast and buy a boat. The “intention” is to buy a boat that will not only fit our family, but will have room for us to invite other people into this adventure. We want to share these adventures and blessings with friends and family (ours, and other people’s)… maybe even strangers. The “details” … we are not so clear on those. Our current budget does not exactly enable us to go buy the biggest, most well-equipped, boat on the market; one that would fit our crew of 7 plus guests, but we have seen God do incredible things, and we are not writing off the possibility that that boat could be provided. Our budget does allow the possibility for an older (i.e. needs work) boat that could sort-of fit our family, with very little room to invite others on-board comfortably. But this, also, could be the path forward towards a future boat that will tick all the “intentions” boxes. So, we wake up everyday and ask God to show us the right path forward. We look at boats we can afford, and try to imagine how to make them work for us, and we look at boats that we cannot afford, and try to imagine how God could provide that much money! We are learning about listening to God’s voice for everything we need; from food, to lodging, to the destination of each drive. And we are learning about trusting God’s voice in each other. There are times when I am bogged down in my own thoughts, unable to decide what God is saying, and one of my children or my wife has an answer from God. I have found that I am not very good at trusting my family in this way, and I am working hard to get my pride out of the way. Thank God for this incredible team he has made in our family.

(One of our camping stops along the way to the east coast)

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The “plan,” after we get the boat, is equally detail-free. We have intentions, and ideas, but not a hard plan; mostly, because we don’t know when we will have a boat, or where it will be located, or how quickly it will be ready for us to launch it off to distant shores. But we know these details will come when we need them.

For now, we are waiting, and searching, and preparing in any way that we can.

Future posts will be more specific, in regards to what we are actually doing with our time, the boats we are finding, the places we are going, and those types of things, but I wanted to give you a quick overview of who we are and what we are doing, for context.

We hope you will stick around and follow along with us for this story! God is doing big things, and we are so excited to be invited to be a part of them!

-Chris Mullen (and family) … and Chevy! For those of you who know/care, the old girl is still hanging in there!

(apparently, Chevy is the only one smart enough to wear shades in the sun.)