When You Tell Jesus to Take the Wheel, Be Prepared to Move
I’m amazed by the changes that a renewed relationship with Christ made in me. The same woman that dreaded a trip to Costco by herself headed out alone on a seven-mile hike around Lake Siskiyou a couple of weeks ago. Who is this person?
I’m thrilled to say that I’m a woman after God’s own heart. I’ve grown leaps and bounds spiritually since rededicating my life to Christ in January of 2002. So much has happened since then, much of it expounded on in my memoir, Born Again in a Biker Bar It’s available on Amazon in case you are interested in hearing “the rest of the story.”
The last three years have been a whirlwind. The changes that took place before that came about more slowly. But, we are all a work in progress. If you aren’t where you want to be at this stage in your life, keep the faith and know that God works everything out for good in the lives of His kids. My husband, Tommy, and I are prime examples of that.
Our current position in life is nothing short of miraculous. As Ephesians 3:20 says: Now glory be to God who by His mighty power at work within us is able to do abundantly more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of – infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes. I thought the dreams I had for my life were lofty, but God has given me so much more than I dreamed of.
As I mentioned, we traveled to the Lake Siskiyou Campgrounds 90 miles north of our Shingletown home. We didn’t want to be on the property during our open house. We are joining in the mass exodus of loony, liberal, over-taxed, and overburdened California. Our beautiful home on six secluded acres is practically brand new. It’s a 1406 square-foot three-bedroom – two-bath modular home that was delivered to our property just over a year ago. We didn’t move into it until August because we were waiting on furniture. We sold or gave away almost everything when we left Hollister in August of 2019. The sale of that home was a fantastic story. More on that later.
Since selling Johnny’s Bar & Grill, which I owned and managed for over 22 years, we made three cross-country trips in our motorhome. We lived a full year in our RV when we sold our house in Hollister. We drove all the way to the Florida Keys. On the return trip to the west coast, we joined the Escapees RV Group for a visit to San Felipe, Mexico. It was a fantastic journey. We returned to our Shingletown property in March of 2020 but left for a southern location when it started snowing. We truly don’t like cold weather. We were in Winters, California, haha, when the Covid lockdowns first took place. Like everyone else, we thought the whole thing would blow over in a couple of weeks. How wrong we were.
The lockdowns made our furniture purchases a nightmare. Had I known that the 2020 elections would go so horribly and that lunatics like Pelosi and Waters would keep their Senate seats in California, I would have opted to shop at the Salvation Army. I had high hopes that things would change in the beautiful state that I was born and raised in. But, sadly, we can’t abide by the insane politics, laws, and taxes in this state any longer. So now we are selling the house that we haven’t even lived in for six months. We moved back into our motorhome to put our property on the market.
Tommy and I never really felt at home in the house. I believe that God didn’t let us get settled in Shingletown because He knew that we would be leaving it and California in our rearview mirror soon. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a gorgeous home in an extraordinary setting. We are surrounded by forest. It’s very secluded. Our only two neighbors are great folks that are too far away to see. Sadly, the property is in the wrong state. Shingletown is much more conservative territory than Hollister, but it’s still California. If you can’t bear to leave the state, but you’d like to live in an area that represents a more conservative view, with a house that is entirely utility independent, check out our home. It may be perfect for you. We have an excellent solar system, well with tasty water, a 5000-gallon storage tank, and a septic system. It has my husband’s dream shop of over 1500 square feet when you include the loft. Our goal was to have a completely off-grid home. We figured if the state went to hell in a handbag, we’d have the basic provisions and our guns. Now we just want to get as far away from it as possible.
As I walked on the trail around Lake Siskiyou, I was awestruck by God’s amazing handiwork. I asked Him a couple of times how a place that He made so beautiful could get so screwed up. The answer is pretty simple. The legislators that we voted into office are ungodly and corrupt. Christians have been asleep at the wheel. We were so worried about offending someone that we didn’t even stand up against the assault on our religious freedoms. It wasn’t just California, but we are certainly one of the bluest and looniest states in the union. But I digress. I was talking about the beauty of Lake Siskiyou.
I don’t know when you feel the closest to God, but for me, it’s when I’m admiring His handiwork. Being out in nature, especially close to water, I feel His presence in a big way. I am so grateful for His blessings. We followed the Lake Siskiyou weekend up with a visit to Lake California to spend time with our longtime friends, the Uhauld’s. We had meals together at our campsite and their house and laughed about the crazy times we used to have. We were a bunch of partying fools. We enjoy an exceptional camaraderie with them and our friends, the Frisbee’s who are the reason that we wound up in Shingletown. Linda and Dave have lived here for many years. More than twenty years have passed since we first started hanging out together in Hollister. Our lives have changed completely, but we still have a strong bond. It’s so awesome that God is the glue that keeps us all together. Back in the day, the subject of God didn’t come up often. Now He is the center of all our lives, and we are all the better for it. God is so good. He put together this ragtag bunch of people knowing that lifelong godly relationships would ensue.
God has blessed us all in many ways. For Tommy and me, it’s been the joy we’ve found in traveling in our motorhome that has completely changed our lives. If you would have told me, even five years ago, that I would be more comfortable living in a 40-foot motorhome than a house, I might have accused you of being insane. Most of my friends thought I’d be miserable. But God had a plan.
Tommy and I had only been together for a short time when I told him that we would see the United States in a motorhome one day when we retired. I didn’t give it a lot of thought before or after I said it, but 31 years later, God’s plan unfolded. He has been so good to us. His grace and mercy know no bounds.
It’s time for me to kick my lazy streak toward writing to the curb and start sharing more stories. So many of you went along with us on our first trip when I was diligently blogging. I hope you will join me again on our next chapter as we escape California. I won’t stop praying for a great awakening in the beautiful state that I was born in. When Newscum is recalled, and the church stands up to the tyranny and votes godly people into offices from the school boards to the senators, it will once again be a great place to live. We are getting old and don’t have the patience to wait for that to unfold. We can always come back and visit our native state. If you are staying in California and praying for the revival that the state needs, please do your part and let your voice be heard. If you are up for it, run for office. Whether it’s on the water board, city council, Supervisor’s office, or wherever, we need people of moral character to step up and take our state and our country back.
Thanks for hanging with me for a while. Don’t forget to pray for our nation daily. God bless, Cat