Settling in Florida
I hope you’ve enjoyed our We are Moving Series. If you haven’t watched those, start with Part 1 so you’ll be caught up with our journey :).
In this post – we finally made it to Florida.
We Made it to Florida!
As we left home and about two hours into our drive, the tire blew on our son’s car. Benjamin takes over driving the RV while Tim and Joey take a detour and go get the tire fixed. They made it just as the tire shop was closing for the night, such a mercy of God. We continued to drive and another car’s tire went flat, we pulled over again and fixed the second tire.
As we walk in what the Lord asks of us, we will be tested and tested again and we passed the test as we saw God’s hand on us during the trials.
We finally made it to Florida after about 13 hours! Remember we had everything we needed in the motorhome so we only pulled over for gas.
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Hanna Park RV Resort-
We rented a spot at Hanna Park for two weeks. The park had access to the beach which was a short bike ride away. We really, really enjoyed the beach. Since we came in the middle of July – the weather was HOT and we enjoyed the beach almost daily.
The actual park, not so much. The bathrooms were just not great and no one wanted to shower in them and the laundry room was poorly kept, and the entire park itself was just not kept up as well as the previous ones we have been to.
The highlight of Hanna Park was for sure the access to the beach!
As we’ve rated other RV parks for you guys to have a reference, we’d give Hanna Park a 7/10. I’d give it a 6/10 but the access to the beach was definitely worth the extra point! If you’re looking for a place to stay with an RV in Florida – definitely check it out.
Seraphima Ivy Breaks Arm
One night, about a week in Florida – our children were playing late in the evening in the RV and Seraphima fell and no idea how it was possible but she broke her arm! At first, we thought she hurt herself and it would be okay. We went to pick up her arm and it was completely unresponsive and fell right back down, we knew something serious happened.
We take her to the statcare and they do an X-ray, they tell us she broke her arm and will need surgery and pins put on it. So they transported her to the hospital in an ambulance. If I told you it was easy, I would be lying – it was heartbreaking.
Fast forward 6 weeks – we took her to get the pins removed from her arm and the cast came off, and the elbow healed perfectly! To Him be the glory.
TESTIMONY! The day of the surgery I was talking to a friend on the phone and began crying as it was just so overwhelming and at that exact moment, a woman came into the hospital room. She sees me crying, comes over to me and begins praying. She gets so filled in the spirit and prays a mighty intercessory prayer on our behalf. I told her about Seraphima’s hand, about our house hunting and how hard it was because we just couldn’t find a home but we knew God prepared a place for us. We both got on our knees and the Glory of God filled our hospital room and she just lifted us in prayer. THAT WAS SO GOD! He is just so amazing like that. He knew we needed that and I was so encouraged by her and she was encouraged to be obedient to the Holy Spirit. I never saw her again, perhaps it was an angel in disguise. Hebrew 13:2
Elizabeth’s 13th Birthday!
It was bittersweet to celebrate Elizabeth’s big birthday away from her family and friends. But we made the best out of it and rented a boat for the day. We enjoyed each other and celebrated her. She is so special and mature beyond her years. We are so proud of the godly woman she is becoming.
Flamingo Lake Resort-
After our time was up at Hanna Park, we then rented an RV spot for two more weeks at Flamingo Lake, we really enjoyed this place. It was so clean, there was so much to do for the kids, they had a restaurant on the premises. If you ever decide to stay there, the longer you stay, the cheaper your stay becomes, just a tip. We’d give the Resort a 9/10 – the only reason it isn’t a 10/10 is because it was a bit pricey.
House Hunting-
As we are living in the RV with 9 people, we continue house hunting. We knew the Father prepared a place for us! So we’d walk into a home and I wouldn’t like it, or my husband wouldn’t or our kids would hate it. And so after a month of RV life, the Lord miraculously opens up a rental for us. It felt SO GOOD to be out of the RV and in a home. Yes, it is still so small but compared to the RV, it was huge – ha.
We slowly began making friends in our church body. We had the kindest people invite us for lunch and dinner. We started getting acquainted with the city. We got the kiddos registered for school and Elizabeth will be homeschooling. Florida is beginning to feel at home more and more every day.
We find a home!
After months of searching and living in uncertainty, we finally found a home! This was the first home we ALL went together the first time and as we stepped foot into the home – we KNEW this was our home. That is until we get a call that there are many other offers on the home.
We’ll fill you in next time – until then, that’s a wrap!
Fondly,
Tim & Valentina
Benjamin, Joseph, Elizabeth, Nathaniel, Abigail, Elijan & Seraphima
