It was a year ago this week when our comfortably built suburban middle-class life took a new direction. We were living out our dream in a house we loved and had recently remodeled and had plans to retire in a few years.

I remember having a magnet on our refrigerator decades ago, when we were living in what I considered my dream home at that time, a big 1800’s 8-bedroom farmhouse in rural Vermont. One morning I happened to take special note of the magnet and read the words as I had so many times before:

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”

For some reason (God of course) I took notice of those words more significantly that day and with good reason. Our lives were turned upside down within a couple of days as God changed our direction and He knew I would need the reminder of those words. Oh my, I had no idea the journey God would take us on.

And so, it is now. Last year at this time a simple retirement discussion within a week became a calling to a new adventure. One we could not have imagined.

People remark, assuming that this was a lifelong dream of ours (living and traveling in a RV), that it must be nice to be doing so.

• No, it was not our dream life
• No, we did not plan on retiring for several more years
• No, we never were going to sell our house

While it was not our dream, it was God’s dream for us. And…

• Yes, we are loving it
• Yes, we can’t imagine doing anything else at this time
• Yes, we never could have dreamed this

We are currently serving at Mission: El Paso! in Texas and will be here 2 more months before moving on to another ministry project in Oklahoma. We come home tired, but it is a good tired. And we cannot see ourselves doing anything else.

So, what is God doing in your life? How open are you to a new direction?