It's An Interesting Life

“I want your life.”

It was said in jest, but it also revealed a longing.

The words caught me completely off guard. I had never thought of myself as one to be envied. After all, I felt like I had served my time in the trenches. I didn’t really believe anyone would want my life.

We live in our RV and travel around the country (really just the western US right now) to volunteer our time at Christian camps, schools, and ministries. We get to meet lots of new people, take in beautiful scenery, make our own schedule, and to the rest of the world, it may look like we live carefree. Perhaps I would be jealous of this life too. In fact, if I didn’t know the whole story, I know I would be jealous.

But for every mountaintop experience, there is always a valley we have to pass through.

Even now, when we are literally at the top of a mountain serving at a youth mission, I don’t feel carefree. There are still things in our lives that come up and have to be solved. I do feel like it’s a little easier to pray on the mountaintop because I can see the valley we’ve just been through. I think if God accomplished everything up to this point, then surely, He can take care of all the little details too.

Eventually though, we will have to leave this mountain. We will have to go back down the hill to enter the life He has called us too. Most likely, there will be another valley along the way, or two, or three, or ten. Each seemingly more strenuous than the previous. Each one beckoning us to hold on for the ride, because some of the way we may have to be carried to get to the other side.

Consider these facts.

We live in 200 square feet. We have 4 inches of kitchen counter space. Our sewage has to be dumped manually.

It took two years to go through all our belongings, downsize to 10% of what we had, and we have to pay to store what’s left.

We are the only ones in our age group of friends with an empty nest. This empty nest came at the cost of missing the precious first 8-10 years of our children’s lives.

Over the years, the Lord has asked us to release our careers, our homes, our vehicles, our friends and family, our money, our ministries, our hobbies, our comforts, and even our kids. He wants all of our cares and concerns. He wants our hopes and dreams. He’s asked us to submit to His leading over and over and over again.

This hasn’t been a walk in the park. There were many times I wanted to say, “No!” Actually, I did say “no” a couple of times, and then things got really messy. Sometimes it took a while for my will to line up with His perfect will for my life. I still can struggle with accepting His will, even after watching Him do miracles.

So why does He ask so much of us?

He loves us. Our Heavenly Father created us to spend eternity with Him, in His presence, under His care, protection, and provision. The earth is simply our training ground before we get there. And we only get there if we have a personal relationship with our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus suffered for all the wrongs, the big ones like adultery and murder, and the small ones, like lying and stealing. It’s all sin regardless of how big or small we view it. It separates us from God, until we accept Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and become a new creation in Christ. Then we get to look forward to eternity in paradise. And He wants all His children to be there!

So, we say “yes” when He asks us to leave a job and donate our time instead. We say “yes” when He asks us to stay parked in an aluminum can in Texas during some of the hottest temperatures on record. We say “yes” when He asks us to buy a house from a widow in distress even though it’s not the best investor deal out there. We say “yes” when we have to work 8-14 hours a day for a month just to get the place ready for someone else to live in.

“Yes,” is the key word to obedience. When we obey, we are rewarded.

Consider these facts.

We get to see most of our family and friends between Texas and Washington every 1-2 years.

We get to bless missionaries and staff members by working and playing together.

Many times, the Lord provides food for us. Sometimes He provides extras, like a tandem bicycle.

We now have friends all over the US, many of them older and much wiser than us, who feed into our lives.

We’ve camped overnight on the beach, on a mountainside cliff, lakeside and riverside.

We have peace and joy (even inside our aluminum can during a severe Gulf storm with water pouring in through the window. We were reminded of that protection when we had to endure a hail storm too.).

We are truly blessed. None of this would have been possible without saying “yes” to the hard stuff. So, on that note, “I want my life, too.” It’s more interesting than anything I could have come up with on my own, and I am quite the creative individual. No amount of my problem-solving, creative planning, master minding skills could come up with this. I’m sure the same can be true for your life too!

“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 hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 NIV