Lessons from the road

Ever since I was a child, I’ve always loved a good ol’ fashioned road trip. I’m sure part of my love comes from doing lots of these trips while growing up, and another part is just because I love driving and being out on the road across this amazing country where we are privileged to live. Whatever the reasons, the fact is: I love road trips. Telling people we were driving from Michigan to Oregon got us some pretty funny responses. Only a few people thought it sounded fun, others expressed horror at the thought, others gave us pity and a few just shook their heads, confident our sanity had left us completely! When we told them we were doing it with the three kids, too, many shared their worst travel experiences, or said in a whiney voice, “Are we there yet?!?” Traci and I had a lot of laughter telling people about our trip. Wait until we tell them we’re doing it again in June!

But I seriously love the open road, and our family travels really well. The kids have learned how to engage each other, as well as how to entertain themselves when necessary. Traci and I enjoy the scenery and talking about life, work, family, sex (when the kids are sleeping =) dreams, Overboard Ministries, USANA, sports, news, politics, God’s amazing creative power as seen from the front window of our van, and lately, a lot about our future. Our road trips generally create great memories and the confined space gives us ample time to work on bonding and to grow in patience and grace.

Road trips are also full of the unexpected, and always provide ample learning opportunities.

Our’s started with a big lesson three and half hours before we left the Traverse City hotel we were enjoying. We were scheduled to leave by noon on Friday, but Thursday night, a loud noise from the car caused us both a great deal of concern. Since my knowledge of cars can be summed up in a sentence (“take it to a mechanic”), I knew I had to take it in before we hit the road.

We have a great mechanic in Traverse City, a fellow Christian who does excellent work with integrity (Kinney’s Automotive), and who happened to be just ten minutes from the hotel. I showed up when the doors opened Friday morning, and got on the schedule for an hour later. Shortly after I returned, one of the techs was taking a look at our van. Turns out the front driver’s side wheel bearings were bad (that accounted for the noise) and just for added fun, the brakes were nearly metal-to-metal and needed to be replaced. I had prayed for a quick, $12 fix with parts already in the shop. Instead I had a three and half hour repair, parts had to be ordered from a nearby shop and we were looking at a $500+ repair. And who doesn’t love road trips?!?

As I was driving back from the shop to the hotel (after I scheduled the appointment but before the tech had given an official diagnosis), I was lamenting the unexpected expense, whining to God about the lost time and was worrying about how the money and time would affect our whole trip. I was deep in worry when God taught me an important lesson.

Just as I was contemplating offering to leave AJ to work in the shop to pay off our bill, I hit a little clearing on the side of the road and guess what I saw? The sun was coming up on the horizon.

Honestly, I was instantly cut to the heart at the site of the sunrise. Maybe that sounds silly to you, but to me, I was reminded that the God who created the universe, the God who “makes the sun rise up in the east” was the same God who cares intimately about me and my life, you and your life, and the lives of every individual on the planet. He is the same God who has provided for our family during this season of transition in ways we could never have planned or imagined, and the same God who was going before us on this trip. As I thought about the sunrise, I felt silly about how caught up in worry I had been just moments before.

I confessed my worry to Him, and returned to the hotel ready to gather the family, load up the van and hit the road. What did God do thru all of this?

1. He helped us discover a super loose wheel bearing pack that would have failed on the road. What happens when they fail? According to a bunch of online testimonies, your wheel can actually fall off! Imagine that happening at 70 mph!
2. We also discovered that our brakes and rotors were in dire need of repair -- another item I’m glad we corrected before barreling down the rockies at 80mph (I love the speed limits in Utah and Idaho!).
3. Before we left town a friend asked to meet us at a local McDs, and he gave us $210 for travel expenses.
4. Despite all the delays, we ended up arriving at our destination at precisely the right time -- to the minute!

It’s crazy how often we get caught up in worry, fear or anxiety when we serve the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. I don’t think I can even count all the times He has shown up big in our lives, or provided a friend, some rest, a meal or a few bucks “at just the right moment” and yet when faced with a minor auto repair, I panicked.

Yet God is so good to us, and Friday morning He cleared the sky so I could see the sun come up (that’s right, all you Northern Michiganders have me and my sinful worry to thank for Friday’s glorious sunrise!) and reminded me of His limitless power and ability to provide.

How are you doing in trusting Him today? Does a worry -- big or small -- have you distracted from what He is doing in and around you? Maybe you need to make Philippians 4:6-7 your prayer today: “Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s holiness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life” (The Message).

It’s going to take us three, twelve-hour days, to get to our Oregon destination, and along the way, I’m going to try and keep worry in its rightful place. How about you? Maybe you need to take the family on a road trip and see what God has for you, too!

Go ahead and take the plunge, life -- even road trips! -- are better on the water.

The death of a dream

We moved to Michigan in March of 2013. During the past 14 months, we have enjoyed getting to know our new home, learning about the area and beginning the process of understanding the people and cultural dynamics that affect my job here at the camp. This is a great state with four distinct seasons, nice people and some beautiful scenery.  

It’s also a state that has been hammered by the economic downturn of the past few years. The auto industry was the backbone of this state’s economy for so long, and today it is barely a shadow of what it once was. A million people have left Detroit, The Motor City, and houses, buildings, schools and businesses have been abandoned to be vandalized and ultimately destroyed. Detroit is the largest city to ever file for bankruptcy.

Detroit might be the biggest city hit, but it’s not the only. Almost every town in Michigan has houses and business that have been abandoned during these past ten years. At one point, Michigan was one of just a few states with a negative growth rate: more people were leaving MI than moving here.

As part of my new job, I’ve had the privilege of traveling all over this great state, and everywhere I’ve gone I have seen the effect of Michigan’s struggle. Just this last week we drove through a town and saw “Two Brother’s Bakery” all painted up on the outside, totally shutdown on the inside. A sign in the windows says, “Closed for the season, see you in 2011.” We passed a run down hotel, an abandoned gas station, we even drove through a neighborhood where 10 of 12 businesses had moved out of a strip mall, and it looked more like the set of a zombie apocalypse movie than a place people would go to buy party supplies, get a hair cut, grab a bit to eat or meet friends for coffee.

Traci and I were talking about some of these buildings and wondering about the previous owners, wondering out loud what had happened there. Most businesses are started with a fundamental dream to do something awesome. I don’t know many business owners who start a business and hope it fails. Often, big loans are acquired to get things started, savings accounts are depleted in hopes of soon overflowing with new income, and countless hours are spent by friends and family members painting walls, hanging signs, comparing other stores online and spreading the word about a new business.

And then one day it all died. The neighborhood changed as people moved away. The income of his customers dried up. The bank said “no” to her next loan request and all of the sudden, the dream seemed hopeless. Traci and I speculated about whether or not some of these businesses reopened later in another location. We wondered whether or not the owner started a totally different type of business, or if she just packed up and found a job wherever she could, or maybe he just left it all behind and started a new life in another state or country; the empty buildings a remnant of a past life.

Whatever happened, the desolation and emptiness that’s left behind is a little haunting. Whether things changed because of bad business acumen or because of social/cultural/economic issues, the reality is that these dreams are done. Our friend Michael suffered such loss when his fruit stand and neighborhood market went under. The final day he was open, as he sold off everything but the doors and windows, Traci and I visited with him. He was devastated. He owed a lot of money to the bank and to some family members, and now he was returning to an hourly job in construction. His spirit was crushed. His family had suffered because of the business and his dreams for financial freedom seemed destroyed as he turned over the “Closed” sign for the last time.

Those abandoned buildings and financial woes are the reason some of us never dream. We like the comfort and stability that comes with not dreaming. There’s not as much risk when you don’t dream, there are fewer unknowns and generally speaking, the outcome is far more predictable when you work inside the box. And if you live this way long enough, you can practically kill off any internal motivation to dream in the future. Soon, you don’t even want to think about something as dangerous as a dream.

Yet that seems so contrary to how God made us. It seems each of us a capacity, indeed a built-in desire, to pursue something bigger than what we can see. Sure, you can dull that desire and practically destroy it by constantly ignoring it, but it never totally goes away. I’ve visited with prisoners who have 20 years left to go on their sentence, and they are talking about their future outside of jail. I’ve met cancer patients facing a terminal prognosis who are dreaming about life after they kick cancer to the curb. I’ve met homeless men and women who have larger-than-life goals when their financial situations turn around. Traci and I have met some stay-at-home moms who want to manage their homes with excellence while jump-starting their own businesses on the side.

In fact, the truth is, as a pastor, friend, coach and writer, I have never talked to anyone who didn’t have some hopes and dreams for something different. Sometimes those dreams were hidden deep in the recesses of some small corner in the back of their brain, but with the right questions, enough prodding and sometimes threats to keep them locked in my office until they shared their dreams, something emerged. Dreams for a vacation with the wife. Dreams for a better a life for their children. Dreams for financial security. Dreams to reach their neighbors for Jesus.

I believe the Overboard Life is dream-driven. The whole notion of getting out of the boat is based on the belief that you can walk on water -- you can do something that seems almost impossible to you now! Dreams are risky, they are hard to attain (or you would already have them!), they change, they move, they morph, they grow and just when you think you can lunge and grab them, they shift upward just out of your grasp. And so many people stay in the comfort of the boat because of those factors.

But not you and me. Not anyone who wants to live the Overboard Life. Like Paul, we “press on toward the prize” of a life lived for God. With the writer of Hebrews, [we] throw off everything that hinders" in this world so that we can be something different, focused on Jesus, running toward a bigger-than-life goal. Maybe it’s like my friend Tim who sets up each week in downtown Salem with a desk, a white board and a question. He uses a question written out on a white board to talk to total strangers about Jesus, and shares his heart with them. Maybe it’s like our friends Andy and Jodie who traveled to Tanzania to be a part of helping a people group know the story of a God who loves them so much, that He sent His only Son to die for their sins. Or it could be like my friend Jay, who runs several successful businesses and uses each of his ventures as a means to show God through beauty, creativity and other powerful expressions of his faith. Or it could be like our friend Nora who uses her teaching job as a way to show the mercy and grace of God to children and families in need.

What about you, what God-sized dreams do you have? Do you want to start a business? Write a book? Start a publishing company? Parent better? Have an off-the-charts marriage? Improve your health? Get to know your neighbors? Learn a new skill? Become a public speaker? [enter your dream here]?

By God’s grace, I want to live a dream-driven life, with my faith placed squarely on the One who put those dreams in my heart. This isn’t a “I can do anything I want” motivational blog, this is a “I can do all things through Him, who gives me strength” kind of a speech. This is a “God gives you everything you need to do everything He wants you to do” kind of a speech. And when you put your faith in Him, grab the sides of the boat and jump, all of your dreams are within reach. The Dream Giver, is the One who makes them a reality, too.

I hope you’re chasing your God-sized dream today. I don’t need you to chase mine, and I don’t want to chase yours (but I want to help you reach them! Let me know what I can do!). God made you specifically for dreams He placed in your heart, and it’s time for you to “throw off everything that hinders” and “fix your eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:1-2) as you go after them!

Go ahead and take the plunge, your dreams are always better on the water!

Big Changes

For the last few minutes, I’ve been listening to some great songs by Jadon Lavik, Fernando Ortega and Aaron Shust (I love Pandora). It’s been a reflective, rainy afternoon, and Lavik, Ortega and Shust have been good companions. If you haven’t heard yet, my family is embarking on yet another great adventure. Starting April 1st, we will no longer be serving the Lord at Bethany Baptist here in Salem, and we will start serving Him through the ministry of Lake Ann Camp in Traverse City, Michigan. Bethany has been our home for the past twelve years, and the only church our children have known. This has been, without a doubt, the most difficult decision our family has ever made.

We love our church, and nothing has happened that is driving us away. We weren’t looking to leave and we certainly weren’t looking east. But when you strive to live the Overboard Life, God has a way of leading you into places you never imagined! I’ve written about following the Lord where ever He leads, and now God is giving us the opportunity to put that written belief into practice.

As we begin the process of packing up twelve years of life here in Salem, there are a lot of reflective moments like today. We have been so blessed by great friendships, incredible students in our ministry and ministry that was as much to us as it was from us. Together our family has shed a lot of tears in the process of making this decision, and many more are going to come.

But through it all we know that there is no better place to be, than on the path God has for us. As broken as we are about leaving Salem, we are equally thrilled about the opportunity that exists for us at Lake Ann Camp. God has tailor-made an opportunity for us to embrace in our new roll and we move east with excitement.

Thank you, all of you, for your amazing love and support. The journey that God gives us can’t be taken alone, and we certainly wouldn’t be on this one without the incredible love and support others have shown us. Walking on water in pursuit of Christ’s Kingdom is a team effort; a team we are proud to be a part of.

The journey has been remarkable, and we can’t wait to see how God unfolds the next part of our trip. Thanks for staying connected, and please -- keep us in the loop about your journey. Nothing encourages the Overboard Life like hearing stories of other travelers who have walked the same paths, or are currently walking in the same faith.

We are grabbing the sides and jumping overboard -- not because it’s easy, but -- because we know life is always better on the water!