Note from Katie: This quite personal post was written in April, 2013 as we celebrated our sixth anniversary of ministry in Mexico as a family. It is written with my husband's blessing. We are extremely grateful to God for his tender faithfulness in chauffeuring us to the place and ministry that we so enjoy today. Thanks for reading!

Sometimes the curvy road is the shortest route between two points. No, I’m not talking about road trips, I’m talking about life purpose.

Often, very often, in our life, God has set us on a course with a certain destination in sight. Full speed ahead we approach the destination only to realize that the road takes a sudden turn just before reaching it. This was just a stopover and the ultimate goal is around the corner, but we never would have seen it or set out for it had we not had the first one set before us.

Our Curvy Road Testimony

When, as a newly married couple we set out to serve the Lord as missionaries to Mexico, God sent us first to a Bible college ministry. As we settled in, we were confident that God had led us there, while at the same time, in the back of our minds lay the thought that this may not be a long term assignment.

First curve in the road

We spent three years there learning much about serving and working with others before God moved us to the other side of Mexico to serve at a children’s home. Many criticized the move, some even going so far as to say that if we were moving after only three years, it had not been God’s will for us to go there to begin with (ouch!).

We are confident that the Lord led us to the Bible college and just as confident that it was he who moved us to the children’s home, AND we would have never considered the children’s home had we not been at the Bible college first.

Second curve in the road

However, the children's home was not the end goal either. After a year of working at the children’s home God transitioned us into a local church planting ministry. Again we fell under much scrutiny and criticism. But again we were confident that God was directing every step.

God then allowed us to begin researching opening a Christian school. I had trained as a teacher/administrator and from our dating days, it had been our desire to be involved in some kind of Christian education ministry on the mission field, some day.

Third curve in the road

Through talking with others, researching, homeschooling with another family for a semester, and various other experiences, God showed us that a Christian school ministry was not what he had in mind. But, right on time, he led us around the next curve in the road by opening some incredible doors in the area of home education!

The destination in sight

Homeschooling is legal in every state in Mexico and it is estimated that around 5,000 Mexican families are already educating their children at home. However, if you do not speak or read English your curriculum options are very limited.

God gave us a desire to meet the Spanish curriculum need by creating a Christian, literature based, complete homeschool curriculum in the Spanish language, with step by step teacher's guides designed specifically for Spanish speaking home educating families.

In one years time, while still church planting and home educating our own children, God allowed us to obtain the developmental assistance of a large Christian curriculum company and to produce the first three levels of that curriculum. We also started a blog for Spanish speaking home educators. (Added note: as of May 2014 grades Preschool through sixth materials are available at www.Lemonhass.com)

God has placed people in our path to help with fundraising, editing, and marketing. He allowed us to open an online Christian bookstore through which we could make our curriculum available to families around the world, and he did so many other amazing things! (Click here for more information about the curriculum!)

Had we started out to work in the Spanish homeschool movement, I don’t know if we would have gotten so far. It was hard to learn, love and leave different ministries, there were many times when the future seemed dark and with little direction, but with each seeming curve in the road, God was bringing us closer to his destination for us.

Has God pulled up and parked our car in the garage? Will this be the last and greatest ministry destination the Lord has for us in the journey of life? We don’t know. We do know that we cannot imagine ourselves doing anything else! God is doing some amazing things in Mexico and in the Spanish Homeschool Movement and we are thrilled to have a part in it!

Lessons learned on the journey

We have learned many lessons during this exciting ride, not the least of which is that life is a journey and if God is at the wheel. He has the right to change the route, and he can be trusted to get you to the final destination. Trust his route and his timing. Don’t get upset at the curves in the road. When he sets a destination, move forward with all you’ve got and if he is planning to take a different route, trust him again. He is faithful. Not only is he faithful to direct your steps, but he’ll also give you all you need reach your destination ( See 1 Thessalonians 5:24).

Encouragement for your journey

I don’t know where you are in your life journey. Maybe it seems that your destination is illness, death in the family, or a family member with special needs. Maybe you are discouraged in homeschooling right now. Maybe your marriage, your family, or your church is not all you wish it to be. Maybe you’re in a financial crisis, struggling to make ends meet. Maybe you’ve rejected God’s directions, tried to take the wheel yourself and you feel like your life is a painful wreck at the side of the road. God can heal that pain.

Let me challenge you to Let. God. Drive.

Trust him with everything you are and have.

Listen to his words from Jeremiah 29:11-14 and be encouraged!

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.

May you be blessed today as you decide to trust the wheel and the route to the One who knows you best and loves you most!

If you'd like to read more of our story, I share it in the free Intentional Praise e-course, a 12-lesson devotional course on how to choose praise in every circumstance of life. It's yours free if you'll just let us know where to send it.

Here are some other things you might be interested in:

• Would you like to receive our bi-monthly ministry updates? Go here to Subscribe to our ministry mailing list.
• Click here to watch a video or read about the new Lemonhass Homeschool Curriculum for Spanish speaking families!
• Read my other missions posts here.
• Donate your used Lego and Duplo bricks to our mission!