Riding the Road to His Heart

Over the last few years I have carried a secret desire to go away somewhere and be with God. Not just for an hour here or there or an organized weekend church retreat, but for a road untraveled. 

I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. (Robert Frost, Mountain Interval. 1920)

I have seriously considered just packing supplies and going up into the woods to be alone with Him, to have the chance to really seek His heart.

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 hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29)

And I have found Him, He is faithful to His promises. Over and over God has shown up and surprised me in all sorts of places and it is delightful and it has inherently changed my heart. But I wanted more. I wanted TIME and an environment where I was completely dependent on Him.  

And guess what? He put the desire in my heart to go away and find Him because He is wanting to fulfill it.

 ⁴ Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37)

And He is doing so in the MOST incredible way. In a way I could not have asked for, because I could not have imagined it. Let me tell you what He is planning.

I am going to the Czech Republic because someone somewhere made a mistake. My sister Esther’s ticket home was booked (approximately) two weeks past the date she could have came home. When she discovered this discrepancy, she started praying about what to do with that extra time. She told me that God showed her it wasn’t WHAT she wanted to do but WHO she wanted to do it with, and it was Him who put me in her heart. So she asked me if I would consider coming out to the Czech Republic. At the time, I was working and planning to be working through the summer, so my reaction was to say no. But I prayed about it because I really wanted to go! And as you know, I am going! And I am not just going for Esther’s empty time, but am going for much longer, because I have been given the chance to be part of the ministry there. Up to just this week, Esther and I had loosely planned to “travel around” for our spare time but really did not plan too heavily.

But now we know! Sort of. We are going to take the trip I have wanted to take for so long. We are going together on an extended “Quiet Time” with the Holy Spirit. After our time with Fusion and ministering to those we meet, we are going to get on a pair of pedal bikes and go and be with Jesus. We are going to loosely plan where to stay and where we will wander but we will really just be meandering in His presence and through His beautiful creation. Our plan is to get through Austria and into Italy and then bike through Tuscany. And on the way, instead of rushing through from site to site, we are going to sing and worship and pray and rest and dance and REJOICE in the hope of the Glory of God!

How perfect is His plan? Esther will be coming off of six months of ministry. I will be coming into a new season of life, preparing for places and experiences I have not known and that God has set apart for me.

 ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2)

This God, the one I serve and who calls out to all of us provides rest. Sometimes it’s at the end of a season and sometimes it’s at the beginning.  

² He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, (Psalm 23)

For us, this rest is going to mean about nine days in August. I cannot properly describe the joy in my heart as I write this. I know that there are the most beautiful surprises waiting for us. I know that somehow this is going to mean the restoration and the revival of our spirits.

Please pray for us as we prepare for this journey. Please pray for me as I continue to raise financial support for this trip. I trust God’s provision and I am so excited to see how this all works out.

Because part of this trip is going to be spent outside of my mission with Fusion Ministry, I am subsidizing the cost of the trip from my personal funds. I mentioned in my pervious blog that this mission trip is going to cost about $2,000.00 CND. This not the true cost; I have not included the full price of my plane ticket or my travel expenses in these days I have just described. The money that I raise will go to cover part of my plane ticket and my expenses directly related to the mission trip with Fusion. If you would like to donate specifically to this time I have just described, please indicate so.

Donations can be made by making cheques out to Jocelyn Haveman and sending them to:

Jocelyn Haveman

c/o St. Clair Community Church
P.O. Box 114
Sombra, ON  N0P 2H0

Or you can use email transfer to jocelyn.haveman@gmail.com. 

Thank you so much for your support and prayers! I will be posting updates of our plan and how God provides!