How do you know? When is it your time to volunteer with whatever skills or background God has prepared for you in advance? Ephesians 2:10

Back in 1956, my Dad went to a winter sports show in Milwaukee. A tiny woman named Janet had a booth and brochures for canoe adventures in the Canadian Boundary Waters. Janet worked with the fabled pioneer, Justine Kerfoot, owner of the Gunflint Trail Lodge. Both women were innovators, authors, and evangelists for the outdoors. 

Gunflint Trail was truly as far north as you could drive above Lake Superior in that region. Enticed by accounts he’d read, Dad gathered up younger cousin Allan, as co-pilot for the 12-hour drive. That very summer of 1956. They learned to pack and portage in real-time. Together they paddled a 17-foot canoe far into the wilderness with only supplies and directions from Janet and Justine. The exhilarating beauty and bountiful fishing left an indelible mark on my Dad – a generational mark. I joined him on the trail 11 years later when I turned ten years old. Last summer my 4 year old grandson joined me and my son-in-law in the canoe as we portaged along the Gunflint Trail. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

In 2012, my co-empty nester bride, Angela, joined me for the first time. She’d never “packed in” or portaged and had no intention of doing so. I found a small cabin to rent just down the road from the Gunflint Lodge (which was full up). Greg Heston is the third generation owner of the Heston’s cabin ‘resort,’ where we now stay each year. Like Justine and Janet, Grandma Heston was also known on the trail. At our rustic cabin, Angela is assured a bed and shower, and I still get to hike, paddle, and fish! 

Each Sunday, Greg and his wife Barb close the office and put up a sign at their gate, “All Welcome to Join our Worship Service.” Mind you, this is an hour drive from the nearest town. They live at the end of a road that turns off from the end of a road. All are welcome. I’ll admit right now that we’d not previously joined their service. I won’t embarrass myself with lame ‘vacation’ excuses about fishing. 

But this year something was different. We’ve come to know Greg and Barb as friends. They’re good, kind people. They’ve survived devastating forest fires, derechos, pandemics and economic downturns with faith and faith-filled determination. When we arrived with our grandson last weekend I had a strong conviction to join their worship invitation this time. So I did.

I sat on a stacking chair beneath the towering, old growth cedars to join an assortment of locals and visitors. Soon my soul was gently restored by God’s own Grace and beauty. We sang acapella from blue hymnals. The visiting pastor preached from Luke. We prayed the Lord’s prayer. Afterward, Greg kindly introduced me to his pastor. What do I do now that I’m retired? Well, I volunteer with a passionate group of people from Switchboard. How does it work? I gave them a brief Switchboard overview and promised to ‘send the link.’ 

Greg circled back to me later in his quiet way. They have a church building project in town. There’s a growing need for a conservatively biblical place of worship. As an elder working on the new project, his help-needed list is growing. Did I say there was a way that Greg could get some part-time Switchboard help with things like bookkeeping? It could help as they strive to share the Light of Jesus in the region. There, at the crossroads of the Gunflint Trail. Where my Dad arrived in 1956 because a diminutive outdoors woman named Janet had driven from her wilderness home to the Milwaukee Sports show.

It’s not just that God can use a retiree or stay-at-home mom. It’s not whether you’re still relevant to serve, even when you’re between jobs or short on skills. What I know is that God can accomplish anything, with anyone, at any time. And lest we boast, most of it has been in preparation long before we enter the scene. Don’t miss an opportunity to act on your conviction – even, or perhaps especially, when it’s at the end of a road that turns off the end of a road.

You are called…so am I. 

Let’s get after it while God is so obviously opening doors to His Kingdom.