Our Time in the Desert

In the Bible, the desert is OFTEN the metaphor used to describe a place of emptiness, a place of trials, a place of scorn and ridicule. It's the place God would send people to see how faithful they would remain to Him. The Israelites were there for 40 years; Jesus was tempted there for 40 days; God banished the serpent to the desert for deceiving Eve. When you look at it Biblically, the desert is not where someone wants to find themselves.

Well, for our family, we suffered in the desert both metaphorically and literally. We've survived 6 sweltering, 8-month summers (Don't let the locals fool you. They will try to tell you that its only 4 months, but in 49 other states, 85 degrees is considered summer weather. It is that at least 8 months out of the year. So.....); we've survived 9 flare ups (I've had more flare ups in the past 5+ years then in the 10 years before that); we've survived a tumultuous year of raising a child with severe developmental issues; we survived the death of our precious son; we've survived the short sale of our home; we've survived some friction caused by my struggle with relating to the modern American church (and me not wanting to be a part of it); but, that's just it. We've SURVIVED. God has been faithful, even in the moments when we weren't.

I am so grateful that we are about to embark on the journey out of the desert. It wasn't without effort, and honestly, I've been pretty impatient about the whole thing. We have been trying to leave for 5 years and didn't want to take no for an answer. You would think that after 8 failed attempts, we would have given up and just accepted that God wanted us in AZ. But, our spirits wouldn't rest. We didn't feel peace here.  It seemed that God gave us nothing but unrest, especially in the (nearly) 3 years since Ezra's death.  So, we kept pressing on, even when it seemed futile. The only word I can use now is DELIGHT. We are delighted about our impending move (1 week!!!). Delighted to moving to BEAUTIFUL Portland, OR. Delighted to be near family (my sister lives there) again. Delighted for the opportunity to be a part of a community that has a similar lifestyle (healthy eating, caring about the environment) that we do. DELIGHTED!

We are ready to leave this chapter behind. Happy to be moving forward. Excited to see what God has in store for us.........out of the desert!