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Desert Living




I don’t know that I’ve ever seen the desert look more beautiful. Is it just me or is it blooming more than usual? We have had more rain this winter than I ever remember Phoenix having outside of monsoon season. So, maybe it is blooming more than the norm. 

When we first moved to Phoenix back in 1999 I remember thinking it looked so brown, dry and lonely. Maybe that was because of my attitude back then. I did not want to be here. It truly was a dry and lonely place at the time and I couldn’t see the beauty in the desert at all. 

When I looked up “desert” in my dictionary app I got: “any area in which few forms of life can exist because of lack of water, permanent frost, or absence of soil.”  Also, “any place lacking in something.” The desert doesn’t have to necessarily be a physical place or even one that is mostly dry, brown and sandy. 





←This picture was taking three years ago from our front porch. 
I remember this day well. I was in a desert. We were living in beautiful New England. It was Spring. When new forms of life were suppose to be popping up from the ground in full color. This storm came in and brought more frost with it. I was in an emotional and spiritual desert due to unforeseen circumstances that were out of my control. Yet, I saw this storm as a gift from God. There was such a peace that day that could only come from Him. It was as if He was telling me that everything was going to be ok. “Yes, this is hard and hurtful and scary but there is great purpose in it.” I couldn’t see it at the time but I trusted then and still do that God is good and He is in control. Nothing is too hard for Him. 


Because of that desert in those unforeseen circumstances we ended up in Houston. I cannot imagine my life without the friendships and memories made in Houston. I cannot imagine my life without having gone through that desert in NE. I saw God’s hand all over it! I am forever grateful for the desert and can now see the beauty for what it was. 


When we moved back to Phoenix six months ago (Yes, God’s hand is all over that too!) I couldn’t help but notice the beauty in the desert. Even though it couldn’t hold a candle to the lush green forests of Houston. But, I actually now have a new love for cacti. I love the smell of the desert in the morning and early evenings. The sunrises and sunsets are my very favorite. I am enjoying every minute of the dry, desert life. I’m choosing to look for beauty in the desert these days. There are still some days when I “feel” lacking in something. That emotional desert if you will. But then I remember that God has purpose in that too.  It is to grow me and to teach me to put my hope in Him. To remind me to depend on Him alone!

So I hold on to Him and His truth. He is the living water and that water still flows through any desert we might have to walk through. 

Pressing On 



“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?”
Jeremiah 32:27 NIV



“Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.””
John 7:38 NIV








































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