Gardens along the way...29...the desert...

 Gardens along the way...29...the desert

This past week, we studied Psalm 63, “ a Psalm of 

David, when he was in the desert”...

I have to admit first thing, I really didn’t want to go there again... the memories of the garden in the desert......but needed to address it, because there were blessings in the desert also...(and of course, this morning, the verse of the day was verse 1...is that a hint or what)

 My husband  and I both grew up in areas where gardens abounded, whatever you planted, produced...even the compost piles grew...when we moved to Nevada in 1969 as newly married college students, it was light years away from what we were used to, no close family, no friends, desert, apartment living, even my houseplants struggled...we both settled into college life with full schedules, part time work...and a new area to explore...we saw huge changes of that state over our years of residence..

 We spent most of our married life in the desert lands of Nevada...there were desert times in our family, not just the scenery...legalism, miscarriages, famine times of work, lack of close family, chronic pain, rebellion, heartaches, and finally those words, “terminal cancer “...and death...

But, on the other hand there were lifelong friends, feast times of work and supply, growth in church bodies, spiritual breakthroughs, growth in body, mind and spirit, Bible studies that challenged, magnificent rainbows, thankfulness, training for life skills, births of all our children and the richness and beauty they added...life in the desert....

We planted thousands of plants, many froze or simply dried up, gardens which thrived one year and froze the next, trees which struggled to break through the hard ground, plants which deer loved, or cows rubbed to death or goats topped off... gardens in the desert...

But, there were surprises to be found...canyons awash with elderberry bushes, choke cherries, service berries, old forgotten homestead orchards, minerals in abundance, all waiting to be discovered....forgotten gardens in the desert...

When I look at lives around me, most of us have experienced desert times whether in life and /or geography...times we have felt abandoned or overcome or overwhelmed...the dry times ...the garden which struggled...the deserts of life...

Looking at Psalm 63, we find David in a dry spot, but still seeking the One who fills the thirsty void...Who upholds, who helps, who is there in the day and night, who satisfies, who loves, who shelters...

He is the One we found in the desert garden as well...He is one we clung to during our desert years...and still do...in plenty and in want...He has sheltered us, He has loved us, He has saved us, He was/is our refuge, our rock...thank YOU....

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. 

I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. 

I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. 

I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. 

On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. 

Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. 

I cling to you; your right hand upholds me.

Psalm 63:1-8