Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

Well, not really frightful, but whenever the temperature drops below 60 degrees it's too cold for me. I'm really a warm weather lover and I love to go to the beach. I love the warmth of the sun, the breeze softly caressing my skin, the salty taste of the water, and even the smell of sunscreen. Love coconut smells! So you would think that since I'm a warm weather person, that I'd love the desert, but no. I can't think of a place I'd rather NOT be...well maybe Alaska.

My daughter, Kristina, lives in Phoenix and since she's had a habit of having her babies during the summer, I've visited her several times in the past 6 years, usually in August. Before my first visit I had people tell me that I'd love Phoenix, that it was hot, but since it was a dry heat, it was different. It's different alright, like being locked in an oven. And since a chicken is fully cooked at a temperature of 170 degrees, I figure at 120 degrees I'm more than half baked and I get cranky.

From my visits to the desert I can now totally understand how those wandering Israelites could have been unruly. As a matter of fact, It surprises me that there wasn't more grumbling and complaining. Also, I'm surprised that cities in the desert don't have higher than normal crime rates. I know I'd be tempted to hurt someone if I had to spend a lot of time there...especially in the summer.

All of this talk of deserts reminds me that at times in my life I have wandered into a desert of my own making. A desolate, hard, hot place without the refreshing coolness of mercy and grace. It is a miserable place to be and yet I'm sort of like Hagar in the Bible (Genesis 16) and when things get difficult, too much for me, I sometimes run blindly into the desert without thought of the future or even of sustenance. It's only after I bake in the heat for a while that I recognize that I ran in the wrong direction. I should have and could have run into the open arms of my gracious and loving Lord, where there is unlimited refreshing water.

I'm going to try to remember that next time I'm in the desert.