"No Christian escapes a taste of the wilderness on their way to the Promiseland." ~Author Unknown

The Southern Autumnal moon dodges in and out of the misty clouds dancing across the sky as I sit and ponder the significance of this quote.
(Wow! That's one heckuva sentence!)

But seriously, it's strange sitting at the computer at only 6 pm in May with the sun fully set and the moon high in the sky. The darkness of the sky and the chill in the air makes me want to curl up in one of the recliners in my parent's living room to read a book and drink hot cocoa with an Andes mint melted at the bottom with my massive Basset Hound sprawled across my lap. It doesn't feel like May. It feels like the end of October, the season when everyone gets Holiday Cheer; when everyone's endlessly joyful and without a care.

If only it were that time of year…

I'm not going to lie. Things have been pretty tough lately. We've had to deal with a lot of
consequences and
changes and
various other issues as a team these last few weeks. Tension has been high and emotions have been on
edge. Satan is doing his best to try to rip my team apart. Ministries we thought we were making headway in have fallen to the wayside; God seems silent; our departing process has begun.
Times have been tough!

What it's hard to remember in these times is that it's not on the mountain tops where things start to grow, it's in the valleys. Picture a mountain range:
The most lush regions on the range exist in the valleys. That mirrors our spiritual life. We have so many
"mountain top" and
"spiritual high" types of moments where we get excited and are on fire to serve the Lord and tell anyone and everyone about His saving grace. But that's not where we grow! We grow when things slide and tumble down rocky cliff and paths to the very bottom where the rainwater and melted snow collects and nourishes the ground, bringing forth new life and refreshed growth. It's where our spiritual lives get a much needed drink of fresh water.

So that illustration and the quote above are my hope that things will get better. God is waiting for all this to pass to open up His splendour and glory and rain down on us. He is sitting up in Heaven somewhere watching us, wiping tears from His eyes, smiling at the anticipation of what's to come.
The Promiseland is near!

I'm ready.
BRING IT ON!