In a Dry & Weary Land

Wow!  It's been a minute since I've blogged!  Hopefully my Supervised Ministry (SM 210) course this summer will be my way back into blogging regularly.  So, here we go!

       What a blessing it is to be here!  After a long weekend of traveling (21 hours in 2 days), my father & I arrived safely in Las Cruces, NM.  I am boarding with a wonderful, loving family.  They have already made me feel at home!  Sunday evening (our first night in town) we had dinner with my host family and the pastor of FPC, Norm, and his wife.  It was great to sit down face-to-face and to learn more about each other as children of God and servants of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

        On Friday, my SM supervisor, his wife, my parents & I went to Mexico for the day.  We walked over the border into the town of Las Palomas (Spanish for 'dove').  As we traveled closer and closer through the desert to Mexico in the car, and as we approached the border on foot, all I could think about were the people crossing for their safety and for a better life.  How many children of God die out here in the hot, dry, dangerous desert, seeking to find a better way?  How many people would live if they only had water offered to them as they were traveling on foot?  What are the conditions for people who cross the border?  What would it be like to be stuffed into an over-crowded, hot van full of people?  Could I walk miles across the desert to enter a country illegally if my life circumstances forced me to?

            Rev. Norm mentioned to my family that there are many organizations that want to put water stations throughout the desert (especially in hot spots where people typically cross).  This is very controversial as some people believe providing water will only encourage more immigrants to cross.  Others believe that this is the humane and Christ-like thing to do when thousands of individuals and families will cross the border regardless of whether or not there is water provided in the midst of the barren desert.  What do I think about this situation?  Provide water and life!!

Psalm 63 (A psalm of David, when he was in the Desert of Judah)

¹ 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.

² I have seen you in the sanctuary
    and beheld your power and your glory.
³ Because your love is better than life,
    my lips will glorify you.
⁴ I will praise you as long as I live,
    and in your name I will lift up my hands.
⁵ I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
    with singing lips my mouth will praise you.