Colleen and I have been hiking a lot lately. After a week of work and studies there is nothing like going out on a nice hike on the weekend. Two weeks ago we decided to take off and go on a hike in the San Monica Forest around Malibu. After checking the trail online we were told that there would be water and plenty of shade. It was supposed to be one of the better hikes in Southern Cali, eventually leading up to the highest point the in San Monica Mountains. Colleen asked me if she should bring her camelback and I told her no, because I had my water filter and we were going to “rough it.” She decided to bring it anyways… she really does have an amazing gift of discernment which is really helpful as I have a gift for sometimes doing senseless things.
As we got to the trail the sun was bearing down. It was 10AM and about 95 degrees already. The plan was to do an 8 mile loop, stopping fr
equently to get water. The only problem was… there was no water. For the first four miles of the hike things were great. We had water, food, beef jerky. There was enough shade and plenty of people. As we were making our way around the back side of the loop Colleen took a sip of her camelback… nothing. It was the middle of the day, now reaching over 100 degrees and we had nothing. we pressed on for about two miles. We were ok, water would have been nice but we were fine for the most part. Soon the effects of dehydration began to be felt. A dizzy, somewhat disorienting, nausious feeling. The trail was completely exposed so if we were to get in the shade, it would have had to be behind a cactus. We pressed on. We began praying that God would make it rain or something, or like Moses I could hit a rock and water might come out. At one point there was a set of water towers teasing us as there was no way to get into them. Needless to say for the rest of the hike we were miserable. But I noticed something. Whenever things would get to the point that we wanted to just curl in a ball and quit there would be something to help motivate us. Sometimes around a corner we would find a breeze in the stagnant air… just enough to cool us down. At what seemed like the roughest places of incline, trees would randomly appear to provided a little bit of shade for us. At one point we even saw another hiker and I asked him if Colleen could take a sip of his water. There was no deluge, or magic river that we stumbled on, rather it was just enough provision to get by.
equently to get water. The only problem was… there was no water. For the first four miles of the hike things were great. We had water, food, beef jerky. There was enough shade and plenty of people. As we were making our way around the back side of the loop Colleen took a sip of her camelback… nothing. It was the middle of the day, now reaching over 100 degrees and we had nothing. we pressed on for about two miles. We were ok, water would have been nice but we were fine for the most part. Soon the effects of dehydration began to be felt. A dizzy, somewhat disorienting, nausious feeling. The trail was completely exposed so if we were to get in the shade, it would have had to be behind a cactus. We pressed on. We began praying that God would make it rain or something, or like Moses I could hit a rock and water might come out. At one point there was a set of water towers teasing us as there was no way to get into them. Needless to say for the rest of the hike we were miserable. But I noticed something. Whenever things would get to the point that we wanted to just curl in a ball and quit there would be something to help motivate us. Sometimes around a corner we would find a breeze in the stagnant air… just enough to cool us down. At what seemed like the roughest places of incline, trees would randomly appear to provided a little bit of shade for us. At one point we even saw another hiker and I asked him if Colleen could take a sip of his water. There was no deluge, or magic river that we stumbled on, rather it was just enough provision to get by.
As we were stumbling through the desert I couldn’t help but find myself drawing all kinds of parallels to my life right now as a newly married man. First let me say, I love married life… but in many ways it is very unfamiliar to me. I came out here to work with a church and join a community. But what I came here for turned out to be much different than I thought coming in. This venture of life was something I thought I was much more prepared for, I thought it was set for two years. But sometimes the path God leads us in life is much different than we envision going into it. The thing that struck me most about the hike was we really were surrounded by sheer beauty. The desert colors on top of the high hills were incredible to me. Yet at the same time, I had never experienced so much thirst in my life. I had never wanted water so badly.
So here we are in a place we know God has brought us both to. We are surrounded by beauty. Become so entangled in someones life after living so individualistically for so long is such a beautiful but tough thing. In many places of our life we are in something of a desert. We are so thirsty for certain things that have always been there, yet here we haven’t found it yet. We have an idea of what it looks like, we have things we will not compromise on… but we are thirsty. Community is one of those things that has been hard to come by for us. We long for a kingdom community where loving each other is on the forefront of peoples minds and God is moving and breathing life into every part of it. We felt like we tasted some of this on the World Race. Since moving to LA, we haven’t gelled with a community that we can both empower and feel empowered by the spirit in. It has been killer for us, as we have both been intimately connected to people and relationships throughout our lives. Another thing we have been thirsting for here is purpose. Without community, it has been hard to find a place or a ministry to be truly passionate about. Our passions haven’t died, they are as strong as ever, but we haven’t found places to really give our lives away. We are busy… we are working, in school full time, traveling often, adjusting to marriage… the passion thing just hasn’t come. This is due partly because we are adju
sting… we are learning oneness in our marriage now and building foundations that will last for the rest of lives.
sting… we are learning oneness in our marriage now and building foundations that will last for the rest of lives.Through all this… God is so good. At just the right times just like the cool breeze, the perfectly timed shade, or the dude who gave Colleen some of his water… God shows up at just the right times, not to save us from thirsting and struggling, but to let us know He is with us. So while I certainly wouldn’t want to compare our time here near the beach in sunny LA with that of the wandering tribe of Israel in the desert for 40 years… I do love the image.
One of those tastes of God is that we found a church called Cornerstone that we love here. It is farther than we would like, but they have some things going on here in Pasadena. Please keep us in your prayers as we truly would love to dive into a community if we felt confirmed by the Lord that he had us there. The first week we went the Pastor spoke about justice, particularly about maintaining your passion for God’s justice to be felt on earth, and the role that community has in giving courage, or encouraging, reckless faith, mercy, and abandonment in our lives. You can check out that sermon by Pastor Francis Chan on 5/17/09, as well as others on their website.
Another thing we are seeking the Lord on is the possibility of running a coffee shop, here in Pasadena. Not only is this a dream of mine, but I have had dreams of planting missional coffee shops all around the world. It may be a place that God has us build kingdom community or at least support kingdom causes while we are here. For the past several weeks I have been learning the art of roasting, and we are praying as to whether God would have us become more involved. Please lift this up in your prayers as well. I will be writing more about it later.
God never promises that He will relieve us from our pain, that we won’t suffer or struggle, or that we won’t feel distance… like we are in a desert. He does promise that he will be with us and that he will never leave us. He promises that He will be enough, no matter where we find ourselves in the journey.
