1 week in the Gobi Desert.
1 week living in a ger with no one around.
5 new family members.
1 sheep slaughtered.
100+ baby goats.
1 Wild adventure.
I didn’t fully know what to expect about going to live with camel herders for a week. I knew my comfort zone would be stretched and that I would remember it for the rest of my life. It was so much more than I could have imagined though.
It was a time of many firsts! I milked a goat, rode a dirt bike, made the desert my own personal bathroom, cuddled multiple baby goats, ate camel meat, ate almost every part of a sheep (the heart is surprisingly delicious!), played with bones, pet a camel, lived in a ger and so much more.
It also was a time of relinquishing control. This has been a common theme for me for quite some time now. Our first night out in the wild though I was stunned by the realization that things were completely out of my control. I couldn’t communicate with the family I was living with, I didn’t know half the things we were eating, and I had no way to leave. Not that I WANT to leave but that loss of control was a different level. Everywhere we have been I have had the choice and ability to go anywhere or do anything. We spent 90 minutes driving through an unmarked desert, taking random roads, and coming across nothing to get to the ger. I would have no idea which way to even head let alone believe I could make it to the town alive. We never knew what or when we would be doing something. Suddenly they would say ‘go’ and point out the door. Total lack of control.
One of the beautiful things about our lives is that we can change it at any moment. We can move states, change our look, change jobs, go back to school, eat different foods, pursue new hobbies, anything. The beautiful thing about being a Christian is that we choose to surrender that to God. We say “give me your desires and your will, not what I want.” It’s beautiful. It’s scary. We are human and there are things we long for. It’s hard when we submit those to God and hear that He has a different path for us. I want to remain in control in my life and gain the things I “want”. Ultimately though, I want what the Lord has for me. I know His plans are greater and wiser even if it doesn’t seem like it when facing the loss of a “want”. I want God to be in control.
This is a Wild love, something He was teaching me in the desert. His plan for my life is like a desert. I walked for an hour and came across… dirt and hills. I raised my voice and knew no one could hear it. I stared at the vastness of hills knowing that unlike the ocean, I could go across it on my own. His plan for my life, leads me away from the comforts from home. It’s a plan for me and me alone. It goes up and down and I can’t see the end. It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be worth it.
Pursuing His will for our lives is Wild. Family and friends who don’t believe don’t always understand why you are willing to give up all comforts or even the security in better paying jobs in order to follow the Lords call. It’s also a wild adventure. We don’t know what to expect, we don’t know the whole path there, we don’t know when things will come around. But it’s worth it.
His love for me is Wild. I reread a quote recently that I’ve been meditating on for a few days.
“I can’t brag about my love for God because I fail Him daily. But I can brag about His love for me because it never fails.”
I do, I fail Him daily. He love me anyway.
I don’t read my Bible enough. He pursues me anyway.
I don’t listen every time I hear His voice. He talks anyway.
I mess up, I fall, I run. He forgives and pulls me close.
Don’t be afraid of the Wild. That is where we learn the most, that is where He takes us to grow us. Find your Wild. It might be right where you are with a change in your daily schedule. It may take you away for a week, it may challenge everything you know. But in the Wild, we find Him.
