I'll preface this poem by saying that I am without question in a season of transition & preperation. The past four years I spent living in Orange County and only moved back to Los Angeles, where I was borned and raised, for the summer. This is also a season of greiving as I let go of what was- the community I had, the memories so wonderfully made- and now prepare for what is to come September (God willing), while still aiming to remain present in today.
I had a lot of fear in transitioning here to L.A. prior to my launch for the World Race.
It was fear that I wouldn't find Christ or community or even really be growing in my relationship with the Lord.
But the best part is much of my fear has been stifled as Christ keeps revealing Himself in beautiful & unexpected ways.
So without further ado here is my poem on all such business. 🙂
dry lands & high desert–
far from the sandy dunes of seashore.
no marine layer midst to blanket me to slumber.
that was the Great Inhale
of salty air & wisdom.
But soon, there is to be the
Great exhale–service–
and I, I am salt.
Even now in these meek beginnings
there is a transition–a preparing–
for what is to come.
Be weary, for it is so easy to be so lost in what may be.
What of now as I hold my breath?
What of now in these humble beginnings?
"Do not loose sight!" I say, "Trust in what you have been given."
"There is purpose, even in these moments of holding, waiting, trusting…
before the Deep Exhale."
"Hold your breath, you won't wait forever." And even so,
"The Lord will sustain you in this."
As I wait in the desert land,
far from the land that carried my freedom,
You are found–
in fifth of the L.A. streets, in the high rise buildings,
loud helicopters, in the traffic, & on skid row–
somehow You are found.
Mother has always called me a "desert rose."
Maybe it is here I am to flourish, I am to grow.
Maybe it is here I am to rest before I am sent, bloom before I go,
Then uprooted from all that is familiar.
"Do not be frightened, dear one, do not be afraid."
Where shall I be found?
Where will my roots grow deep?
Rooted in the love of Christ,
my true home–and now I breathe steadily.
