I just returned home from a trip to the desert.   We had a great adventure on the Arabian Peninsula last week, living in a tented building under the hot desert sun. The reserve we visited is a safe place for the oryx, a desert animal that is in danger of becoming extinct. We were taken on a safari drive and while the desert was huge, finding the oryx was easy.  There was a man made watering hole in the desert and that is where the oryx would spend quite a bit of time. Finding water is a priority in the desert, so the oryx position themselves close to the water supply. What a relationship we find between position and priority!  

I laugh at myself sometimes. Actually, if I am completely honest, I laugh at myself a lot! The other day I was at the grocery store buying a loaf of bread and the lady at the register said, ‘I like your coat.’ I responded by thanking her. But the conversation did not stop there! I went on to tell her how much I love my new coat. It’s perfect for those in between weather days! I told her where I bought it and I told her the price I paid for it (since it was a great deal!) For some reason, I always feel the need to do that. When someone compliments what I am wearing, there is always a story behind it, and I always feel like I need to share it!  

‘Seven essential items you must have for your closet!’ How often I get emails from numerous stores with that in the subject line!   These emails suggest items the store feels are necessary for me to complete ‘the look’. There is usually something denim, a pair of black pants, a few short sleeved shirts and a white sweater for layering over it. Somewhere in the mix there is a pop of color to make the look more fun. You can’t wear them all at the same time, but they all coordinate so you can mix and match. Funny how I get that email a lot, from different stores, for different seasons… The same store may tell me that today I need these seven items for spring, but then in the summer…well….now I need these seven items. Come fall, there is another lot of seven items that I need. And then winter comes along, and so does another email with seven new, additional …

Jonah’s story is one with a lot of ups and downs.  He is a lot like us, because if we are honest, our stories have a lot of usp and downs, too. As a prophet in Israel, Jonah’s job was to hear from the Lord and speak it to the people.  With a favorable response to his previous prophecy, he was well respected by the people and the king of Israel.  God had spoken a word of victory for Israel through Jonah and Israel had won.  Because the king liked what the Lord had spoken through Jonah, the prophet became a very popular guy. I would imagine with this kind of response, he was anxious to hear the Word of the Lord again!  If hearing the Word of the Lord led to the defeat of enemy lands, victory for Israel and personal popularity, then speak, Lord, speak!  The prophet was listening! One day, God spoke again.  But this time, Jonah …

New things are on my agenda for this year, maybe they are for you, too. One of the new things I am diving into is an additional exercise class. I decided to challenge myself and attempt something I have never tried before…a barre class. As a brand new member of this barre class, I am way behind the rest of my peers. Others around me know how to move, where to move, when to move, and when most importantly, when not to move!  I, on the other hand, have ‘never been this way before’…and so the instructor calls my name…a lot.