Desert Highways

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Pixabay 

     When I look at this picture, I am reminded of an inexperienced twenty-year-old couple leaving California for Albuquerque New Mexico where our parents lived. Now I wonder…what if we had run out of gas? What if the car had broken down?  What if we got lost and were never found again?

     On New Year’s Eve, 1958, Bill took me and all our effects home from San Diego where we had married and where he was stationed in the Navy. As soon as he returned to the base he’d get on a Navy repair ship going to Japan. By the time we got out of the San Diego area starlight and our headlights were the only illumination we had. We saw no other cars on the desert road, filling stations were almost nonexistent, and the ones we did see were closed. 

     Sometimes I wonder why we weren’t afraid. Bill likes to say that young people think they are indestructible. And I guess that’s it. It helps that we both had mothers and fathers who taught us well and so, we could handle anything. 

     It’s amazing now to think about how we traveled across the desert at night. When the outside air temperature dropped toward zero, there was no thermostat in the 1950 Mercury, and the heater only put out cold air. Then one of our water pumps sprung a small leak and we had to stop at every station we saw to get water from the spigots out front. 

     Now, sixty-two years later, we are no longer naïve and foolish. We know that anybody can die or be trapped in a bad situation. And when either of us or our loved ones are in pain or in trouble, we may become anxious. And then we hear a still small voice saying, “I am here, trust me.” And we do. And though we may still have to battle anxiety, depending upon the severity of the problem, still we trust our Lord. When we come to that point we begin to sing in our hearts and we know that no matter how hard things get, our Lord God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit will never leave us or forsake us. Neither Scorching desert nor freezing cold can destroy us or change the way the Father God loves us. We can settle down in peace and even sleep because we know we are not alone. We now know that however hard things may get, this too shall pass. 

Be content with what you have. God has said: ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’.  We, therefore, can confidently say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not  fear. What can man do to me?’        

Hebrews 13:5-6

J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)

DiVoran has been writing for most of her life. Her first attempt at a story was when she was seven years old and her mother got a new typewriter. DiVoran got to use it and when her dad saw her writing he asked what she was writing about. DiVoran answered that she was writing the story of her life. Her dad’s only comment was, “Well, it’s going to be a very short story.” After most of a lifetime of writing and helping other writers, DiVoran finally launched her own dream which was to write a novel of her own. She now has her Florida Springs trilogy and her novel, a Christian Western Romance, Go West available on Amazon. When speaking about her road to publication, she gives thanks to the Lord for all the people who helped her grow and learn.  She says, “I could never have done it by myself, but when I got going everything fell beautifully into place, and I was glad I had started on my dream.”

Tags: Indestructible, This too shall pass