In The Wilderness

I grew up on a farm. My parents still live there today, and my dad is still farming: mainly beef cattle and crops.

I am not afraid of spiders or ticks or worms. I credit my country upbringing with this strong constitution. I find it incredulous that my husband screams at chirping crickets and is quick to deliver the death blow, while I carefully shoo them out the back door. (It’s just a cricket. Why should he die? He didn’t do anything wrong.)

A creek runs behind my parents’ house. As kids, we’d play in the water. Most of the time, we’d remember our old shoes for wading; but sometimes we didn’t, and I can’t recall our ever stepping on broken glass or nails or anything. Occasionally, we’d go camping out on our farm. We’d fish in the creek and cook our catch. We’d sleep in a camper in the middle of nowhere. Dark and chilly. Without boundaries of time or space or safety or predictability.

And we loved it.

Sure it was just little more than a “backyard camp-out.” I mean, we weren’t being all Bear Grylls or Survivor Man or The Blair Witch Project or anything.

But it was just enough outdoorsy-ness that now, as an adult, I look at that and think, Um, yea. That doesn’t sound like so much fun.

Ewwww… wading in a creek where hundreds of cows have pooped? Catching and eating fish from that same creek? No electricity? No bathroom?

No Internet?

I got to thinking about this because I’ve been mulling over “wilderness experiences” lately. Think of the Israelites and their wilderness wanderings. So much can be gleaned from their years in the wilderness. In upcoming posts, I want to explore some of those ideas: their grumbling, God’s provision, and others.

Chris and I believe we are being led through a “wilderness experience” of sorts right now. I find it terribly difficult some days to take the next step through the density of the brush and the tangle of thorns that characterize my heart. Still, I know it’s necessary and important and good and will ultimately bring me through to the other side.

When have you experienced a time of wilderness wandering in your life?
How did it affect you?