So begins my Arizona journey. Well, not a beginning, actually, but a continuation after several divine interruptions of life. I’ve grown and changed since my last glimpse of my mountains in 2012, and yet, some things are still the same. Journey with me.
Day one. “Come away and rest.”
The early morning sun is in my eyes and the blue sky is heralding the day. I can see the mountains in the distance, blurred at the edges but coming into sharper focus as the rays from the sun rising higher in the sky, play over their faces.
The air, this April morning, is a little cool. The birds are singing in the palo verde and acacia trees, thanking their Creator for another beautiful day.
The air is still and the flowering oleander’s petals shimmer neon in the sunlight.
The acacia tree outside my rental condo is full of fuzzy fragrant yellow balls that smell like honey perfuming the air.
There is a peace here my soul hasn’t experienced anywhere else. It makes my eyes water in thankfulness.
When I made the decision to take a vacation in Arizona back in February, it was on a whim that became a certainty. But you can read about that in There and Back Again – all who wander are not lost.
I kept thinking of that line from Bilbo when he confided in Gandalf about his desire to leave the Shire. “Mountains, Gandalf! I want to see mountains again! And find a quiet place where I can finish my book.”
While waiting impatiently for the days and weeks to pass, I got ready and signed up for a writer’s conference. Then I signed up for an editor’s course. I wanted to arrive prepared to do the work God had placed on my heart to do.
All through this two-month process, Jesus has shown me that, yes, he wants me here.
When I booked my ticket, the best flights I could find in the price range I was willing to pay had me flying out from Panama City Beach at about 1pm and, after a 3-hour layover in Houston, arriving in Phoenix at 7:30ish. The more I thought about the fact that it would be full dark by the time I arrived at the rental car desk, the more anxious I became. I don’t like trying to locate new places in the dark.
Ah, well, I thought. Deal with it. Well, about a week ago I received an email from Travelocity saying United had changed my flights. Now my PCB flight was at noon, with a short 30-minute layover in Houston, giving me an arrival time in Phoenix of 3:30pm. Middle of the day. Plenty of time to find my way in daylight.
Of course, instead of appreciating the change, I started stressing about the 30-minute layover. Would I have time to get to the connecting flight? Worry began gnawing at the edges of my mind. The Spirit whispered to me to just relax. It was covered.
Then I thought, I may have trouble, even in the daytime, finding my way out of downtown Phoenix to the 202 Expressway. I think sometimes God just shakes his head at my silliness.
When I arrived at the car rental counter and I inquired whether the car came with a GPS and how to get to the 202, the very nice gentleman there upgraded me to a luxury SUV with built-in GPS whose calm voice directed me all the way to my temporary home away from home.
And for the entire drive I was able to absorb the beauty and majesty of the mountains ringing the horizon. My mountains. I found myself laughing out loud with tears bunching up in the corners of my eyes as I drove ‘home’.
God gave me special grace just to tell me – “you know I’m crazy about you, right?”
I am humbled and feeling very loved. Which is not a new feeling. This is the exact way I felt the whole time I lived in Arizona back a decade ago. It seems like a lifetime.
And now I’m back. Back to the place where God met me in a unique and life-changing way proving to me over and over again just how much he cares.
May I get the much-needed rest and accomplish the work of love he has given me to do this week. Because, for me, when I stand before my King, the only words I want to hear are these:
“Well done, good and faithful servant.”
