Be Still and Take the Road to the Desert

Divine Nudges

Anticipating and hoping that 2025 would be a better year for me and my husband than the past two, we decided to hit the ground running and head to Phoenix for some rays. I was looking forward to some “be still” time. I was dawdling in my motivation to write this blog with a theme of “be still” until I was nudged by people, who I think were being nudged by God. Have you ever been nudged by the Almighty? The Bible is full of examples.

My Divine Nudge

In three weeks, I had three divine nudges to stop being idle and get to writing. The first one came from a friend who texted a verse in Exodus to our bike group where the Israelites who just left Egyptian servitude and were fleeing in the desert of Sinai, came to the Red Sea only to look back and see Pharoah’s army bearing down on them. Amidst their screams and panic, God tells them to be still or silent and he will fight for them. My friend was moved by the thought of trusting God, resting in silent stillness. The second nudge came from a daily bible app reading that focused on Psalm 46 where God encourages the singer to “Be still and know that I am God.” And apparently, I wasn’t listening because out of the blue a third nudge came unexpectedly in the form of text. 

Stop Resenting and Engage the Divine Directive

Aunt Karen’s text wasn’t the usual “Hello sweety how are you and you’re suave and debonair husband doing (please remember Chris helps me with these blogs so I have to throw him a bone once in a while).” Instead, she had attached an entire page from the devotional Jesus Calling (Sarah Young) for February 16 and thought about me and my struggles. That day’s devotional was Divine prophecy for me. Young’s excerpt was Jesus exhorting us (me) to “thank him for any conditions requiring us to be still; not resenting our condition and its accompanying limitations but continuing to live close to God to find his way through the circumstances that have weakened us (me).” I have definitely resented and even feared my degenerating condition, but this nudge reminded me that I have a divine directive to be still and to blog. So let’s ride on into the desert.

Arizona, North Dakota’s Sister State

In a previous blog late last fall, I wrote about my travel and stay, in and along the northern California coast; a fantastically successful trip that gave me great confidence to escape the northern cold and head to the desert for a few days of “be still” time. We’ve been to Arizona many times prior, but those excursions were mostly Chris working and me tagging along. The region is like an extension of North Dakota. Many Nodaks retire, have second homes, or winter there. I have former schoolteacher friends, church friends, neighbors, in-law acquaintances, and cousins, and Chris has many business colleagues who spend time there. For this trip, we could only hook up with a couple acquaintances since we were on a mission to be still.

Flight to the Desert

The road to being still started exactly as just stated, we rose at 3AM, hit the “road” for Fargo at 4:30AM, entered the Fargo airport at 5:30AM, and then took flight for Phoenix Sky Harbor at 7:30AM. Not much for stillness there. Mind you, I have to take liquid supplies in my carry-on, get wheeled to my seat in the skinny wheelchair, and have metal probes in my head connected to a generator in my upper chest sending tiny shocks into my brain. Let’s just say I give TSA a run for their money. We landed in Phoenix on Mountain time at 12:30PM, headed straight to the Walmart in Scottsdale, and then experienced my first “be still” moment of this short trip. I will delve into these moments in more detail next blog. 

Settling in at the Villa

My son joined our vacation since we had five days in a two-bedroom villa mostly paid for through a trade. It was a fair trade of not one, not two, not three, but four sales agents providing a two-hour timeshare spiel and we in turn enjoyed some poolside be still time. The timeshare pitch was actually quite interesting, especially since Chris somehow managed to spin the make-a-deal pitch in the other direction, milking the salespeople for information on things to do in the region, real estate prices, local eating joints, neighborhood amenities, and in the end, we didn’t invest and received our entire downpayment back  . . . in cash. Besides the timeshare spiel and a poolside revenge match of euchre with a special pair of Nodaks, we were under orders by God to be still for a few days. My younger son was anything but still, escaping into the hills and mountains just about every day there; hiking and climbing.

As an update, on the not-so-silent side of my life, I’ve restarted speech therapy sessions with a local therapist. We’ve noticed a little more volume and clarity in my speech, which has actually made the transcription of this blog a bit more efficient. So, thanks for your prayers, and let’s remain hopeful. Be still moments will be expounded upon in the next blog.