When I applied for ACMNP I told myself that I really don’t want to go to the desert. I was thinking about Big Bend. It’s dry, and hot, not many trees. It’s kind of… well… desolate. Sure, there’s Santa Elena Canyon (which is really pretty amazing…highly recommend it), and we saw little black bears, and there’s some pretty cool heights to climb. Truly, it’s an amazing place. But the point here is that I did not want to go there for the sole reason that it’s the desert.
In March, I got the email. Excitement gripped me to read that message with my assignment. I opened it and jumped through all the congratulations (I went back later of course) to see where I had been placed. Death. Valley. Well, that was unexpected! If ever there was a desert, that was the one! God is pretty funny like that.
“God is pretty funny like that.”
I thought hard about it. Coincidences like this don’t just happen. Clearly, God knows something that I don’t. He always does. I accepted the call. God leads us to the difficult places, the places that are hard because He knows we will become closer to Him. I know that He wants to show me something there in the desert. And so I will follow.
Radha Vyas 