Desert Flowers
By Karen D’Amore
“Even the wilderness will rejoice in those days. The desert will blossom with flowers.”
Isaiah 35:1
“Creature of Habit” would have been a well-suited title for me. Not particularly fond of change, leaving my family and lifelong friends would prove to be a test of my “comfort zone” nature. And moving from a quaint beach town in Southern California to the Las Vegas desert was like going from the Land of Milk and Honey to the Land of Melba Toast!By Karen D’Amore
“Even the wilderness will rejoice in those days. The desert will blossom with flowers.”
Isaiah 35:1
Making friends in this transient new town proved truly challenging. Soon my desert home became more then a geographical location; it became a place in my heart where the Lord would have me visit for awhile. Loneliness was not my friend of choice; however, it became a familiar song. But it was in that place in the lonely desert, Jesus would enter the loneliness and become my closest friend. He wanted me all to Himself, where He could deepen my commitment to Him, and then teach me the value of godly friendships. Parched….my heart began to thirst for the loneliness to be quenched.
Sharing my testimony publicly would begin my journey out of the desert. Transparently sharing my struggles, my failures and my miraculous road to conversion drew many in the audience to identify with my life. Those women went on to become my precious “Desert Flowers.” And as desert flowers only bloom for a season, God would use those women to help carry me through one of the most difficult seasons in my life.
When I was stricken with malignant melanoma, those women became an extension of God’s loving arms. My “Desert Flowers” prayed with me, cried with me, drove me to and from the hospital and prepared meals for me through months of radiation treatments. My special friends would eventually share in the victory of my being cancer free.
As the cactus flowers only bloom in the spring, those seasons of dry desolation magnify the beauty of the desert in bloom. My season of loneliness magnified the preciousness of my “Desert Flowers.” And it was through those precious “Desert Flowers” God empowered me to bloom in the midst of life’s thorns.
GOING DEEPER:
1. How can you befriend someone who is struggling with loneliness?
2. In what ways could you be a better friend to someone in your life?
FURTHER READING:
Galatians 6:2; I Timothy 5:10; Colossians 3:12-14
Married to husband Dan, Karen manages Intrigue hair salon, is the administrator for Oakwood’s Tuesday a.m. Bible Study, and co-leads a freshman girls’ small group.
