A Little Alone Time Never Hurt

 

A year ago today my class left the Jerusalem Center and drove to Egypt. Yeah, I wish I could say I am doing something that cool a year later. We drove through the deserts that Moses walked through and the deserts that Lehi made his journey through, near the Red Sea. 

First we played in the most epic sand dunes you'll ever see. I remember the sand was so fine it had the properties of water.  Unfortunately it wasn't a place I wanted to take my brand-new camera to so I have no pictures. 

Anyway, after playing our hearts out in the sand dunes we were told to go off by ourselves for half an hour and just ponder. 

So there I was, out in the middle of the desert by the Red Sea. Surrounded by absolutely nothing but sand and sky. No trees, no buildings, no mountains.

I went far from everybody. 

And yet, I felt everything but alone. 

My heart was SO full.

We had some paper and a pencil and I distinctly remember writing about how un-alone I felt. How I can feel alone on campus surrounded by 33,000 people but out there with no one I felt so close to God.  The true purpose of our life on earth just spoke so loudly in that silent, empty atmosphere.

I thought about when Christ spent 40 days in the wilderness, and wondered what He thought about. He probably thought about us--His brothers and sisters He would save. And it is because of what He did for us that I was able to feel so close to God out there in that isolated landscape. 

This quote by an archaeologist who excavated in Israel says it best:

"When you are placed out in the middle of nowhere and denied most of the conveniences you are accustomed to, you become grateful for things you never realized you were blessed with before. 

It amazes me that I could be completely covered with dirt, have blisters on both hands, sore muscles, flies flying around my head, and an upset stomach, and yet feel so completely blessed for experiences in which physical discomfort teaches patience and gratitude. I started thinking past the physical and material things because I was living on so little and was amazed at how little I need materially and how much my whole life depends on my Father in heaven." ~Janene Wolsey