after my desert post... here is a poem from my streams in the desert daily devotional...
Great truths are dearly bought, the common truths,
Such as men give and take front day to day,
Come in the common walk of easy life,
Blown by the careless wind across our way.
Great truths are greatly won, not found by chance,
Nor wafted on the breath of summer dream;
But grasped in the great struggle of the soul,
Hard buffeting with adverse wind and stream.
But in the day of conflict, fear and grief,
When the strong hand of God, put forth in might,
Plows up the subsoil of the stagnant heart,
And brings the imprisoned truth seed to the light.
Wrung from the troubled spirit, in hard hours
Of weakness, solitude, perchance of pain,
Truth springs like harvest from the well-plowed field,
And the soul feels it has not wept in vain.
l.b. cowman
i cannot wait to meet mrs. cowman in heaven. she and i will laugh about how when i was in my early 20's that i tried reading streams in the desert and could NOT understand it at all. it was soooooo depressing. and then how i rediscovered it in my more "middle" age (ahem.) and EVERY word of it seemed written just for me. i will have her read some of her poems to me. i will read some to her. it is going to be an amazing time. we will have muffins and tea. streams in the desert goes best with warm blueberry muffins and a cup of hot tea.
if you have ever been in a desert kind of time in your faith OR if you are in one of those deserts right now where it is hot. dry. scorching wind. no life. tumbleweeds passing by. cactuses sticking into you as you try to walk. the occasional snake. then pick up this book. if you haven't, go on and pick one up. you will need it someday.