Lessons Learned in the Desert #11 and #12

I am just continuing my list from my last post "Never Say Never" in which I began compiling a list (for my own benefit) of lessons I have learned and blessings I have received while living in the Arizona desert. I ended that post with a list of 10 so now we are on #11:

When I read stories of people traveling and living in the desert and especially when I read in the scriptures about people like Abraham and Sarah living in tents in the desert with NO AIR CONDITIONING or ICE or ICE CREAM...I have a much deeper understanding of the strength of their faith and character. I understand that it wasn't even just the heat but the bugs and strange animals found in the desert, the sunburns, the hot sand to walk in etc.

It is one thing to be faithful and obedient when you are living in comfortable circumstances, quite another when your whole goal for the day is to just survive the oppressive, energy draining, deep thought sapping, compassion for others robbing, nauseating and headache causing heat. It is in those moments when our physical self is demanding our attention, yet our spiritual self conquers, that our strength of character is increased.

All of this I have thought about while sitting in my nice comfortable, air conditioned house while eating a Popsicle and sipping a glass of ice water and looking out my window at my green grass, flowers blooming and yummy veggies growing in my garden. :) Which leads to #12:

Yuma has a lot of water from the Colorado River. Although I do believe that we take it for granted and am afraid we may regret that one day, we have enough water to make our little patch of the desert an oasis of green grass and citrus trees - to name a couple.