Desert Seclusion in Moab: When a goal just has to be met!
(Click the towns' and states' links to find adventure options.)
I was nearing the end of my 7 month camping and writing adventure and didn’t feel like I was even close to finishing the book I was called to write during that period. It was time to focus solely on getting that done and I had to remove myself from all distractions in order to do so.
“What’s the best way to do that?” I wondered. I answered my own question with, “Go camp in the desert and hide from all civilization and cell service.” (Yep, I am talking to myself.)
My intent was to find a remote spot somewhere in the Arizona desert to isolate and write in seclusion, during the month of November…That 7th and final month. However…
I had been coaxed back to Denver, during the last 2 weeks of October, to work for one of my favorite clients. At a birthday party in Denver, I began talking to the dad of one of my good friends. While he was telling me a story, a completely random and unrelated thought went through my head. “Wouldn’t it be great if he invited me to join them for Thanksgiving?”
The very next thing out of his mouth was, “Hey! You should join us for Thanksgiving.” Ha!
Well, I took it as a sign I was supposed to go.
Not long after that, another Colorado friend/client asked me if I could watch her pups over Thanksgiving.
Apparently, I was meant to spend Thanksgiving week in Colorado, which only gave me about 3 weeks for my desert isolation time.
On the day I was to leave Colorado for Arizona, I changed my mind about my destination. It did not make sense to drive that far only to come right back to Denver 3 weeks later. “Where should I go that would be less distance, but still warm enough to camp?” I wondered.
Moab came to mind. I’d never been there.
I checked the weather and it looked perfect for camping. So, I headed to Moab, Utah at the last minute, instead of Arizona.
I had no idea where I would camp and figured God would show me the right spot. When I saw The Fallen Officers’ Memorial Campground, I knew that was it!
I didn’t think of it at the time, but realized later I would be camping there on the 11th anniversary of my friend, Agent James Davies, being killed in the line of duty. Police Agent James Jeffery Davies, Lakewood Police Department, Colorado (odmp.org)
It was fitting and I was happy to have a reminder of graveyard shift adventures when Jim would want to “Go hunt Dirties.”
The campsite was perfect!! Almost no cell service and it was so remote, even though it wasn’t very far from the highway.
Moab turned out to be my favorite stop out of this whole cross-country adventure! God saved the best for last for me. The town was 30 minutes away; was absolutely gorgeous; had a fabulous bike path; phenomenal hiking; and it’s the first town I’ve found, over this journey, where you can buy a shower. Moab was THE most Nomad friendly town I have visited.
Gearheads Sporting Goods was one of the first stops I made to get propane and found they provide free, filtered water to anyone who needs it and there is no limit. You don’t even have to buy anything from them. THIS just felt miraculous as water was usually my biggest and most important need.
Because of this, I made sure Gearheads was my go to for all my camping needs. And when my tent pole snapped, the guys happily fixed it for me for only the price of the connector it needed. They said they enjoyed fixing and I was thrilled, since I had no interest in doing so, myself. Resetting a collapsed tent would be enough fun for me.
After realizing just how perfect this destination was and that it was THE best place I’d traveled to over the past 7 months, I decided I should probably look up what significance Moab held in the Bible. I knew I’d heard of it, but what exactly was it?
Numbers 22 held the answer. Moab was The Last Encampment Before the Israelites Entered the Promised Land!!!!
I was so excited to read this and immediately claimed that as a promise! This was the end of the 7 months I’d been given to finish writing the book. While it looked impossible, I claimed this promise that this was my last encampment before finishing the book and entering into my Promised Land.
God showed up in Moab! He was there with me as I wrote the chapters I didn’t want to remember. He was there as I cried through the hurts I’d pushed far back in the recesses of my mind. He was there as I re-read my prayer journals and saw how faithful He is to answer my prayers and how faithful He is to still love me when I did not do the things He asked of me.
He was there when I was able to write over 40,000 words in 12 days of writing.
I might have been in seclusion and isolation, but I certainly was not alone.
There were attacks, too, that I had to pray against. There were disruptions like the tent pole breaking and having to spend most of one day handling that.
One of the strangest things I think I’ve ever experienced, while dreaming, happened early on in this portion of travel. One night, I dreamt I bit down on the tip of my tongue, but I was actually doing this in real life as I was dreaming. My teeth were clenched together with my tongue trapped between them and I was trying to pull my tongue out of their grasp.
I was literally trying to rip my tongue out from between my teeth, which would have ripped the tip of it off.
Fortunately, I woke up and released my bite and the grip my teeth held on my tongue. However, enough damage had been done and I began to feel a throbbing pain that would not let me go back to sleep. I commanded the pain to go away and for my tongue to be healed in Jesus’ name and both things quickly happened. I went right back to sleep!
The next morning there was just a slight amount of discomfort in my tongue that would amount to nothing more than an old bruise. It was just enough to let me know what had happened was more than a dream.
Another strange thing I saw one night was a perfectly straight line of bright lights, closely strung together, moving rather quickly east across the sky. It almost looked like a digital fascia ad banner being pulled across the sky, but without an ad.
As I was trying to take a picture, the string of lights veered north and away from the earth and disappeared. I couldn’t get the shot, but a couple of days later, I met a guy on one of the trails at Arches National Park, who had seen the same thing and got a great picture. What do you think it is?
FOX News later reported it to be Starlink satellites being sent into space. I’m not sure I believe that, but at this point I don’t believe anything the MSM says.
During this time, I still had no steady means of income. God has provided miraculously, since telling me in July that I needed to work for Him the way I worked for my last boss and that He would take care of me.
Moab was no exception! I was able to go to Arches National Park on Veteran’s Day, which is one of their free days, which saved me $30. After my 20 year old Dansko clogs decided to finally disintegrate, I prayed and asked for an inexpensive replacement. Not only did He provide a pair my size for $10 within an hour, He also provided a beautiful Columbia winter coat for $24. (I had forgotten I needed a winter coat, but He had not.)
A couple of weeks before going to Moab, I had prayed for a new laptop. He provided a surprise laptop from the publishing company I’ve been working with, that showed up right before I left for my desert isolation.
Every single financial and material need I have had on this journey has been met! Every one! All I had to do was what He asked…write the book. Oh, and I do have to ask for what I need. That way, He gets the glory.
The best part…on November 1st, I did not see any way I’d be able to complete the rough draft by the end of the month. But on November 24th, the rough draft of the book was completed! 6 days before my 7 month deadline. God is good!! There was no way I could have done that on my own.
I might be walking this journey by myself, but I am never alone and I am well cared for. My God provides so well for me and I know He is one who will never betray me or throw me away.
Now that the rough draft is done in and I’m stepping into the next phase of editing and beyond, I hope to do a better job of keeping up with this blog. I realized I’d set too many writing goals for myself so I had to ignore some over the past 3 months and focus mostly on just one writing project. Blogging and social media had to be neglected. Maybe I can catch up now…
Thank you to all of you who pray for me and encourage me. I can feel your prayers and they are priceless!
If I can pray for you in any way, please let me know.