Our children desperately want a dog.

They have a name ready, they know where he will sleep, and where he will sit in the car.

They are imagining that I will bring him home one day after work and that their neighborhood friends will love him.

I hear about this dog almost daily.

They promise to walk him, feed him, and play with him.

It sounds like they will be taking excellent care of him and almost sounds like I won’t have to lift a finger for this precious pup.

Almost.

Because of their insistence to “just look”, I budged a little earlier this week.

We visited our local animal shelter and they were thrilled.

These sweet animals were so precious, but it was heart-breaking nonetheless. Each one had eyes of longing, hoping for someone to take them to a loving home.

One little white Chihuahua was ecstatic to leave and go out for a walk with an interested couple. It was beautiful to hear the volunteer whisper in his tiny ear after the walk, “You’re getting adopted today!”

I would imagine that being trapped in a cage for hours without social interaction or physical touch would be difficult for these animals.

Yet, to walk away with a new family on a brand new leash probably brings incredible joy for them.

This morning on my way to work, I heard a sermon by Pastor Erwin Lutzer explaining that after the Israelites witnessed the parting of the Red Sea, they traveled through a desert for three days….and finally found an oasis. (Exodus 15:22-27)

The problem was the water in the oasis was too bitter to drink. They even named the place “Marah”, which means “bitter”.

The people complain, but God performs a miracle. He asks Moses to pick up a piece of wood, and when the wood was thrown into the water, the water was good enough to drink.

But little did they know what was up ahead….

Oasis #2: ELIM, which sounds like a resort: 12 springs and 70 palm trees! And guess where they camped out? At the resort.

God will never leave us in a drought, lonely, or thirsty.

Have you reached a bitter oasis? A place where you feel discouraged or hopeless, dry and thristy? Wondering how you’re going to make it?

If you look just ahead, a spring of abundance is waiting for you in Elim. I know you can’t see it now, but it’s there.

Just like that little Chihuahua who found joy after days or weeks of loneliness, your joy is just ahead.

~Elizabeth (Betsy)