i’m with you. i’m with you.
What is Dry and Barren Land?
When I wrote Dry and Barren Land, I thought it was an encouraging reminder of the truths I already know. Now, seventeen years later, it is a blueprint for living. To live courageously through times suffering and times of joy. But most of all, how to put one foot in front of the other during the “in- between” times. These are times of spiritual drought. The key to being content in all circumstances is living here, in the messy middle.
I invite you to engage and read my journey and let it inspire and guide yours. When you read the content, you will be encouraged.
-J. Thomas
Showing my daughter the bookmark I got from Mongolia.
“ADONAI will always guide you;
he will satisfy your needs in the desert,
he will renew the strength in your limbs;
so that you will be like a watered garden,
like a spring whose water never fails.”
After I graduated from college in 2001, I went on a short-term mission trip to Mongolia. I reasoned that it might be a long time before I allowed myself to have an adventure, knowing I was entering the world of young adulthood. I returned from my trip and began to work as a youth pastor for the church I grew up in. My first job out of college lasted for three months because a young seminarian was hired above me. It felt so unfair! After all, I had majored in religion in college. I studied abroad in Edinburgh and took classes in pastoral care. I wrote 100-page papers on the letters to the Corinthians and on the question of whether pain and suffering in the world was compatible with the existence of an all-loving and all-powerful God.
I felt cheated. And literally around the same time was scammed by an unscrupulous car salesman who overcharged my dad and I by $5,000 for a new car. I stayed up at night trying to figure how we could get our money back and what to do about my position (and resulting jealous and bitter feelings) at church.
Around then, I had my “joy joy joy joy joy joy!! =)” experience. Over the next 19 years, off and on, I’ve been writing not about my time in Mongolia, but about a different dry and barren land. It’s a work-in-progress book of encouragement through seasons of life when the feeling of spiritual connection withers and fades. The truths I wrote for myself I share with you so that you, too, can know God’s purpose in desert seasons.
Dry and Barren Land is a book I wrote. It is my struggle to understand and live my life in the midst of these intense feelings of spiritual dryness. Please sit with me as I try to make sense of how the bits and pieces are woven together to make art from every story. Watch me as I ask God to connect my story together with His and create a testimony of my own that says of God how good He really is. Walk next to me as I think, dream, and believe that God has never left me but has been there this entire time. I want to understand these seasons of spiritual dryness we encounter. I hope that somehow I could learn to love the dry and barren land.
Please subscribe and become a friend. The reward is a connection with at least one other person who is walking the same road. I’m with you. I’m with you.
How is this site organized?
There are 4 major sections to Dry and Barren Land in addition to this start page. In the navigation bar, the section JOURNEY is the house for the blog/book Dry and Barren Land: Walking Through Seasons of Spiritual Dryness. On that page and throughout the website, there are buttons for a “Personalized Journey” which will give you access to the QUESTIONS section, which contains current posts and guides you through a way to encounter God through the feelings and subsequent questions we bring before God.
Next, is the ART section which exists because God’s qualities cannot be contained in prose alone. There is something indescribable, so magnificent, so above-our-minds about God that words are not enough to capture. So we have art. Art (poetry, film, shorts, photography, artwork) comes a little closer to express how we feel about God where regular words fall short. This whole website is actually one giant piece of artwork to say “thank you” to the Holy Spirit for guiding me on this journey.
Last is the ENGAGE section (under construction). My vision for this section is to build something. A community with integrity and intimacy. Continue to watch this space and please subscribe to the e-mail list to become part of that something. In the meantime, comments on the blog posts and interact with with me and other people leaving comments. Finally, if you’d like to make a connection, e-mail me. I am a helper in many ways, and I would love to be able to find a way to help in anyway I can.
Where do I begin?
To begin at the beginning is to pick up a book and read it from cover to cover. You’ve already read the front cover, blurb on the back cover, and about the author section. Here is the Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: The Desert Season (Day 01 to Day 02)
Chapter 2: Sustaining Grace (Day 03 to Day 08)
Chapter 3: Passion for God Himself (Day 09 to Day 16)
Chapter 4: Passion for Heart-Character (Day 17 to Day 21)
Chapter 5: Passion for God’s Glory (Day 22 to Day 24)
Chapter 6: From Crawling to Walking (Day 25 to Day 29)
Chapter 7: Walking by the Spirit (Day 30 and beyond)
Next, read the choices below and select either Path A or Path B.
Do you relate to spiritual dryness, spiritual highs, and the aftermath of a joyful experience?
Path A: Begin a desert journey by reading one post a day for three days, starting on Day 01. Use the 4th day to review what you’ve read. Post comments to the 3 questions or journal to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you. This path will take you on 40-day journey through the Dry and Barren Land.
Do you have a particular feeling or question that is on your mind?
Path B: Begin with looking at the Personal Journey page and look through some of the questions or a particular emotion you might be feeling. Read a few posts and see where it takes you. Leave a comment. Post a question or suggest a topic in the engage section. Let me know the results in the comments!