Callie Mitchell, SAVED News International Correspondent, Jerusalem, Israel, ca****@sa*******.com — Some days I sit to write this column and the words flow easily. Other times, I sit down and feel wiped out from waging war in my thought life and enduring the rough edges of this culture. Usually when I’m so warn down, I realize it has been several days since I’ve had a REAL quiet time. Since Jerusalem is a spiritually intense environment, over the last six years I’ve learned that I can’t coast along without the word, but with small children, it can be hard to find time!
During our current season of not having a car, my week consists of three days where I am spending up to four hours on the city bus with my 5 year old, Aviel, and 5 month old, Lydia. The bus is not a passive experience and I’ve found myself totally done for the day after the morning round… only to remember that I’d have to go out and do it again in the afternoon! After several months of this routine, I asked the Lord what I could do to make it easier. His answer was clear, “Read my word.” So that is what we do. In the morning, on the way to Aviel’s preschool, we do a devotional time together. After I drop him off, I do my own personal bible reading. Then we reverse that order in the afternoon. It has been so fruitful, transforming the bus from something I dread, to something I look forward to.
Last month we enjoyed Pesach break together as a family, with several exciting events. We celebrated a beautiful Seder with friends, rich in scriptural teachings and times of worship, acknowledging Yeshua as the slain lamb. Three days later, we visited the Garden Tomb where we remembered the Resurrection and worshiped the Lord with believers from every tribe, tongue, and nation. After that, we had a few adventures, enjoying the landscape of Israel as a family. This two weeks worth of jumping from mountaintop to mountaintop was a refreshing and much needed break; yet, at the end of the vacation I felt like something was missing!
It was the intimate fellowship with the Lord that I had been having in the daily grind of life — on the bus!
Israel rarely has a dull moment, with all sorts of events happening at biblical portions! However, in this age, we aren’t called to stay on the mountaintops. Recall that the Lord did not agree to Peter’s suggestion of building tents on the Mount of Transfiguration. In comparison, consider what He did in the valley of Ezekiel 37. From dry dead bones, He resurrected life! Those long hours on the bus have been my bone valley.
I’m growing more and more thankful for the rough edges of this culture. The challenges press me into surrender, and into His word. That’s where I know I am most alive. If you are in a valley today, ask Him to show you how He can turn your daily routine into a source for filling you with resurrection life!
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