Middle Of Nowhere Is Still Somewhere

This is where I have been...

You may have noticed my absence on the Internet this past week. We went on vacation to a friend's ranch & quickly discovered there was no Internet there. It was a painful detox, but I survived. 

Real country people would not think this ranch was in the middle of nowhere. A view from the air would show nearby neighbors & stores not too far away. It wasn't really the middle of nowhere. But it felt like it to me. 

Standing outside by myself one morning watching the horses, I found myself thinking about how isolated this ranch was. It seemed that I was unreachable there. Phone calls didn't go through, traffic didn't flow by, email didn't even work...I felt completely off the grid. The pasture in front of me contained only animals and grass. I watched a rabbit hop across the pasture for about five minutes. Literally, just stood there and watched it hop. Nothing else to do really. I was there. I was in 'nowhere'. 

Over the course of the week I discovered something. I discovered that 'nowhere' is still somewhere. 

There was beauty there even if I was the only one to witness it.

There was purpose there even if I was one of the few people to know of it's existence. 

The value of 'nowhere' didn't lay in it's fame, but in it's intimate hideness. 

This 'nowhere' had a story all it's own. A history and a community that understood it's richness. The number of people who knew about it had nothing to do with it's value. It wasn't second-class. It was perfect. It was rare. It was mine, all mine, for a week.

So, be encouraged. If you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere, you are still somewhere. Somewhere that is full of beauty, purpose and value. It isn't an aimless place or a place God takes us while we wait in line for our big moment in the spotlight. 

It isn't a holding pattern. It is a deeply personal part of our story. Nowhere is a place for us to own. It is where we walk with God in the cool of the day. It is where our pulse slows back down and stress decompresses. Nowhere is a clean slate for God to build whatever He wants. 

So, kick back. Relax. Enjoy being in the middle of nowhere.