[Anna Zogg] God’s Desert at the Oregon Coast

Celebrating a Year of Discomfort
Guest Post by Anna Zogg 

On July 8, 2018, we celebrated the anniversary of our move to Oregon. In one year, a lot has happened and a lot has not happened. We purchased land, mapped out the boundaries of the wetlands, paid thousands of dollars for permits, lined up surveyors-architects-builders-excavators-plumbers-electricians, and then…waited. And waited. Often I felt that we (husband John and I) were like the Israelites who wandered in the desert for forty years. Many times I have lifted my face to the heavens and prayed (cried), “What are you doing, God? Why is this taking so long?”

While we wait for our house (and shop), we live with our daughter and husband, along with their young children (including a special-needs child). They own their own business and they are active in the community. Life is chaotic. All.the.time. Years ago I survived a similar season in my life, but now I face days when I wonder if I can survive another hour. Many times I go into our room, shut the door and put in earplugs. Sometimes to escape. Sometimes to rest. Sometimes to merely endure the next few minutes with my sanity intact. Before we moved to Oregon, I knew this arrangement would be difficult, but never imagined it would be this hard.

My one constant is God. When I feel like my mind is unraveling from stress, I know I can run to the One who gives real rest. I can sit at His feet and reflect on His marvelous promises—that He loves me, that He is in control, that He always has my best at the center of His heart—even when it doesn’t feel great.

I used to stare across the field and long for our house to be finished. More often now, I stare into the future and wonder what the Lord has planned for me—something that might not have been possible without that year of discomfort. I find myself anticipating how I can use those 365 days—with the accompanying joys and sorrows—to benefit my writing. In this life, God never wastes anything. This I know. The Lord declares that He has plans for me. He causes all things to work together for good (Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28). The days I occasionally fall back into a pattern of anxiety, I remind myself that my hope in God. I can look out the window and see that work on the house is progressing…and I am grateful that it won’t take forty years! As I wait, I am confident that I am never alone. The Master Builder of the universe is always at my side, even if the desert looks like the Oregon coast.

Anna Zogg

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What do you get when you cross an army brat, a police record and an opera singer? Anna Zogg, of course! She’s been surrounded by the military (father, three siblings, husband and son), she was an exchange student in Denmark (where police records are mandatory) and she trained as a vocal major in college. With such a diverse background, she couldn’t help but become a writer.

After traveling the globe, she and her husband settled in Utah–a place they once swore they’d never live. Now they love it. With the towering mountains, nearby Great Salt Lake, high desert temperatures–she couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.