THE PROMISED LAND

They gave Moses this account: "We went into the land which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey." Numbers 13:17-27

My family and I were born in Larvik, Norway.  In 195l my father emigrated to the United States and found employment.  He soon sent for my mother, brother and I and we began our journey to America in September of that year.  I celebrated my fifth birthday aboard the "S.S. Oslofjord".  We were pursuing a dream, looking for a land of "milk and honey" just like the Israelites did in the Bible verse.  We came to the United States with very little money, unable to speak the language or understand a lot of the customs.  I began kindergarten shortly after arriving and could not speak a word of English, and can still remember the tears I shed in total fear of everything unknown.  I also remember the kindness of my kindergarten teacher, who took me into another room and let me paint on an easel.  Somehow I survived the first day and then the others and was soon speaking English and feeling more at home.

 If it was scary for my family and I who had a place to live and food to eat, imagine how the Israelites must have felt after their forty years in the wilderness after leaving Egypt where they had been slaves. God did provide for them in all they needed, but they never had a place to call home.   Finally they come to Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey, the home promised to them by God.  But wait, they just didn't walk in and unpack. It was more complicated than that.  The land was inhabited by people much stronger than they and they grumbled to Moses and Aaron that it would have been better for them to die in the wilderness or to never have left Egypt than to be denied the chance to enter their "promised land".  If you read further in the account, you will see that God had finally had enough of these complaining people and threatened to destroy them all except for Moses and a few.  Moses had to intervene with God and plead with him not to do this and he succeeded but at a price.  Not one of the original Israelites that lived in Egypt would enter the land except for two.  Only the descendents of the people would enter.  God helped them conquer the inhabitants and claim the land that was promised them, the land of milk and honey.  After years of war they finally were able to live in peace. It would be nice if we could say "and they lived happily ever after" The End, but their story was just beginning and many more perils and disasters would befall the Israelites through the years.

My family's journey into the land of "milk and honey" was filled with hardship and fear also, but God was with us as he was with the Israelites.  All God asks is that we never doubt his care and love for us, that we trust in him in all things. We need to thank God every day for our homes and our families, things we many times take for granted.  How very blessed we are.  During this Lenten season, let's try to be more trusting of God's care and thankful for our homes.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for all that you have given us, our lives, our homes, and our families, the most important things of all.  Give us grateful, trusting hearts to live in your love.  Amen

                                                       Rae Starke

raestarke1234@aol.com