The Flower in the Desert

The bench where my Mom would dispense advice, encouragement, and companionship before her passing on September 17, 2025. The roses are from a celebration of St. Therese of Lisieux's Feast Day on October 1.

In 2017 I set up the domain Flower in the Desert with the hopes of creating a blog where I could document my experiences working in parish youth ministry and living in the Eastern Washington desert. I can't say that I've updated my blog often or that my initial goals for this site were accomplished. I've started projects and left them unfinished with the lack of time and energy as excuses.

Statue of St. Therese of Lisieux at St. Peter Martyr Parish

The name Flower in the Desert came from prayer, the concept that life not only appears but also thrives in unexpected places. I was especially inspired by St. John the Baptist who we meet in Scripture proclaiming the Good News not in the Temple but in the desert; St. Mary Magdalene, the apostle of the apostles, who encountered the Resurrected Christ at the empty tomb; Pope St. John Paul II, whose vocation was tested and tried in warn torn Poland, and St. Therese of Lisieux, whose Little Way was planted in the quiet of a Carmelite convent and continues to spread worldwide.

We can look around and see that we live in a desert of sorts, a harsh wilderness filled with war, hunger, and poverty; depression, discouragement, and criticism. But even so, there are pockets of generosity, encouragement, and compassion that against all odds, bloom. My hope is to share these experiences here in the form of reflections, commentaries, small group opportunities, spiritual direction, and more. I expect it to be a long process that won’t happen overnight, but now is as good of a time as any to take one small step.

When I first received the name “Flower in the Desert” in prayer, I thought that it was God calling me His flower in the desert, a name which I received eagerly. I think this may still be true, that He is inviting me into His work of bringing life and beauty into places of dryness and suffering. But even more so, I think that Jesus is the life and beauty, the flower in the desert of my heart, of my life. I choose to embrace this spirituality wholeheartedly, of first receiving Him and then sharing Him with others.

As I embark on this new journey, I imagine myself with a handful of broken crayons eager to participate in this new mission. But it is God painting the landscape. He is the one who has the whole palette of colors that will make it beautiful.