Oceans in the Desert

Finding Home is the most personal book I have ever written. It tells about some of my journeys through wilderness seasons, and how the Lord has always lovingly lead me to doors of hope.

I can think of no better description of this book than to share the afterword written by my husband, Jeffrey Pelton.

Finding Home will be released worldwide 11/11/21, but you can pre-order now wherever you buy books.

Here are a few helpful links: IndieBound (US only) https://bit.ly/3w1r2eQ Bookshop https://bit.ly/2ZH8GnK Barnes & Nobles https://bit.ly/3lB0AW Books-A-Million https://bit.ly/3GCGAdV Powell’s City of Books https://bit.ly/3bqgHzL Target https://bit.ly/ Amazon US https://amzn.to/3Ex3MIY. Amazon Canada https://amzn.to/317aB5q Amazon UK https://amzn.to/3Ev97jN Amazon Japan https://amzn.to/3EmNa6C

AFTERWORD by Jeffrey Pelton

I have just read some of my wife’s testimony. I know these stories and struggles and victories. Intimately.

And I still sat and cried as I was completing the edits on this book. There were no surprises as I read, no turning over forgotten stones in pursuit of the truth, no sudden blinding revelations of “Oh, that’s what happened!”

I lived this stuff. I walked with Kathi through the blood and pain and turmoil and darkness—through the wilderness. And I wouldn’t trade a moment of it. Not because of how much I love her (oh, so much) or because I want you to think I’m some sort of good guy because “I was there” (I’m not that great, trust me) but because Kathi’s story is a narrative of life and hope, and the utter, relentless love and mercy and glory of God. It is the story, even though circumstances may differ, of us all.

Kathi’s story is the story of our Creator who loves us enough to surround us with his mercy and walk with us through any darkness. The Bible tells us “Even the darkness is light to you” and the journey Kathi and I have traveled together has proven that true, in the deepest recesses of our hearts, and in our lived experience.

Those of us who have been long in the “prophetic stream” recognize that sometimes there is a glamorizing of cookie-cutter experiences regarding “warfare” and “overcoming.” It is easy to discuss these truths in a kind of detached manner, as though the battles we face are “out there” in some nebulous larger arena. Such a viewpoint can become therapeutic—even romanticized—like reading an adventure novel or being caught up in an exciting movie. But the reality is, life is messy and grueling, even brutal, and some of us, despite out best intentions and commitments, have failed spectacularly. We look through church history and see the battlefield littered with catastrophic loss. Such “warfare,” when it impacts us up close and personal, is shocking.

The “wilderness” journey is another metaphor that we can be tempted to pass over lightly. Experience a season of difficulty or disappointment, and we opine sorrowfully about wandering forty years like Israel. Or we smile dutifully and try to bolster our spirits by glibly stating “I’m trusting the Lord!” even though everything inside screams with questions. A real wilderness is a hard place, frightening and dangerous. In the wilderness, none of our traditional comforts or safe spaces are available, so we tremble and wonder why all the promises of God have vanished like morning mist.

But God often sends his servants into the wilderness. The Son of God himself was led there by the Holy Spirit. The seeking child of God who presses in to know him will, at some point, find himself or herself wandering, lonely, tired, discouraged, hungry, and thirsty. It is disheartening to discover your compass doesn’t point toward home; spin the needle as you may, you just find it directing you deeper into the wasteland.

However, if in the emptiness we will gather our spiritual wits about us and be still, quieting our propensity toward unbelief and turning toward the breath of the Spirit, we can hear voices dancing lightly on his wind, carried from messengers past who cried out in the arid wilderness, “Make straight the ways of the Lord.”

Kathi is one of those voices. She tells her story straight. She tells her story raw. She tells her story real—not hiding the dark parts, not glossing over the failure, not pretending to be someone she is not.

My wife has offered us her “genuine self.” And in the offering, her story breathes life as she sings of how anguish and defeat led to beauty and triumph. She encountered the power of mercy and tenderness granted from the heart and hand of an always good, ever faithful, infinitely loving Father who led her to her heart’s true home.

God is merciful. God is kind. God is good.
And his love is everlasting, beyond all we can hope or think.

I pray that reading this has shown you that he will rescue anyone who looks to him with the simple hope that he will help you find your way. Kathi’s story serves as a signpost directing you to a path leading to the warmth and safety that awaits as you walk with the One who loves you and will lead you gently into life.
Into your true home.—Jeffrey Pelton

Jeffrey Pelton / Inscribe Press

Because everyone deserves to tell their story

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