Well we are in the month of September.  Fall is just around the corner and the winter months are just ahead.  This time of year reminds me of times in my life that are dry and barren.  The green of spring and summer dry of the leaves and caused them to fall off the tree as if they were dead.  We all go through times in our lives when hope fades, difficult times start, and things look lost.  But just like the seasons, God brings us through those times of deadness and dryness into new birth again.  But how does God do this in our lives.  This is what we are going to dwell on in this next sermon series on a way through the wilderness and see what God does during this time.   And just as the first couple of chapters in Exodus show us, many times God starts out behind the scene.  But that does not mean he is not there.  He is just starting to call people who will help us get through the wilderness.