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Reflections on Refuge & Psalm Eleven An Interview With Patty Bogese

When life goes differently than we had expected or even wanted, it’s easy to feel abandoned or confused. Many of those who are seasoned in life experiences, like Patty Bogese, know the deep truth that God is our only refuge. Patty takes time to gaze upon and resonates with Lindsey Spencer’s illustration of Psalm 11 and how her own life is captured here in the theme of being held by God through life’s storms and seasons. Patty tells with perfect candor, “When we grow up as young girls, into womanhood, we all have hopes and dreams for what our life is going to look like. I wanted to be a farmwife. I wanted to have a house full of children. God had such different plans for my life. There were times that I grieved that because I wanted what I wanted… At times, I have grieved that loss of my own dreams, not being able to see what God had ahead for me.” It’s in these seasons that she describes the temptation to feel abandoned. But she states, “Even in that time of grieving, I would feel His hands and the comfort that came from Him.” Patty describes the unique way God has mapped her life thus far. “God didn’t give me the life of a farmwife, where I put down roots and stayed. He gave me a very transient life. He’s moved me many times.” Each time she had settled, God clearly brought her elsewhere. And in that, Patty had to learn to find her refuge not in her physical environment, but in God’s constant presence. “No matter where He’s placed me, He gives me refuge there.” “Our homes are often our earthly refuge,” she says “where we can find what feels safe, but there are times we aren’t close to home and we have to run to Him for refuge instead.” God gave her the opportunity to learn this time and time again, such as calling her to serve for two years in Haiti, living out of one small room. Or obeying the call to go to Germany where she and Steven expected to minister to Germans, but instead found themselves working with Syrian refugees, who themselves were in search of refuge. Patty also experienced the loss of her physical home to fire, destroying most family keepsakes. Through moving dozens of times, living through fires, international travel, and the loss of precious relationships, Patty proclaims, “I came to understand, none of that is where my security lies. My security is in Him. He is the refuge we seek.” While these experiences have caused her to be open-handed with her home, she says, “that doesn’t mean I don’t love nesting, I do! That is something I love–to create a space I feel comfortable and safe. I love to share that. I think that is a desire God has put in my heart. Maybe because I didn’t have children of my own, or a family. God placed in my heart that my home is open to whoever He places there. There have been times that has been total strangers.” These days, Patty and Steven love sitting on their porch, watching birds as they have their devotional times, and reflecting on God’s provision for them. It’s easy to see the physical beauty of the home they have built in the last few years and the warmth of their hospitality. But as easy as it is to find their home a place of refuge, they are clear to proclaim the One who goes with their guests as they depart, the refuge really is God with us. Psalm 11 causes Patty to look back on the God who has been her refuge, because we only fully appreciate the refuge of God when we are in trouble. “Every trial, I’m grateful for. It’s kind of hard to say when you’re there. But he has used those circumstances to really refine us. I am thankful to look back and know, He doesn’t waste any of that hardship, ever!” Patty can also look ahead with the same resolve. “We are in that stage of life where it’s just a matter of time before life changes for us, and probably in some not-good ways. Yet, we are trying to look at that and say, ‘Ok, Lord, when that time happens, help us not miss what we need to learn from it, not miss You in the midst of it’.” She ends her reflection in thanksgiving that “the times that I’ve probably felt the closest to God are when I’ve been walking through turbulent times…that is when you can truly appreciate that image that Lindsey did of that bird in His hands. Birds are pretty fragile and we are too. We try to imagine ourselves being strong and resilient… but we need that protection from sin, danger, we need that imagery of God’s hand always around us.”