Anna Deem grew up as a Tennessee country girl, milking goats from the time she was five years old. She ran in the woods, built teepees, swam in the pond, and swung out over the gorges from the Pawpaw tree vines.  Nevertheless, she survived—along with her eleven siblings.

 After marrying her sweetheart at age twenty-one, she moved to the desert, near Phoenix Arizona, and lived in the city with the displaced coyotes, the cacti, and the scorpions who thought they owned the rights to their home.  While living in the desert, scorpion hunts were an exciting family event which involved a jar, a blacklight, and matches, and though these dangerous adventures were more of a hit with the hubby and kids, Anna was thankful if it kept the critters from finding a way inside their toilet paper rolls.

Anna is passionate about teaching, a love which began with teaching her adorable little sister to read. That led to tutoring and teaching Sunday school as a teenager, then to private Christian school and Children’s Church where she discovered the best lessons included the Bible and a good laugh over a crazy object lesson. She believes visual lessons and stories are never forgotten.

When Anna had her own precious children, she began the delightful journey of homeschooling. This usually meant starting the day with a bike ride through the desert trails near their home where the kids regularly filled their tires with thorns, and the parents regularly filled their cabinets with green repair goo and inner tubes. During school time, Anna was busy reading her little girl’s animal-advocacy reports and after school she was busy trying to keep their own growing collection of little pets alive–along with deterring the boys (armed with screwdrivers) from taking apart all the family’s small appliances so they could “see what was inside.” But Dad got involved with the lessons when their screwdrivers found their way inside his fancy Nikon camera!

The family photos now have country backgrounds instead of desert scenes since after spending 20 years in Arizona, they are back in Tennessee. Anna’s husband realized his goal of seeing his wife and five children relocated near family while battling terminal MSA. He went to be with Jesus at the age of 46 after helping the family choose a home in the country surrounded by green trees, rolling hills and a welcoming maroon front door.

Anna teaches at a private Christian school where her youngest son attends. She is thankful that school includes educational time outside (which may or may not occasionally lead to students falling in the creek during school hours).

Anna’s devotionals from Finding God in Desert Valleys share stories from her journey of loss and growth, along with strength and encouragement from God’s word to help those going through difficult seasons.