Glimpses of God from the Campground

I am in my happy place. That’s not to say I have many unhappy places but, as you guessed from the title, I’m at a campground. I know that camping is not for everyone but for me it is truly a place I can unwind, drink a slow cup of coffee or two, and lazily ponder the surroundings that God created. I’m not one for the posh camping resorts. I just love nature.

To give some perspective, I was raised on a farm. As the oldest of four, I went to work early on. I can remember when I was about 6 years old, Daddy put me on a 135 Massey Ferguson pulling the stick harvester. My job was to guide the tractor down the row, through the field without running over the tobacco. You may laugh now if you know me, but I didn’t weigh more than a big sack of potatoes. And to give you a little more perspective, a man could walk faster than the tractor was actually going. It was fun for about 10 minutes. Then it got really hot and I got really sleepy. I had to stand both feet on the clutch and pull up on the steering wheel to stop it. Anyway, you get the picture. I was taught to work from an early age.

When I am in the real world (home or church or work), I HAVE to be doing something. I constantly see things that HAVE to be done. Weed or trim the flowers, dust, mop, do laundry, clean out a cabinet, clean the bathrooms, wash a dirty window, pick vegetables, can said vegetables, fix supper, mend something, and the list goes on and on. I rarely sit down and at the end of the day I’m exhausted but there doesn’t seem to be much headway on the to-do list. And that weighs heavily on my mind. Where did all the time go?

When I’m camping, I can let it all go because it’s not staring me in the face. I can tidy the camper in 15 minutes and then do what I want. My favorite is to read a book or craft. In the evening I love listening to the night noises. Sitting by a campfire is at the very top of the list. I look at the stars and try to find different constellations. When was the last time you did that? I love being quiet and alone without having to worry about the “to-do” list just for a few days. AND, I think about God and His creations. I see more kinds of trees than I can name. I hear sounds that I don’t hear at home. I see green and gray and brown and tan and blue and black and all of the different shades of color in between, and I thank God for what I see and hear. I thank God for the opportunity to just be here. I thank God for the rain that beats a drum on the top of the camper and the awning. I thank God for the husband that goes to work and lets me hang out in the woods. I thank God that I can just sit and rest body and mind. Yes, I felt as if I did two day’s work just to be here but it was worth every minute. And, I sit and write. I used to feel a little guilty about taking time off. Many people call it a vacation. I guess that’s as good a word as any but for me it’s more of a holiday, a rejuvenation. I do not need to be entertained nor do I feel the need to soak up local sites or tour historical landmarks, though that can be fun at times too. I just want to be able to think, reflect, plan, take a nap (which I rarely do) and ponder life’s ebbs and flows.

Ecclesiastes 9 speaks to some of this, though I caution not to take it out of context. I did find this article on Biblemesh.com interesting. It’s not long so take a few minutes to read it if you have time. Please enjoy a holiday once in a while and ponder the majesty

of all that God has created and provided for us.

https://biblemesh.com/blog/the-bibles-view-of-vacations/