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Ahhh. Home. We were camping over Thanksgiving; something we’ve never done before, but it was a lot of fun. On short notice (two days before we left) we found out that there was ONE slot for the nights we wanted to stay at the campground. We jumped on it and began packing wildly. On Tuesday we popped up the camper, cleaned out and packed it. On Wednesday, the day we were due to leave, we packed some more, closed the camper and STUFFED, SQUEEZED and JAMMED the rest of our things in. We piled the truck with firewood, any bikes we couldn’t put on the bike rack, coolers, the lantern and folding chairs and headed off the campground. It was dark when we arrived. (In fact, it had been dark when we left an hour and a half earlier.) We cranked the camper up, popped out the beds, arranged camp and went to bed. The next morning, Thanksgiving, we woke up and observed the dark clouds blowing across the sky. Every once in a while, a raindrop would fall. We scurried around to erect the awning and quickly put anything we didn’t want to get wet underneath it. Then the rain came down. Not too hard but enough keep us under the awning. We pondered how to make breakfast when the stove hookup was different than the gas tank hookup. We were heatless and since it was raining, also fireless. Daddy finally decided to try to find a store open on Thanksgiving that would have an adapter for the hookup. He and Kason drove away and the rest of us puttered around, straightening the camper and attempting to light the grill to get some heat to make breakfast. A while later, the rain let up a little bit so Kam and I embarked on lighting a fire with semi-wet wood. With no success we decided to wait for Daddy to come back. When he did, he didn’t bring an adapter, but something better: a new stove. This green camp stove from Wal-mart was a real lifesaver! That afternoon, the rain stopped and we went for a long, refreshing bike ride. Later, as Daddy, Kam and I were throwing the football, a young girl from the site beside us, stood by her truck and watched us. We invited her to play and she spent the rest of the day with us. She was nine years old and was camping with her family and a couple of their friends. That night, (we now had a fire by the way) she roasted marshmallows with us and played several rounds of the card game, “Old Maid.” Sitting at the picnic table beside the fire, Kelcee brought up the subject of Eternity, Heaven and Hell. This girl, Alicia, had seen a lot of death and she was scared by it. Kelcee brought the Law out. Alicia didn’t know what the Ten Commandments were, so we explained. She couldn’t quite comprehend some of what we were saying; it was her first time. She heard the gospel that night. I pray God uses the words that were spoken to bring Alicia into His flock. Please pray for her to come to repentance and salvation. We want to see her in Heaven! We somehow stumbled over teaching Alicia the words to a kids’ song we recently learned. (Have you noticed how kids’ songs get stuck in your head and continue to encourage you throughout the day?) This is how it goes: He’s my Rock My Sword My Shield He’s the Hub in the middle of the wheel He’s the Lily of the Valley The Bright and morning Star I don’t care what the others will say I’m getting down on my knees to pray And I’m going to wait, wait right here ‘Til Jesus comes. Oh yeah! She really liked it and learned it fast. Alicia sung the song and did the motions for her mom and one of their friends. An unbeliever witnessing through a song to other unbelievers! God is so good! We finally decided that the reasons why camping tires you out so fast are: Smoke inhalation Sleep deprivation, and Physical exertion. Sounds very scientific doesn’t it? But really, all it means is: You inhale lots of smoke, you don’t get much sleep and you get lots of exercise riding bikes. A few things I really walked away with (literally) were some really cool shells from the nearby beach and a piece of slate. Something else I really walked away with (not so literally) occurred on our last night at the campsite. We were seated around the fire just staring into the flames. My mind wandered. That fire’s hot. Really hot. Imagine falling into it. Ouch. Imagine not being able to get out of it. Excruciating. Imagine being in that for all Eternity. Yet every day 150,00 people die. Every 24 hours. 150 thousand people pass from time into Eternity. 2 people every second. Gone. Forever. Where are they? Can I help that? What am I doing about it? We can’t stop people from dieing, and we can’t be everywhere to tell everyone the good news before they die. But we can “pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” You are one of those laborers. Christ called us and moreover commanded us to “go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” If you are in the army and the general tells you to do something, you do it, right? You act on the last orders until you receive word otherwise. Our General has given us a command. We act on it until He tells us otherwise. It ‘s a matter of obedience or disobedience. Which will you choose? |
Thoughts
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