Wednesday, June 17th, 2009
After a late start, and two stops back to the house before we got out of town, our camping trip settled into a peaceful and unspoken routine.
Paul and I will have been married 6 years in August, but we've known each other for nearly 12 years. Maybe this has a lot to do with how, once we arrived at our campsite, we just started unpacking with smiles and very few words. The tent was up in no time, and the rest of the unpacking and set up was effortless. Harmonious.
The kids were in on this, too. They joyfully took to playing in the dirt and running about the site as we prepared what will be our home for the next 3 days.
Paul and the kids fetched water while I finished organizing my "kitchen" area, and then he and Kassia went out for exercise, Kassia on her bike, and Paul running. Luke, Nadia, and I puttered about the site, enjoying the sounds of pure nature. At the time, there weren't many other campers around to see or hear.
Later, while Paul grilled the burgers for our supper, the kids and I walked through the woods and discovered a meadow. We played games of "find the stick Mommy threw way across the field" and "run around that pine tree at the edge of the meadow." I so wished I had my camera with me as the sun, low in the sky, highlighted the various blondes in the kids' hair and added an indescribable quality to their happy, dirty, sweaty faces. I think that it was maybe just pure, innocent joy.
Now I am reflecting on this beginning to our trip and I can't help but marvel how being out here seems to bring out the likeness of God in all things. Paul is joyful and without stress; the kids are happy even in pure exhaustion. It seems even that Paul loves me more when we are out here. But I know that these things are because we are here, away - as much as we can be - from the human side of life and a little bit closer to Eden. Stress is replaced by rest, worry and fear are overtaken by the awe of what is right here, right now.
It's harmonious, and I am thankful for the way that something as simple as camping can bring me to a place that feels within God's embrace.
Happy Luke, whose camping mosquito bites made me wonder briefly if he had the chicken pox.
It's beautiful when a family works in harmony.
After a late start, and two stops back to the house before we got out of town, our camping trip settled into a peaceful and unspoken routine.
Paul and I will have been married 6 years in August, but we've known each other for nearly 12 years. Maybe this has a lot to do with how, once we arrived at our campsite, we just started unpacking with smiles and very few words. The tent was up in no time, and the rest of the unpacking and set up was effortless. Harmonious.
The kids were in on this, too. They joyfully took to playing in the dirt and running about the site as we prepared what will be our home for the next 3 days.
Paul and the kids fetched water while I finished organizing my "kitchen" area, and then he and Kassia went out for exercise, Kassia on her bike, and Paul running. Luke, Nadia, and I puttered about the site, enjoying the sounds of pure nature. At the time, there weren't many other campers around to see or hear.
Later, while Paul grilled the burgers for our supper, the kids and I walked through the woods and discovered a meadow. We played games of "find the stick Mommy threw way across the field" and "run around that pine tree at the edge of the meadow." I so wished I had my camera with me as the sun, low in the sky, highlighted the various blondes in the kids' hair and added an indescribable quality to their happy, dirty, sweaty faces. I think that it was maybe just pure, innocent joy.
Now I am reflecting on this beginning to our trip and I can't help but marvel how being out here seems to bring out the likeness of God in all things. Paul is joyful and without stress; the kids are happy even in pure exhaustion. It seems even that Paul loves me more when we are out here. But I know that these things are because we are here, away - as much as we can be - from the human side of life and a little bit closer to Eden. Stress is replaced by rest, worry and fear are overtaken by the awe of what is right here, right now.
It's harmonious, and I am thankful for the way that something as simple as camping can bring me to a place that feels within God's embrace.
Happy Luke, whose camping mosquito bites made me wonder briefly if he had the chicken pox.
Are you camping where there's Wi-Fi? Oh I am sooo jealous! I always get stuck camping with outhouses...and no Wi-Fi.
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