This weekend was a camp out with a group of friends and people from my church. I really loved seeing my friends, and getting to know some new friends. The more I go camping, which isn’t very often, the more I realize that I am not meant to camp.
First of all, the ground and I do not get along when it comes to sleeping. Thankfully this year my air mattress did not deflate. I still woke up sore every morning.
And I woke up so early! When you’re in a tent, it’s hard not to wake up with the sun. And the birds. And anyone else in the camp. Which would have been fine (maybe) if I had gone to bed when it got dark. But no, we stayed up sitting around the fire sharing stories. And others stayed up even after I went to bed, so I could still hear them. This year, I was tired enough to crash pretty hard when I went to bed, so that wasn’t as much of an issue.
Outhouses stink. I don’t think these had been emptied in a VERY long time. The camp site we were at was putting in actual washrooms, but they weren’t quite complete. So instead, the building taunted us from behind the construction fencing.
I don’t warm up easily, so being cold is not fun for me. It rained on and off all weekend. I lived in my sweater coat. All weekend.
I’m lucky there were other people to start the fire, and that my husband looked after the cooking. I appreciate him so much!
I know. I’m spoiled. When I was a child, my grandparents lived on a lake. We never went camping. We just went to Grandma and Grandpa’s house, and slept in real beds, cooked in a kitchen, and used the bathroom with running water whenever we needed to.
So why did I do it if it makes me miserable?
Because of the people. There were some people there that I love, and I don’t get to see them as often as I would like. Good friends from the Mainland that I admire, and mentors from the US. I was able to sit with these people and talk with them and learn from them in a way that I am not able to at larger gatherings.
And there were people there that I had never met before that I am extremely grateful we had the opportunity to meet and talk. We planted the seeds of new friendship.
Growing in my spirituality and my ministry is important to me. Extremely important. So I will make sacrifices and do things that are out of my comfort zone in order to learn and grow.
What do you love (or want) so much that you are willing to make sacrifices to achieve it?
Blessings,
Mary
I am camping right now and I am doing it solely for my family although it’s beautiful it is challenging. Our outhouses are clean but still smelly. And trekking to a cafe with wifi is still mandatory!
I feel you! I am a princess camper, I need to have the flush toilets and hot showers. It was lovely seeing you for the little while i was there but it makes me yearn for a church retreat at a spa hotel;-)
We need to make that happen… *wheels are spinning*
I loved your posting! Being outdoors and spending time with the people I love in the outdoors is very important to me socially and spiritually… however, I’m also of an age where the ground is an uncomfortable bedmate, the bones ache when I get cold or the weather is damp, etc. I have found that a little pop-up camper does wonders for the body/comfort related camping issues and leaves me in a much better frame of mind to enjoy the people I love and the beauties of the outdoors. I have a tiny one I can tow with my toyota matrix, no kitchen or bathroom fittings in there to save on weight (I do cary a “luggable loo” and cat litter for situations with really nasty latrines), but it gives me a dry spot to sleep, keeps the ground damp off, and if it’s raining, we all pile in and play cards on the bed that turns into a table. All this being said however, I think the spa retreat sounds wonderful!