Camping

In a near-suburb of Milwaukee myself and a friend camped out every summer, some in his backyard and some in thick woods on the edge of town.

Before that my family lived in the country, rural Wisconsin and always near woods. I played outside enjoying the trees, lakes, rivers and just being in fresh air most warm days and at times in the winter.

As I loved to hunt and on occasion fish I learned a lot about responsibility, the way animals and fish moved and interacted, and of course at times over the years I've camped as much as I could -or at least when thought it right depending on the call and work God had/has for me during various seasons.

Some of my pre-Christ-following campouts included various drugs, sex and general sin. By His grace I've been beyond all that for many years.

The scent and colors of Autumn woods have always drawn me, brought a sense of peace, comfort and pleasure. A camp fire, coffee or tea near-boil and a quiet piece of land away from the traffic, demands of people and at times accordion-like to-do list is a gift I've always appreciated.

Now there are those who for any number of reasons camp out in parks, under freeways, on the edge of cities where there are woods and basically places they can pitch a tent or build shelters with whatever throw-away materials they can procure. Note- in the richest nation on earth, camping is their refuge or in various cases the only way they might survive.

Whether addiction, mental challenges, worry and fears, whatever the issues, they likely don't share all the same experiences I enjoy in camping. And yet survival and independence with a few trusted or semi-trusted friends is something. Poor folks are the most resilient, creative people -and they have to be in any weather.

My primitive camping experience has been a good teacher. Then there is camping in state parks where often there is fresh water, toilets, even showers and so on.

So of course it all varies for a lot of reasons.

I write all this as my wife and I are about to camp for a couple days with part of our family in a beautiful park near Lake Michigan.

Grateful for the grace, I want to do what the Lord leads me to share, to extend that grace to others.

As always, thanks for stopping by. -Glenn