Yearning for tents

I find it interesting that we spend our time and money camping.

Why am I more relaxed in a 28-foot rented trailer than in our 2,100-square-foot mortgaged home? What makes camping such an attraction?

Childcare area at Gathering 2006 Photo: Lorie Mayer

Could it be that we find it refreshing to walk to the bathroom in our pajamas with our hair undone, waving “good morning” to our neighbours? Is it that we love to whisper, or think we are whispering “SHHHHH” to our up-too-early toddlers?

Perhaps it’s the thrill of taking our bouncing babies to the park, all of us in our pajamas, so no one can hear their giggling and laughter at 6 a.m.

Maybe it’s the mental challenge of organizing our stuff: coolers, shoes, towels, life jackets, sand shovels, boogie boards, colouring books, bathing suits, chairs, chairs, and more chairs around our campsite. (The number of Rubbermaids alone reflects our large investment in camping, which we thought would be a cost-effective family vacation.)

Is it the bright morning sun in the clearing sky awaking us to the new day? Is it the waves hitting the untouched beach as we sip our coffee on the sand? Is it the warm wind, the rustling of leaves in the trees?

Perhaps it’s the fire dancing in the pit as we huddle and laugh at each other’s jokes. Maybe it’s our inhibitions lifting as we play games, tell stories, play hide-and-seek with aunts, uncles, cousins, even strangers, as the darkness comes.

Is it listening to the three-year-old ramble? Swimming, and swimming some more with the ten-year-old? Being beaten in tennis by the eight-year-old?

I’m amazed that we find ourselves enjoying what’s in our heart of hearts, here in the centre of a campground. We actively seek what God had our biblical foreparents do. God took them out of their Egyptian homes to live in tents, took them camping in the wilderness.

Did they enjoy the scenery? Did they laugh with each other and feel God’s warmth as they huddled near the fire? Did they stand in awe of God under the morning sky? What did their children do that brought them wonder and amazement? Did they take their blankets into the field and try to count stars as they gazed heavenward into the darkness of the night?

God knows. God knows so well – making the Israelites do what was best for them. Camping.

This one-week camping venture is a blessing. I linger over my breakfast outside as I long for my family to remember these moments – these God-given moments in our tent.

“How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob; your dwelling places, O Israel!” (Numbers 24:5).

Sharon Hooge lives in Calgary.