God’s Provision for Camping

Do you see Him?
I look.
every.where
all.the.time

I watch for God and I see Him.

I mentioned that Joy encouraged me  several months ago to “Go!” and “Do!”
I signed up for a camping trip,
but I just wasn’t sure how I would finance it.
Money is tight and I couldn’t run out and buy everything I needed.
I needed
– a single-person tent (our tent is a four person)
– a sleeping mat (as a buffer between the cold ground and my sleeping bag)
– a lighter weight sleeping bag (easier on the back when carrying a long distance)
– a filtering-water bottle (because you can’t carry 36 hours worth of water in your backpack)
– convertible pants
– hiking boots that I could comfortably hike in for two full days.
These things can easily add up to several hundred dollars.

Even though I had no idea HOW these things would come to me,
I signed up for the trip in faith
and watched for provision.
If they didn’t come, I would bow out at the eleventh hour
and assume that God didn’t want me on the trip.

I have to say that I felt a kind of urgency in going on this trip. I’ve wanted to take an overnight, backpacking trip for years and years. Several years ago, I shared that dream with Stone. He told me that we would take a trip like that … but we parted ways before it came to fruition. I can’t go on a trip like this ALONE .. because I am not experienced and female. It would be foolish.  And I don’t have many friends …. ANY friends that camp like this. So, when one was posted on one of my Meet Up groups, I knew it was now or … who knows when?

So, I signed up in faith
and waited to see how things puzzle-pieced together.

I had a borrowed backpack. It belongs to Glory. We picked it up at a yard sale for $2 several years ago. This style – with an external frame – is not really popular any more, but I saw great benefit in using it. It helped distribute the weight inside well. It sat up off my back a little bit so it was not as hot as  backpack-style gear. And, of course, I loved the price. 

I remembered about two weeks before the trip that I had two options for a tent that might possibly pan out. I gave away a small pup tent several years ago.  I called the person I believed I had gifted the tent to see if I could borrow it. I also loaned our larger tent to a friend and her family a while back. I contacted them to see if they could return it. I was considering cutting that large tent and sewing it into a single-person version. I wasn’t sure if I could pull this off … but I really wanted to go on this trip.

When the couple showed up with the tent several days later, we stood in the driveway to catch up. We chatted for quite a while before they asked me about the camping trip I was planning. I told them of my idea to convert the big tent into a smaller one. Jocelyn asked, “Well, how much does a tent like that cost?” I explained it could run between $30-$50.00 I had done a little research on Amazon to get prices. Little did I know a lighter weight, small tent is much more … especially in a local, brick-and-mortar store.

We finished talking and my friend and her family left ….
only to return about thirty minutes later to put two $20.00 bills in my hand
with a hug and a squeeze.
“Enjoy your trip,” she said as she dashed away.
I’ve learned not to refuse God.
I was so blessed to receive this gift!
“One step closer,” I thought! “Praise you, Lord!”

When I stopped by my other friend’s house, she had a tent in her front yard. It was drying out from a camping trip a week earlier. It was actually lighter weight than the pup tent that I had given away a few years ago.  They happily loaned their tent to me. And they had a sleeping mat, as well!

So, I still needed a water filtering system.

I was surprised at how expensive they were. They average between $59.-$125.00. I did lots of price comparisons and settled on this $30.00 option from Cabelas. 

As I walked in the store on Sunday, I was one of the first 100 customers in the store
and I was handed a gift card
for $10.00. 

I teared up
and almost broke down in sobs.
Really, Lord? Cash? AND a gift card?

I had a backpack, a tent and a water-filtration system.
I had an answer (that I wrote about here)  for how to make the hiking boots I already owned work for me.
And I found a way to buy a pair of pants that should have cost me $45.00 …. for only $30.00. (I wrote about that here)
I also learned (here)  how to pack my backpack in a way that it was so light that carrying a more heavy, older sleeping bag wasn’t a burden at all.
Everything I needed had been provided in some way.

You know what I am really, truly enjoying about divorce?
I don’t look to my husband for provision.
I have always looked to God …
but I’ve looked to God T.H.R.O.U.G.H  the filter of my spouse.
Since that “go-between” has been removed,
I am no longer distracted.
And I’m so much more at ease.
It might not have worked for me to camp.
I would have been sad, but not devastated.
If I couldn’t do, I would have assumed that God didn’t want me on that trip …
and I would have been okay with it.

But, I watched Him piece it all together for me.
He offered me adjustments in a few areas,
loans in other places
and outright gifts for other needs.

As I walked those trails
and looked at His glory in creation,
I knew I was supposed to be there
soaking it all in ….. enjoying every moment,
because He had made a way.

What a blessing.
What a gift.

Watch for Him today – this week – this month.
Follow your heart.
When doors close, don’t be angry. Maybe it is protection of some sort?
Yet, when doors open and provision comes along,
walk through those doors
and bask in His provision and glory.