Camping

Simply Sunday: 06

It’s Simply Sunday.

I just got home from a weekend of camping at a state park with my family. My crew of 2 adults, 3 kids, and 2 dogs make my life feel like a wild adventure, anywhere… but especially when we all share a tent.

No “glamping” here (but if that’s your style, I totally get it!); instead, we all shared one very large tent, in the name of family adventure. Some of you are wondering how in the actual world that idea could possibly sound like fun, I know… but there we were, welcoming summer with arms wide open to outdoor adventures.

The evening weather was perfect, and the kids (and dogs) delighted in a sunset lake swim before we settled in with hotdogs and marshmallows roasting over a fire. The stars were brilliant, and I kept noticing all the fellow camping neighbors around us… they ranged from older couples in fancy campers with all the bells and whistles to young college kids who were there to party. Were these people here to connect with each other and nature, or to escape the noise of the world back home? Maybe both. There’s always something that draws people out into nature, though the reasons vary. No matter the differences between our camping neighbors and their journeys, there we all were - out there under the same big sky, depending on the lights of glowing fires to pierce through the darkness.

The weather forecast had showed a slight chance of rain, so we pulled our rain cover over the tent before the campfire died down for the night… but we instead got a full blown, Oklahoma summer thunderstorm as our 3am wake up call. (That was only after some campsite neighbors decided to blast their music until midnight… but who says you’re supposed to actually get a full night of sleep when you tent camp?!) 🏕️

We awoke to claps of thunder, flashes of lightning, and gratitude that we had put the rain cover over the tent. This was no calm summer rain; it was a torrential downpour. The wind whipped through the tent, but the stakes were solidly in the ground (well done, Mr. Peek!) At one point he and I looked at each other wide-eyed across our shared air mattress, silently questioning what our threshold was for staying vs. sprinting to the Jeep, loading our crew up, and heading out to safer structures. In the end, we decided to ride it out. The stakes held, and we remained dry inside our tent despite the storm around us.

It was a wild night, but we stayed.

Eventually, the thunder faded and just before dawn a calm rain lulled us all to sleep. As the sun rose, we were greeted by a flock of wild geese gleefully announcing the arrival of a new day as they set out on the lake, unbothered by the chaos of the storm. We emerged from the tent to find our swimsuits and towels strewn about the campsite… because we had left them out overnight to “dry”… tell me you’re an optimist without telling me?!

There is something about weathering a storm together that brings deeper connection. I overheard other campers in passing exchanging greetings and saying, “hey, we made it!!” as they looked around at the aftermath of the storm. My own kids, clearly sleep deprived, asked if we could “do it again.” I found myself laughing uncontrollably at one point… of course, we had planned our first summer camp out on the night it stormed. Of course, we had decided to bring our dogs who have storm anxiety. Of course, I had left our things out to “dry” overnight. Of course that slight chance of rain had turned into a full blown storm that my family will remember forever. Of course.

Not all storms in life leave us devastated, though some certainly do. All storms eventually pass through, and if we are anchored in solid ground next to our closest support people, we can sometimes remain until they pass. Other times, we have to move to safer ground. No two storms are the same, and many storms don’t leave us laughing and able to say, “let’s do it again.” But some do.

We all camp in this world in very different ways, but we are all out here together… just trying to make the most of each beautiful sunset. We are all just out here trying to survive in the wild. The more we can remember that about our neighbors too, the better we can weather the storms alongside them.

Next week, I will resume my neighbor stories in my series, “Dispensing Welcome in a World that Prescribes Walls.” But for today, I’ll just be recovering from our wild family adventure.

I hope you take a moment today too, to rest and camp with your thoughts wherever you are… to look up at the moon and marvel at the stars. To breathe gratitude to our Creator, and to anchor your stakes.

The storms will come, that is a guarantee. But if we can hold fast to our divine anchor, and link arms with the people around us, we just might be able to emerge together and say, “hey, we made it!”

Camped out,

Dr. Peek

P.S. Who would like to loan me their fancy camper for my next family adventure? ; )