I honestly can't believe I'm saying this, but I went camping this summer for 4 days and actually enjoyed it!
Anyone who knows me will be amazed by that statement, as I've spent most of my life avoiding the outdoors, especially when combined with sun and heat. To say I don't do well in the summer is to put it mildly. More accurate would be to say I loathe the heat with a fervor unknown in my life in any other respect; the sun and I have been bitter enemies since my earliest memories of the outdoors.
However, camping for a week turned out to be a pretty fun experience. I went with my church youth girls' group as an adult leader. This was certainly not my idea of a good time, but I did say yes when they asked me to go so I suppose I'm as much to blame as anyone for the dread I felt in the months and weeks leading up to the camping trip. I was (thankfully) not the one in charge of planning the whole operation, but I was involved in a lot of the planning and preparation, which only increased the bad taste I already had for camping.
About a month before the camping trip began, I decided I needed to do something about my fear and dread and so I began to pray for help to change my attitude (and also for cool weather since my main problem with camping - aside from bugs and dirt - is heat stroke anyway). My belief in the power of prayer and faith was reinforced and in fact strengthened when, about a week or two before the camping trip, I found myself inexplicably looking forward to the week I was to spend out of doors, without my bed or my shower. I mentioned my excitement to my husband who was similarly shocked by my new attitude. And to add more to my faith in Deity answering my prayers, we were slated for abnormally cold temperatures at the campground for the week I was to attend.
The morning of the day I was to leave for camp, I got up early and loaded up my last few things before leaving. As I was about to leave the house, I was hit with a multitude of fears for the weather, my ability to stand the temperatures, transporting other people's children in my husband's car for 2 hours on a drive I had never made on roads that twisted and turned in a car no longer equipped with power steering (this made me so nervous my knuckles were white for most of the drive), the fact that I've never enjoyed camping before, and the daunting task of being semi-in-charge of 20 teenage girls for 4 days, most of whom I didn't know. Tears of distress and fear trickled down my cheeks as I woke my husband, asking him for a priesthood blessing before I left. He readily agreed, and through that blessing I was again reminded of the concern God has for me and the extent to which he knows me personally. The words of the blessing were such a comfort to me, as I was blessed to find strength and courage to do things I didn't know I could do, and to know my own limits and not to overstep them. I was given courage and comfort by my Father in Heaven that helped calm my nerves as I left the house.
Over the course of the week of camping, I learned to build and extinguish fires, cook over a camp stove and dutch oven, and pitch a tent. I formed bonds with the other leaders and the girls and gained a love for the outdoors I didn't think I'd ever find. I spent most of the mid-day hours in the shade with a cool bottle of water, and only twice did I have any trouble with the heat (and both times it was caught early on so I was able to resolve it quickly). My early mornings were spent kindling fires and heating water for hot chocolate. The late nights were spent extinguishing fires, washing dishes, and cleaning up camp. Certainly camp was more work as a leader than I remember as a youth, but I'm thankful for the chance I had to attend, and for the skills I was able to gain. And most of all I'm thankful for the chance it gave me to exercise my faith and be reminded of the love my Heavenly Father has for me as his daughter. He knows me better than I know myself, as evidenced by the fact he trusted me enough to send me camping in the first place. :)
For more information on my church and my beliefs, visit www.lds.org.
Here's a picture of the first fire I built all by myself, Thursday morning (my 3rd day at camp).
