You know, I have had two great weekends in a row. Oddly enough, I have been out of town for both of them. I hope this isn’t a trend. 🙂

Camping this weeking with many folks from my church was so much fun. I had asked for a cabin because I wanted to make sure that my wife was more comfortable. Normally, she and I would be in a tent, but the pregnancy is causing some back pain by itself.

You have to realize that she is used to real camping on the boundary waters of Minnesota. By real camping, I mean, carrying the tent and supplies, hiking several miles, cooking on fire or Sterno(R), and all kinds of real ‘roughing it’ activities. By comparison, we took a hotel vacation.

One of the couples brought a ton of stuff – gas grill, lots of chicken and potatoes, lots of other food, a motor scooter, etc. This family tirelessly serves our church through their overwhelming generosity. On the first morning, when I couldn’t cook on charcoal very well, they graciously offered their grill. Other couples brought a meat and a side dish. Some brought dessert items, others salads of all kinds, etc. We had any kind of grilling meat except buffalo and other exotic meats. I suppose those will emerge if we ever have another BeastFeast(tm). In any case, we brought hamburgers, hot dogs (all beef), brats, and pasta salad. There was food available for everyone.

The first night provided a good campfire – apparently I missed the hour long process to get wet wood to burn. I’m told that the firemakers in our camp resorted to using bug repellent soaked twigs to get the fire going. The circle of chairs provided an atmosphere of easy conversation. It was good to talk to folks outside of the formal church context. With the pregnancy, I haven’t seen folks like I used to, or been over to their homes fixing computers. I mean that, but I feel I have gained so much more than I lost.

Saturday was a day of activity – my wife and I went canoeing on the Loup River. Friday night provided an intense thunderstorm and rain so the river was high and fast. I have never steered on a canoe before, but I figured it’s not that different from a sailboat or any other manner of boats I have run in my time.

I was wrong.

However, my wife and I had a great time bonding and drawing closer together through a two hour canoe trip. We stopped at one point to eat lunch. Not having an anchor and wanting to use both hands to make sandwiches, I held on to a branch on one of the banks with my big toe. I know, we could’ve grounded the canoe and got out, but where’s the fun in that? I have a picture of this, so I can verify that I am not exaggerating or making this one up.

Saturday evening was leisurely and fun. Lots of goofiness around the campfire. If I ever hear the song “Throw Another Log on the Fire” again, I may have to resort to violence. Although I have not seen Napoleon Dynamite, I have heard the entire movie quoted. I am apprantly not the only Monty Python fan as we quoted the Grail and Life of Brian and made up our own Pythonesque things.

My wife and I also had a very positive and life-changing talk that night. I feel like I am being a good husband when I can encourage her in a powerful way. It is also encouraging to reflect on what it means to belong to our family and the family of believers. It fills a deep need when you know that you belong somewhere in the universe – and discussing that will only strengthen the bonds between my wife and me.

Saturday night’s lesson on God as Fire was inspiring, especially with most of us huddled aroudn the campfire. Sunday’s lesson was also wonderful – it was an exposition of Philippians 3 dealing with righteousness that comes from faith vs righteousness that comes through self-effort. It was a message that I truly needed to hear.

Church was fun. The camp had a chapel on the premises. On Saturday, a wedding took place. The chapel used to be a Methodist church. In fact, we sang out of Methodist hymnals (including a new song) the entire service. The building wasn’t much in the urban sort of way. It was more barn than church. Their were no walls, you could see the two by four’s of the walls laid bare on the inside. Behind the altar was a big square window with a view of the sky and trees behind the church. At sunrise, the sun would make its way up the window shining light through the cross and onto the pews below. It reminded me of going to church growing up. I even rang the bell to start the service, something I did often at the Stumpy Point United Methodist Church. When asked to share a Scripture, I read Psalm 139. It is my favorite psalm as it reminds me of God’s goodness to me and the formation of my yet unborn child. I choked up reading it. John 17 was read twice, it just shows me that the Spirit works well when planning is not overdone.

All in all, my wife and I had plenty of time for romance, fun, fellowship, and relief. It felt good to get out of town again. I didn’t use a computer for two and a half days, something that I know is good for me. In any case, I returned with increased love for my wife and family and friends. Considering this wasn’t a retreat, it sure felt like one.