Driveway Camping

Phil and I love to camp and have been tent camping with the kids many times. We have talked about how we would be able to go even more often if we had a pop-up trailer, as we wouldn't have to worry as much about weather and having tiny ones, or worry about me being uncomfortable when I am really pregnant, nursing, or both. We even went and looked at pop-ups, but didn't have enough cash to purchase a used one that was in good enough condition. We talked very briefly about taking out a loan, but decided that it didn't matter how badly we wanted it ... we were going to stick to our commitment to not go into debt. 

Recently we started really putting our finances in God's hands. We became very serious about tithing the first of our money every time Phil gets paid (we had not been very good tithers in the past) and about trying to make wise decisions with the material possessions God has entrusted to us. This meant we had to put aside the dream we had of getting land out in the country for now (we are NOT suburbia people ... we are both DYING to get back into the country!), as well as making a lot of smaller sacrifices. Getting a trailer was just one of them.

My mom sent me a text last month saying that she just bought a new trailer for camping. I half-jokingly said, "Cool! Wanna sell your old one!?" ... to which she replied, "We can talk about it." I talked to her over the phone and she said we could look at it and discuss it next time we came over. Sure enough, when we were over visiting, Phil went out with my Mom to look over the trailer while I was nursing Josiah. He came back in and sat down across from me in the living room with a strange look on his face. Once my Mom was out of earshot, I said, "Well ... is she going to sell it to us?" He shook his head and mouthed, "No ... she GAVE it to us!" 

As I type, Phil is out in the pop-up trailer with the older children, camping in the driveway!!  Phil is giddy ... he is like a little kid again! Camping means so much to him, and knowing that we can do it more often now has been a dream come true for him!

God is soooooooooo good! He knew the desires of my husband's heart, and what a sweet Father He was to bless him (and myself and the kids, too!) so generously!! Praise God from Whom all blessing flow ... including beat-up old campers!!!