a weekend away

I spent the weekend camping in Hoosier National Forest, right outside Indiana University in Bloomington, IN. The trip in took a long time. We had to hike between a 1 and 2 miles to find a good campsite, and we started hiking at night. We set up camp, and ate dinner and went to bed by 10pm. It wasn't the most comfortable sleeping, but there is something so beautiful about sleeping outside and hearing the crickets, and then hearing the birds in the morning. What WAS freaky was that deer would walk around their campsite at night so I constantly heard footsteps, all night. Creeeeepy! Saturday morning Stacey and Kelly left around 9am to go get water and hike around. And I spent all day with God. It was pretty scary. I had never spent 8 1/2 hours in solitude. Just me and God. But it was precious and intimate. I hiked a 7.5 mile loop that day. That night we ate dinner and made s'mores. I was in my sleeping bag by 830pm that night. It was so cold and at night there is nothing to do, and it gets cold so the solution is to get in the sleeping bag to warm up. I was in my sleeping bag for almost 12 hours! We didn't get up until 8am the next day. I would have gotten out sooner but it was so dang cold out! We ate breakfast and then packed up, and hiked out the opposite way...about 6 miles out. We stopped in Bloomington for lunch, which was so amazing.

The weekend was so good. It was so amazing to just get away from life and civilization. This weekend taught me so much simplicity. I didn't wear any makeup, shower, or do my hair. I didn't have a mirror. I just brushed my teeth and put deoderant on. Let me say how amazing my shower was when I got home. We camped in such an isolated area. This weekend made me realize what is really important: spending time with the Father away from distraction, food to survive, a shovel to dig a hole to...you know, and a good sleeping bag and tent to keep warm at night. It was such a simple weekend, it was so beautiful. But it did make me so incredibly grateful for a warm house, a bathroom with a toilet and warm shower, and a comfy bed which I cannot wait to sleep in at night. But honestly, roughing it this weekend was a little tough, but it was soooo amazing.

The Father just was telling me to remain in His love. Always. And so often we forget about Him. I realized Sunday morning I went almost 2 hours without even thinking about my Lord. It broke my heart. I want to remain in His love always. That's all I need. That is life. That is real life that He offers. That's how I want to live.



getting ready to go


in my sleeping bag, it was so cold at night!


See the trees sway