A Family Camping Trip

We decided Memorial Day weekend was a good time to introduce our Little Miss to a long-time family tradition....camping. Well, it's a long-time tradition in Hubby's family, and now ours. I am not what you would call a seasoned camper. I come from city-folk and only camped for the first time after I was married (and only once since, although I do enjoy it). Fortunately, Hubby comes from a long line of campers and is himself somewhat of an outdoorsman.

His family owns some river-front property a couple hours away that they've converted into a private campsite. (I told you they were campers!) It seemed like the perfect place to initiate our Little Miss to the world of camping. Little Man and I were feeling a little under the weather, so while we joined in the daytime activities we slept at Grandma and Grandpa's a couple miles away.

I was curious how my princess-in-training (who sometimes doesn't like to play outside because of the bugs) would handle this initiation. We prepared for full-fledged camping...in a tent...overnight, but had a backup plan. To be honest, I fully expected to see Little Miss and Hubby on Grandma's fold-out couch the next morning, but I didn't! She slept all night in the tent and LOVED IT! Hubby said she was up at 5:45 ready to go fishing! I believe we have ourselves a little camper, folks!

Helping Daddy set up the tent.

Getting the fire going for dinner.

There's nothing like a campfire dinner...yummmm!

Little Miss's first s'more!

Fishin' with Daddy

Her first catch

Little Man in the boat

Grandma and Grandpa even joined us for a hot dog roast for lunch!

Thanks Aunt Joanie for letting us use the campsite, and thanks to Uncle Andy for all his hard work fixing it up!

Finding an Unseen God

A few months ago a friend of mine introduced me to the book Anonymous by Alicia Britt Chole. At the time all I know about Alicia was that she had spoken at the women's conference at our church a couple of years ago. I was unable to hear her speak then, but I heard great things about her.


I got the book and started reading it, and...wow! It is definitely a must-read for anyone who has gone through (or is going through) a time in life when you wonder what happened to the dreams you once had, will they ever be fulfilled, has God forgotten about you, or any reason for wondering what God is doing in the midst of your life. I am still going through the book--slowly. There is so much to "chew on" that I find myself having to take breaks from it and really internalize what I've just read.

I was so impressed with Alicia's writing style and her ability to genuinely communicate such deep, theological concepts that I visited and thoroughly devoured her web site and blog. I also recently had the opportunity to hear her speak and to meet her. She is just as genuine and amazingly passionate in person.

Alicia has an amazing story about her search for God and equally powerful story of her struggle to bear children, including her choice to trust God and His provision in giving her three gorgeous children. She chronicles her conversion from stoic atheist to devout and passionate follower of Christ in her latest book, Finding an Unseen God. I've not yet read it, but from what I know of Alicia and her writing, I'm sure it's captivating, challenging, and poignant.


I highly recommend either of these resources (any of her resources actually), and I am looking forward to reading Finding an Unseen God as soon as I finish my journey through Anonymous. I hope you will visit her site and check out her resources. I'm sure you'll find something there that will touch and challenge you.