Traditions: Camping
My husband grew camping on the Buffalo River. He is good at camping. He has always loved it. He has all the gear and know-how to make a camping trip successful. For Tucker, camping on the Buffalo River is not just about a camping trip . . . it’s the whole experience. He gets giddy when the road begins to wind and we lose cell service. His face lights up when we drive past the first official scenic overlook, where the sky opens and all you see for miles are the Ozark Mountains. I think his heart literally warms up when he sits around a campfire.
In college he started a tradition with a small group of his friends. Each fall break they would load up, drive to Arkansas and float/camp the Buffalo. I’ve known Tucker since 2011. I’ve been married to him for over five years. This year, I finally got invited on said sacred camping trip :) Guess what I learned? I am not good at camping. I loved the beautiful scenery but my allergies did not (I’m allergic to grass-- so yeah-- it was tough). At the risk of sounding totally basic or spoiled, I really don’t enjoy sleeping outside. Yes, the stars are beautiful out in the wilderness. Yes, it’s peaceful at night, but I could hear armadillos scuffling around and coyotes howling. I am totally secure in knowing that I am not a camper. I’ll shout it from the rooftops. Even still-- I felt so loved being included in a tradition that brought him so much joy.
While I didn’t love sleeping in the great outdoors -- I LOVED sitting around the fire with our dear friends celebrating the end of a wilderness season in our life. We laughed ‘til we cried, toasted to the good and bad times and encouraged each other. Moments of community like that make me feel closer to heaven . . . I’ll remember it forever and tell our kids about it for years.
In Joshua 3-5 you can find one of my favorite stories of God’s faithfulness to his people. Just as the Israelites were delivered from Pharaoh by the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, the Israelites end their 40 years of wilderness wandering by miraculously crossing another body of water, the Jordan River. God instructs Joshua to erect a monument built of stones taken from the Jordan . . . they mark the end of a difficult life season with a physical reminder. . . a story of God’s provision to pass down for generations.
“19-22 . . . And then he told the People of Israel, “In the days to come, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What are these stones doing here?’ tell your children this: ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry ground. 23-24 “Yes, God, your God, dried up the Jordan’s waters for you until you had crossed, just as God, your God, did at the Red Sea, which had dried up before us until we had crossed. This was so that everybody on earth would recognize how strong God’s rescuing hand is and so that you would hold God in solemn reverence always.” "
The Bible is FULL of stories about God’s faithfulness to his people. If you look a little bit closer you’ll also see that it is full of traditions and customs put into practice to commemorate the legacy of God’s deliverance and faithful provision after a season of “wilderness wandering.”
Traditions are the stone monuments in our lives. Built, put into practice and passed down to celebrate God’s unfailing grace. Building traditions into our lives to celebrate God’s faithfulness isn’t just for our time here on Earth. It’s practice for eternity . . . the greatest celebration of God’s amazing grace and faithfulness until the end of time.
So, who wants to go camping with us next year?
