Quarantined

Hello everyone, I hope your able to find peace and comfort during these times of unknown. This virus has changed so much for everyone. Our team is no exception. So we decided to do a little quarantine in the woods of the Ozarks in Arkansas. 

 

The plan was to camp in the woods for a few days to reconnect with God and unplug. The first 2 days we each went our own way and didn’t speak or see one another. Our intentions were to seek solitude. But before getting to the woods I purchased a hammock and a tarp. My first day out in the woods I open up my new hammock and realize it was a hammock mosquito net, not a hammock (rookie mistake). That would explain why it was only like 10 bucks lol. So with this new predicament I decided to make a bed out of wood. My entire first day was filled with hard work. I made my bed high enough from the ground that the rain wouldn’t effect me. My first night sleeping on my new bed was great! The second day I spent hanging out with God. We swam in the river and just hung out. I made a great meal over the fire and went to bed. Well, at around 2 am I hear the Lord tell me to get up and put my tarp up. I thought to myself “it’s not gonna rain, I’m going back to sleep.” He woke me up again and told me the same thing. I figured He was going to teach me something. So I get up to hang my tarp over my bed but I don’t have any rope. I knew there was a way to get this done. Around me was thorned vines. They were all over the place and quite frankly I hated these things. They seemed to always be in my way. They were ugly and I thought of them as a useless waste of green. But when it’s 2 am and I have no rope in sight these hateful little vines started looking different. I decided to grab a vine and slowly pick off each thorn. It was a slow process and it took me about an hour. After I stripped the thorns off, the vines became new rope. I was able to hang my tarp and be at peace. And that’s when I realized it. These vines that I dreaded and wished were not on the planet, became important. But they didn’t really change, it was me who changed. I had to put in the work to be able to use them and benefit from them. But it was my perspective that changed. With that, I thought “what else in my life do I see as a hindrance or a waste?” I’ve realized that I have so many things in my life that I consider a waste of my time. But I think I’ve just been looking at them with the wrong perspective. I know I have to put in the work and that’s ok. There is a reason there in my life. Now I can take a step back and think what are the thorns and what are the vines and how can I use them. 

 

I’m out of the woods now. We are staying in Checotah Oklahoma. It’s been about a week since my thorn encounter. I’m so grateful that I was able to learn from them at 2am. There will always be problems and issues in my life. But maybe if I start to look at them differently they can be used for my benefit. I hope this story was able to encourage you in any way. Right now we all have some thorns in our lives. But I know there is a way to use all things for good. Be blessed my friends and stay safe and in faith. Regardless of this virus or the next, one thing remains (check out Hebrews 13:8)

 

 

 

Here what my camp looked like 🙂