Camping Dreams

Yesterday I was on Facebook and I saw a post that my cousin had put up with a picture of a vintage camper. It is so cute!

 

 

If I thought that we could have a camper as cute as this I would suggest that Eddie and I go buy one in heartbeat. It's amazing what one can do with an older camper. When you see pictures of vintage campers, it's hard to see beyond the age to visualize something that would be this inviting.

 

Several years ago, Eddie I owned a fairly large van. We love to go to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and this one particular time we decided to take the van and rent a space in a campground. So, that's exactly what we did. We didn't have anything to cook with, we just rented the space to sleep there, and there was a small restaurant at the end of the road where we had planned to go and eat breakfast.

 

I was surpised at how comfortable the van slept. We laid down the back seat of the van and it made a nice wide bed for both of us. Eddie is 6 feet tall and it was long enough that he was able to sleep comfortably too. The only thing was that sometime in the night I had to pee and I had to walk to the building to use the restroom. That wasn't fun, walking in my pajamas half asleep to a building to use the restroom. I told Eddie I would just go outside the back of the van and use it there. Ha ha! He said, "You can't do that. There are people walking around out there." I said, "Surely not at this time of the night." I finally decided to give up and go to the building to use the restroom and, sure enough, there was a man walking around out there. He wasn't threatening at all, and I'm assuming he was going to the restroom too.

 

The next morning, we were awakened by the smells of coffee brewing, bacon frying and we were about to starve to death!  When we woke up we saw people around us cooking over campfires and on little cookstoves and I have to say I was extremely envious, wishing we had brought something to cook with because it really looked like fun.  We had to get up and drive the van to that restaurant to get something to eat. We decided that the next time we did this, we would bring things to cook with, but somehow we just never did it again.


Now that I'm retired, we probably could go camping, but would we? I'm wondering if I love the "idea" of camping more than actually doing camping itself? Am I really interested in camping or do I just want to look at the pictures of cute campers and wish we had one and just dream about it? For one thing, campers do require maintenance and when you go camping you have to hook it up, put the awning up and various physical things that at this point, I'm not sure Eddie could do. He had bypass surgery last August and he is still not able to do heavy lifting. Yesterday we went to Walmart and to buy cat litter. We usually buy the 25 pound bags of litter because they last awhile. We bought 3 of them and I guess we must both be wimpy or weaker than we used to be because it took both of us to lift the 25 pound bags of litter and take them into the house. So, I would love to try camping again, but I'm reluctant to make the commitment at this point until I'm sure that Eddie can handle the maintenance and setting up of it. We have thought about getting one of those popup campers, but I would have to see some cute ones decorated to get me interested. I would guess that a popup wouldn't be as much maintenance as the smaller pull along campers like in the picture above. So, for the time being, I will look at pictures of cute decorated campers and dream about having one and camping in it.  I've been doing image searches on Google for cute decorated vintage campers and here are a couple more pictures that I found.

 
 

Forgiveness

Today I felt led to post some Bible verses and quotes on forgiveness:

 

Psalm 103:8-12 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

The Christian’s Attitude of Forgiveness

Matthew 6:14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you (attitude: forgive because you love the Lord)

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (attitude: can love cover it?)

2 Corinthians 2:5-8 Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. (attitude: stand ready to forgive)

Galatians 6:1-2 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. (attitude: approach gently and stand ready to restore the relationship)

Ephesians 4:31-32 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.(attitude: loving and forgiving just like God forgave you)

Christian Quotes About Forgiveness

“A forgiveness ought to be like a canceled note, torn in two and burned up, so that it can never be shown against the man. “ ~ Henry Ward Beecher

“Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.” ~ Corrie Ten Boom

“Man has two great spiritual needs. One is for forgiveness. The other is for goodness.” ~ Billy Graham

“Forgiving and being forgiven are two names for the same thing. The important thing is that a discord has been resolved.” ~ C.S. Lewis

“To err is human, to forgive, divine.” ~ Alexander Pope