Mountaintop Experience

It was the best idea EVER. My dad came up with it, and it was brilliant. My Nana, who lives far too far away, was going to be in Gatlinburg, TN all this week. We had planned on camping this month anyway, so he thought it would be a great idea to surprise her by camping there so we could see her for a few days.

Great idea?! BEST IDEA EVER!

I love surprising people, and this was no exception. We even decided to keep it a secret from the kids.

So, after many long weeks of preparation and trying not to blow the lid off our diabolical plot, it was time to leave.  We woke the kids at 5:45 on Saturday morning. We had mostly packed the night before and had made the finishing touches before waking them up. We bid them "Good Morning" and told them to grab their blankets, pillows, flip flops, and sneakers and hop into the van.

Little Ryan was confused because it was "still night outside." Destiny asked if there was a fire. Emily asked if the war had started and we were fleeing to the woods to live off the land.

I eased their minds and told them we were going on an adventure.  They begged to know where we were going, but we kept the lid on tight.  Josiah created wonderful, personalized scavenger hunts for each of them which really helped keep them occupied on the eight hour trip.

Finally, we pulled up to Jellystone Park...and it was raining.  "Oh...we're going camping," the girls said with a marked lack of enthusiasm, but seeing Pawpaw putting the tent up at the site made it all better. "OH!! This actually makes sense now!" Destiny exclaimed.

"I don't go camping without The Master," I said.

After a bit it stopped raining, and getting the site together got a bit easier. Josiah and Destiny hopped in the car to go get some condiments, and an hour or so later my dad got the call...

They were on the side of the road. It sounded like the transmission was out.

*INSERT OMINOUS DOOM MUSIC HERE*

I won't bore you with all the details - we needed to have the transmission rebuilt. Sounds like a crappy vacation huh?

Nope.  It was awesome.

As soon as Dad left to go get Josiah and Des off the side of the road, I turned to God in prayer. I can't always say that has been my first response to apparent tragedy, but it was in this case, and God is SO faithful.

Not more than 5 seconds after I lifted my head from praying Emily said, "This must be a Christian campground.  There's a big cross on the playground equipment."  I told her I thought the owners were indeed Christians because I had seen a scripture in the pamphlet they gave us.  I pulled it back out to show her, and the verse I saw (but hadn't paid enough attention to the first time) almost brought me to tears:

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,

 the Maker of heaven and earth.

~Psalm 121:1-2~

And then, I thought of one of my favorite verses: Philippians 4:6-8, and just as that verse promises, as I handed my burdens over to God, He gave me the peace that passes all understanding.

My help came from the Lord.

We saw His mighty hands time and time again during the trip:

• When Josiah broke down, he pulled over into a parking lot...an auto repair parking lot...the only one for a 10-20 mile stretch. 
• We got to spend some wonderful time with my Nana, her sisters Janie and Lorene, my dad, and even a couple relatives I hadn't met before.  We even got an extra day!
• My dad's air compressor wouldn't blow up our air mattress because the coupling didn't fit, but our neighboring camper helped us out, and it was exactly the pump we needed.
• My kids snuggled with one another to keep warm at night in the cold mountain air...it's the closest they've ever been.
• We were very blessed that one of our relatives could help us pay for the repairs (we'll be paying them back, of course).
• He made us stop.  Instead of going, going, going, we were forced to stay. We roasted marshmallows and hot dogs over the camp fire, sang while my dad played guitar, went on walks, and simply enjoyed one another's company and God's beautiful outdoors. 
• When we needed to stay an extra night, but Dad had to get back (and most of the camping gear was his), the wonderful people at Jellystone Park gave us a cabin for the price of a tent site (which means they gave us just about half off the cabin rate).
• We woke up Wednesday morning to rain...so we snuggled in the cabin and ate leftover pizza in bed (we ordered it the night before - which was picked up with the help of more wonderful neighboring campers.).  We played cards and got ice cream in the game room, and the sweet lady who works in the office put on Smurfs for the kids.

We were well taken care of each and every step of the way.

As my Aunt Janie would say, "It's a 'God thing.'"

We're home now, safe and sound. The van is all fixed, and we had a camping trip none of us will ever forget...one that could have been miserable had we not turned our eyes to God and trusted in His provision.

We lifted our eyes to the mountains. Our help came from the Lord.

Fanning smoke

Phinehas likes camping!

Somehow I managed to NOT get a picture of my dad!! :( However, most of this stuff is his.  

See the cross next to Ryan?

                         

 

Great Nana FINALLY got her hands on this baby!

My Nana and her sisters, Janie and Lorene.  Three beautiful ladies!!

We roasted dogs...ya know...hot dogs. :)

People were indeed shorter just over a century ago...or they ducked a lot.

Pizza in bed

Cabin #3 :)