“God has always blessed us, I don't know why, but He has!”

“God has always blessed us, I don't know why, but He has!”

 “yet he has never left himself without clear evidence of his goodness. For he blesses us with rain from heaven and seasons of fruitful harvests, and he nourishes us with food to meet our needs. He satisfies our lives, and euphoria[a] fills our hearts.”

Acts14:17 TPT

Today marks the 2 year anniversary since my Grandpa Miller passed away.  It brings back so many feelings and memories. I loved him so much and so did so many others! One memory it has brought back this morning is something he used to always say to us. Which was something along these lines, “God has always blessed us, I don't know why, but he has!” He always got choked up when he said it. Had bad things happened to my Grandpa & Grandma? Yes, they had a death of a baby, they went through many times of cancer and broken bones and surgeries. But he chose to see the blessings and not complain. I will always remember that about him. 

It seems funny to me that this weekend, of all weekends, we chose this one to go camping as a family. Growing up, that is something that we ALWAYS did with my Grandpa & Grandma, every summer!  And what a camping adventure this was! 

Our family decided to go to Spirit Song Festival at Kings Island this year, but hotels were just way to expensive, so I had an awesome idea. “Lets tent camp! It will be fun” I said!  As Sprit Song drew closer, the weather forecast became worser (if thats even a word). So we decided to go a day early so we could get the tent site set up before it started raining. We got to the campground and it was a beautiful evening.  We were even able to make Smores and have a failed attempt at making popcorn over the fire. 

Then bedtime came, and so did the adventure! It decided to start sprinkling, but it was bedtime, so no big deal. But then I made the mistake at looking at the weather radar. What we had to look forwad to was rain and STORMS ALL NIGHT LONG! So we got into our tents, Bryce & Sarah in theirs and Jason and I in ours. The rain and wind began to pick up and before we knew it, Jason and I began getting sprinkled on…. in our tent! We thought maybe the wind was blowing in the rain, so we closed the windows, but still, we continued to get sprinkled on! As the rain turned from a sprinkle to a down pour outside, the intensity of the “sprinkles” picked up inside too. At this point it was midnight and we could not sleep! Then, when we think it surely can’t get any worse, the thunder and lightening started and woke up Sarah in the tent beside us! At that point all Jason and I could do was just look at each other and laugh!  There was not much we could do t that time of night, we were pretty much “sitting ducks”, so we just covered ourselves up as much as possible and finally went to sleep around 2:00!  We got maybe 4 hours of sleep that night! 

We woke up the next morning and the rain had cleared and we were ever so grateful! We even made a big breakfast with our propane stove!  Things were beginning to look up for us and we were excited for the full day at Kings Island.   Then we go to start our van and it doesn't make a sound, not even one light came on! DEAD BATTERY! Add that to the list of things that can go wrong when you go camping! REMINDER do not leave your trunk open when setting up a tent site!!!!

We finally got to Kings Island and even though there was a 100% chance of rain, we were hopeful for the best! The kids got a lot of rides in and were having a blast! Then the heavens decided to open! Fully open!!!!  A Flood Watch was even issued until midnight. At that point, as I was walking back to our van my hope and joy were washed away with the torential down pour! My poncho was no longer “ponchoing” and I WAS SOAKED!!!! I was not a happy girl and I just wanted to cry! Then Jason began talking about back up plans and looking for a hotel for the night. Which was a smart idea, but all I could think about was the money we had already paid for our tent site and how we were going to pay for a hotel for 3 nights.  But, reluctantly I began to look at hotels and I almost book 2 different ones, but something kept holding me back.  

Everything was in our tents at the campsite and we didn't know what it was going to be like when we got back. Finally, Jason got me calmed down and we started thinking clearly. We decided to go back to the campsite first and survey the damage, then go from there. As we pulled into the campground, I knew it was God because I wasn't rational enough in those moments. The campground was supposed to be sold out, but I told Jason why don't we go to the office and see if there any openings came available for a trailer or a cabin.  Praise the LORD, a trailer was available for Thursday night and Friday night! And even better yet, they would transfer the balance from our tent site to the trailer site! 

But the adventure wasn't done yet…..now it was time to tear down our tent site….in a torrential down pour! From all the rain, our tent site was a mud hole! By the time we were done, Bryce & Jason looked like Rambo and I was soaked, even more, if that was possible! I wish I had a picture for you all because IT WAS HILARIOUS!

I can look at this camping experience and see UTTER DISAPPOINTMENT and one chaotic moment after another or I can look at it and chose to see the blessings. God showed up with a blessing, many blessings. Even when I was pouting, cranky and all my joy was washed out, God still showed up with blessings! Things could have turned out even worse for us. 

As we were sleeping snug in our beds in our cozy camper on Thursday night, listening to the rain pouring down and thunder and lightening outside. All I could do was thank God for His blessings!  It reminds me of what my Grandpa Miller used to always say, God has always blessed us, I don't know why, but he has!