I am writing again because my energy has worn out from hauling old insulation and picking up apples and baking apple pies and overseeing apple sauce. I am so thankful for a healthy, strong, caring daughter who took over for me with the children so I could come rest! (And my eye is still teary from the dusty work yesterday!)
That same daughter was here under a piece of plastic a couple weeks ago, trying to keep dry and keep the fire going as we camped over Timmy's birthday.
Timmy asked to camp for his birthday, so after a week of traveling 90 miles one way to help in Denver with VBS several evenings and Sunday afternoon, we headed off from Denver to the mountains to spend Sunday night through Tuesday morning.
The biggest problem was that we forgot matches!
Undaunted, Timmy began whittling wood, and I searched high and low in the motor home.
In the end, we found the motor home's cigarette lighter which inserts into its slot and becomes hot enough to light a cigarette--or a tiny sliver of wood,which in turn lights a paper, and in turn kindling.
Starting a fire was further problematic since everything was damp from rain!
However, it was only damp, and it only rained a couple times, so we endured the fog and dampness as we enjoyed frying the fish the boys and Rose caught
(Rose bought a fishing license and the younger boys under 16 can fish without a license.) And we enjoyed picking wild raspberries and tiny wild strawberries.
There were some right where we camped! It was a special delight!
How we appreciated the sunshine Tuesday morning! Hannah had found one large edible bolette mushroom which we fried along with fish and toast and bacon for breakfast! It was such a nice morning!
Late Monday morning, after contacting Sam who was stuck in Kansas with Iva and her broken down car (as I wrote about in an earlier post), the rest of our family hiked to Beaver Falls.
It was a short, easy hike, and we were rewarded with this marvelous rocky waterfall.
Jonathan and I sat down a bit by the falls.
On one side of the boulder went rushing the great, noisy waterfall, while on the inner side of the boulder next to the bank flowed this little rivulet.
I couldn't help thinking about the words of Christ to the woman at the well, who came for her jar of water, and what He spoke later in the temple, "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
Rivers, not rivulets.
So what does "rivers" mean?
Rivers, not rivulets.
So what does "rivers" mean?
Rivers of super-spirituality?
Doesn't rivers of water gushing from your belly/heart/innermost being (depending which version you read) mean being a gushy, pushy evangelist/missionary/preacher/teacher who is super spiritual (i.e. gets up at 4 a.m. every single morning, prays for 2 to 4 hours, reads two or three chapters of Bible a day, fasts one day a week, attends services 3-8 times a week, shouts/screams/jumps/runs the aisles, wins many souls to Christ, evangelizes at prisons, bars, and street corners, and expects every one else to do .the same? 
If that is the case, my life and experience are indeed more like the rivulet...
a common, ordinary mom who had prayed that morning but hadn't finished her list;
had read her Bible that morning, but was done in 15 minutes on the front seat of the motor home while the others fished.
Just walked the trail with her kids and enjoyed the tiny, sweet mountain berries instead of fasting.
Would spend hours by the campfire later reading a book out loud to family that wasn't even a Christian book,
just one called Gaining Ground, a thoroughly fascinating and hilarious read about a young man's experiences while trying to keep the family farm and turning it into an organic, prosperous enterprise.
Just enjoying the quiet evening and sunset without pressure to perform spiritually.
Cooking fish and eggs and coffee for breakfast--oops, no fasting again. Oh, dear, this is getting to be very UNspiritual.
And shopping at two Goodwills in Cheyenne, Wyoming, while the rest of the family attends an event at Frontier Days.
Even more unspiritual.
Sounding more hopeless by the minute.
Even more unspiritual.
Sounding more hopeless by the minute.
"He who believes in Me."
"As the Scripture has said."
Sounds simple rather than super.
Sounds simple rather than super.
About HIM rather than about ME.
About the Holy Spirit instead of about a Holiness Superwoman.
There is a time for praying, Bible reading, fasting, rejoicing, shouting, going to church, witnessing and evangelizing.
But for weary moms who are camping with their husbands and kids, it's time to sit by the fire and read,
to enjoy the creek and the chipmunks and the wild flowers and the children.
That is the time for walks with Jesus
"while the dew is still on the roses," or on the bluebells, or whatever the case may be.
I love the simplicity of the gospel; don't you?
Rivers sometimes roar over rocks, but sometimes they glide smoothly and quietly.
Always, they are full of lots of water, certainly not trusting in themselves but just receiving the water from springs, fountains, glaciers and sources outside themselves.
Even so, we can't trust in ourselves to have any fulness in our lives. We must trust in a Source outside ourselves,
the Fountain,
the Spring of Living Water.
Jesus, I open my heart to You today! Fill me with Yourself!
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