Camping in the Cold

Every so often, I get an e-mail from Todd Wilson, the "family man" in Indiana. He and I have a few things in common. He is a homeschooling dad and he also has his own ministry called FamilyMan Ministries. His e-mail yesterday struck a chord with me, so I thought I would share it here.

Hey Dad,

Spring is here! It’s nice to feel the warmth as we tool down the road in the Familyman Mobile. Actually, the RV does well in the cold. All you have to do is make sure you have plenty of propane and everything stays nice and toasty.

So you can imagine how cold we were when we ran out of propane about 2am one 35-degree night in the middle of a Wal-Mart parking lot.

Actually, if I completely covered myself with all the covers it wasn’t too bad…but I knew the kids had less blankets than my wife and I did.

“They’re tough,” I thought to myself, “and they’re kids…they like the cold.”

From underneath our makeshift tent, my wife mumbled, “Put our comforter on the girls.”

I hesitated, hoping she’d think I was asleep…or frozen to death.

She didn’t buy it, and a few minutes later my girls were snug as two bugs.

In the early morning hours, I slipped out before everyone was awake and picked up a little space-heater (reason #238 of why it’s good to camp at Wal-Mart). As I set up the heater, Katherine (10) looked at the nice, cozy comforter tucked around her chin and said, “Thanks, Dad, for giving us your comforter.”

A twang of guilt moved in my heart. “I hope it made you feel warmer,” I responded.

Silence followed, and then she looked into my eyes and asked, “Were you cold without it?”

I smiled hoping she wouldn’t know the ugly truth - that I didn’t want to give it up, but she asked the question again. Her adoring eyes and tone in her voice told me that she was really saying, “You gave up your covers for ME? You were cold so I could be warm? I can’t believe you love me that much.”

She loved me for my sacrifice…although I didn’t want to make it.

That’s the kind of love my wife and children really want. The sacrificial kind. The kind that misses a business meeting to have lunch with them, turns off the ballgame to play a game, or gives up one of my comforts to bring comfort to them.

Here’s the truth: Greater love has no father than this, than a dad gives up his comforter for his kid.

So, I’m going to look for things that I can willingly (or not so willingly) sacrifice for them…because they’re worth it.

Go and do the same.

You ‘da dad,
Todd

PS – To check out the latest RV blog, go to http://familymanweb.com/rvblog.htm

I too have known those cold nights. One time, we had taken our church youth group camping in the mountains. It was our first trip with the group and we went to a campground that they picked out. I knew we were in trouble when we hit the Fraser River valley near Winter Park. Fraser has a long standing reputation in Colorado's backcountry as an icebox. All the cold air from miles around settles in the valley and lowers the ambient temperature by at least 10 degrees.

We got on a forestry trail and followed it in the direction of Byers Peak. When we stopped, I knew that we were still in the valley and the night would be cold and long. It wouldn't have been so bad, but we had taken our 4 month old daughter with us. We put up camp and I slept or dozed until about 1 a.m., when my daughter's cries and my wife's complaints about the cold made me realize that there was no way we would make it through the night.

I emerged from the tent, my flashlight illuminating my frosty breath hanging in the night air. I got our hearty assistant Mark and told him I had to take my wife and daughter into town to search for shelter for them. I drove them out the forestry road to the highway and searched one town and then another. Every room was booked. Finally, I remembered Camp Chief Ouray, a YMCA of the Rockies camp. They had everything from campgrounds to sparsely furnished hotel rooms. I found it and booked my wife and child into it. We got them in and cranked the thermostat. I knew I had to head back to our camp, but I grabbed a hot shower to help counter the night's chill. In the morning, we all crawled out of our tents.

"Where's your wife?" one of the kids asked. Apparently, she could sleep thought an ice age.

"Remember what I told you about Alferd Packer?"

"Yeah, right."

"Acturally, I took them to the YMCA camp. It was just too cold for my baby girl."

"Why didn't you stay there?" another one asked.

"Someone had to keep an eye on you guys." In truth, I knew that if something went wrong that night, I wouldn't be able to explain why I was sleeping in a cozy bed, miles away from where I had left the kids. It was not an easy night, but sleeping bags, even those rated for freezing temperatures, feel much better after a hot shower, especially if you don't tell anyone about it.