Tag: RV

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Comfortable in a tent

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Birk Enwald on Unsplash

A “through the bible” devotion from 2 Samuel 7.

Whenever we’ve gone camping, we’ve taken time to walk through the grounds to see the variety of trailers and coaches set up for the night or for a long stay. We were always the smallest kid on the team, setting up camp in a tent, pop-up camper, or small trailer next to the behemoth rigs. With five slide outs, some of those forty-plus-foot vehicles had almost as much living space as the first house we bought.

Dwarfed by huge coaches at an RV park, I struck up a conversation with one owner who was grilling supper. He told me they had to stay put for a while because he really couldn’t afford the fuel to drive anywhere. That didn’t sound like much fun to me.

One day King David decides that God needs something better than a tent. If he’s living in a nice cedar-walled house, God should have a nice place, too (2 Samuel 7:2).

That’s not God’s style. The Lord says, “Would you build me a house to dwell in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling” (2 Samuel 7:5,6).

God’s never had a house. His place was a tabernacle, set up wherever his people happened to be. The almighty creator of the universe was comfortable in a tent.

One day a descendant of David would build a house for the Lord. But for now, God has a better idea. “I will build you a house'” (2 Samuel 7:27). Someone from the house and lineage of David will always be on the throne of Israel, a promise that finds ultimate fulfillment in Jesus.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to do something for the Lord. The magi bring gifts. A woman anoints him with expensive perfume. Tearful friends wrap his body in line and lay him in a tomb. His followers offer themselves up as living sacrifices.

I just need to remember that God’s greatest desire is to do something for me. He wants to give me abundant, eternal life.

Posted in camping, Travel

It’s just for one night

Posted on by William Douthwaite

We were on our way back home after camping for a week at Lake Tawanoki State Park, just a bit west of Dallas, TX. I decided I wanted to try and drive a little longer on day one. After doing a little online research, I made a reservation at Askew’s Landing Campground near Edwards, Mississippi. It had mostly positive reviews and the woman who answered the phone was very nice, so I thought it would be fine for an overnight.

About half-an-hour west of Monroe, Louisiana, I got a call from the campground. The power company had been at work all week, and they didn’t know when power would be back on. If it were a little cooler, I would have considered a stay there. No AC in the boiling hot midsummer was not an option. I told her we would find another RV park.

On the way out we stayed at Ouachita RV park in Monroe. In expensive, pull-though sites, pretty clean and fine for an overnight stay. So I called them. Three calls all went to voice mail. So I checked of my Dyrt and Campendium phone apps. There aren’t a whole lot of RV parks out across I-20 in Louisiana and Mississippi. But I came across Pecanland RV park in Monroe. When I called them, they had a couple of pull-through, full-hookup sites available that night, so I made a reservation. Not many reviews online, but it was only $28, and it was just for the night.

Well, the sign was nice. The park was as plain vanilla as could be. Row after row of empty concrete pads. Further back were rows of well-lived in trailer homes. Two sites available? More like forty-two. I only saw one other rig parked. As my daughter would call it, sketchy. But the grass wasn’t too long, there was a tree near our site, and it was just for one night. I pulled in, hooked up, and everything worked just fine. Maybe all the other spots would be occupied later that night.

Actually, only one other person pulled in that night. They were driving a 26-foot UHaul truck pulling a thirty-foot trailer. After they pulled in, though, they left in their car and I never saw them again.

Our site was pretty close to a road that got very busy with truck traffic very early the next morning. Hey, I’m usually up early anyway. We unhooked, packed up and we were on our way.

Can you really say you’ve been Rv-ing if you haven’t stayed at a sketchy RV park?