Finding Beauty in Life’s Messes (and Our Muddy Camping Trip)

My husband recently reserved a campsite in a nearby state park to take our daughters, ages three and five, on their inaugural camping adventure. As we headed out in his truck that weekend, loaded with all our gear and food for a cookout, I knew a lot of rain was in the forecast. Even so, with camping not exactly my favorite pastime, I went along for the ride with a fairly positive attitude.

Finding beauty in life’s messes

We got to the park, picked out a spot near both the creek and the public restrooms, with our barely potty-trained child in mind, and set up camp. As our girls and I hunkered down in the tent with all our stuff while my husband left to park the truck, I realized we had a problem—our tent floor was filling with water. Each time I dried a puddle with an old towel, a new one appeared in its place.

At first I thought the tent window was leaking. But when my husband returned, we realized water was pouring straight through the roof. Our bags were getting wet, our clothes were soaked, and I was ready to pack up and go home. But the kids wanted to fish, so we stayed a while. My attitude rapidly went downhill.

“Can we go home now?” I asked my husband.

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