This week was Sukkot or as some people call it, the Feast of Tabernacles. I was really looking forward to going up to the mountains and having a week of excitement, but it was actually a week of resting and enjoying YHVH’s incredible creation! Most of my fellow campers worked during the day, so I would have the entire campsite to myself, to think and praise YHVH for His presence. In the evening, when everyone returned, the fun would begin.
After the Bible study, I was excited to spend my first night in our tent. Night one, I shared the tent with two of my friends, Sofia and Ruth. I thought it was going to be hard to sleep, but after putting my earphones in and dabbing some Serenity oil on my temples, I was out like a light and didn’t wake up till gone 10am!
The first two days were the quietest because they were weekdays. While everyone was at work, I spent most of my time in Ryan’s hammock, napping or read my new book, Black by Ted Dekker (definitely a book I would recommend). It was great to have some quiet time before talking the night away with everyone who turned up.
If I wasn’t in the hammock, you’d usually be able to find me sitting by the fire talking to Jacque’s step-dad, Dwayne. We had some great talks and he gave be some really good advice about my guy friends. He showed me that to some of my guy friends, I could be like a dangling carrot in front of a bunny, tempting but not for touching. When he said this, the thought really stuck with me and I kept asking myself if I was really tempting my guy friends. I made it a point to remember to talk to them about it, but that wouldn’t happen until next week.
One of the great things about the place we were camping was that there was no phone signal around camp. You could get wifi by the bathrooms, but I didn’t want to spend my days around there. I found myself forgetting about my phone and enjoying the nature that was around me and the peace that came from the empty camp. Even in the evenings, when everyone came back, I couldn’t help but be in awe of the wonderful things YHVH had created!
Most of the people started turning up Thursday and Friday night. We went from being fifteen people to over forty! It was awesome to have a full camp, and even better to be surrounded by people I can now call friends.
When everyone was sitting around the fire or taking shelter from the rain, we played the game Mafia. Mafia is a great group game that makes you strategize and trick those in your group. Depending on the size of the group you can have one or more Mafia’s (killers), one doctor (who saves), one dentist (who silences), one sheriff (who accuses), and multiple townspeople (who are trying to reveal who the mafias are). The object of the game is either to win as the mafias, killing all the people without being caught; or winning as townspeople, who find all the mafias before they kill everyone.
The first time I played Mafia, I was killed during the first round because my friend Caleb knew that I would suspect him. However, by my fourth game, I was the last mafia standing and I was very close to winning. Unfortunately, I made a bad move and lost, but that didn’t make it less entertaining.
My favorite part of Sukkot was the last night, Saturday night. It was freezing, due to the rain that had come the day before, but that didn’t stop us from having the best time. During the Shabbat service, everyone huddled together with blankets, trying to keep warm. When the meeting was over, the gang and I went back to the warm campfire so we could feel our fingers again.
Once warmed up, Jacque invited me to go get ice cream with her, Ryan, Hunter, and Paul. At first, I didn’t want to go since it was far too cold to eat ice cream; but I didn’t want to be left at the campfire without them, so I tagged along. I had the best time! We ate ice cream in the warmth of Ryan’s car and listened to some thought provoking rap music.
It was really nice to spend time with everyone and get to know them better. Throughout the week, I forced myself get out of my shell and join in with the others in order to be less introverted, and I’m so glad I did! I had so much fun laughing with everyone and chilling in the car while listening to some music. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I was a part of something, and it felt good.
When we returned to the campsite, nobody wanted to leave the car because it was so warm. We probably stayed in the car an extra thirty minutes, until we were so hot we needed to cool down! Walking back to the camp, the cold caught up to us quite quickly; but we were talking and enjoying each other’s company too much to notice.
Back at the campfire, Justin and another group had just come back from stargazing. Justin’s friend Aaron and I immediately started talking about the constellations they saw, and when he mentioned that they’d seen the swan, Cygnus, I got very excited it. Cygnus is my all-time favorite constellation and was dying to see her again!
After warming up, again, and eating some marshmallows, Aaron and I grabbed a blanket and made our way to the field to look for Cygnus! Ryan and the others followed us up, but they went into to Ryan and Justin's cars to sleep and keep warm instead of joining us in the cold field. Aaron and I, however, braved the cold and began stargazing.
While looking at the stars and watching for shooting stars, Aaron and I were in constant chatter about life and hobbies. It was really nice to get to know him and I’m really happy I can call him a friend.
That night, I stayed awake until 4am! The chocolate, marshmallows, and a couple sips of an organic energy drink definitely helped keep me going. I was amazed that Aaron and I lasted over an hour in the freezing cold, but we soon warmed up when we jumped into Ryan and Justin’s cars. Aaron fell asleep with Justin and Paul in Justin’s car, while I tried to fall asleep in Ryan’s car with Hunter, Sofia, Jacque and Ryan.
Ryan's car was quite cramped so I couldn't sleep, but I was highly entertained with Jacque and Ryan’s banter. Jacque was super hyped up from the ice cream and energy drink that she didn’t want to sit still or listen to the Mozart-like music Hunter was playing. She was also very hungry and demanded to get food. After fifteen minutes of going back and forth with ideas, Ryan and Jacque finally made the decision to see if Justin was awake so they could take his car to get food.
At this point, I got out the car with them so I could go to bed in the tent. I left them to figure out how they were going to get food and made my way back to camp. I think Jacque, Ryan, and Paul stayed up until 6:30am that night!
When Sukkot was over, I couldn’t have been happier. I had really enjoyed myself, but I was ready to sleep in a solid bed and have a nice hot shower. However, the second part didn’t happen because the boiler in the house I’m staying at, broke! Humph.
As this week approaches, I’m praying that the boiler will be fixed and that the questions I’m going to ask one of my guy friends are going to be taken correctly and not backfire. It’s been so nice to be off my phone this week, but now it’s time to take a stand and tell my friend what has been on my heart this week. Please pray it goes well!
Proverbs 25:11-13, “The right word at the right time is like a custom-made piece of jewelry, And a wise friend's timely reprimand is like a gold ring slipped on your finger. Reliable friends who do what they say are like cool drinks in sweltering heat - refreshing!”