The Best Place on Earth

It never seemed idyllic like this.

This week as I was typing in my journal I caught myself recording this: I live in the best place on earth.

In those few moments, I really felt that way! And then I started laughing.

Our family has moved around a fair bit. If not to a different town or city, to various residences. In some I’ve felt instantly at home. But others … not so much. 

Those “others” include various kinds of structures two hundred fifty square feet, or smaller, in size. These abodes have required me to spray myself with copious amounts of bug repellent, and sometimes my living space as well. Yes, historically camping, in any form, has been a huge challenge for me. I was born, and bred, a city girl. In fact, if given the opportunity, I often thought I’d prefer a life with servants, swimming pools, and living large like a movie star. Alas, that wasn’t where I was plopped out, but I never complained about being a city girl.

Strangely, however, God wanted me to experience the simpler things in life, so I married a man who craved ground sleeping. I went along with it because of the infatuation, trying my best to lie, and say it was fun.

I’ve written a few of my “Laugh at Life” articles that explain the woes of my forced camping experiences. They involve anything from the time my husband, myself and our three small children nearly froze to death in North Dakota, to the skunk that favoured our family the most, to the night the tent zipper broke, and I freaked out thinking the bears we'd seen that day would enter more easily because of it. (I will never live that down, BTW). I’ll just say—there have been things said, and done, that I’m not proud of. Why? Because “roughing it” to a city girl means sleeping on a hotel cot, instead of in one of the beds.

Years later, I began complaining about purchasing a camper that sat only thirty minutes away from my beautiful home--the one that held central AC and close to no insects. At that time, I may have also mentioned (too often) how it made no sense having two places to clean, stock with every supply needed for living, and then cook in a cube comparable to the size of an EasyBake oven. 

But God has a tremendous scope for humorous irony.

Fast forward a couple, or three, decades. Interestingly, I've recently experienced moments when, in possible shock, I've found myself feeling more content. Of course, we've updated the camper, which is what city people do when they want to think they're still camping.

When we uprooted, and moved four hours away from where our camper sat, little did I know that I’d soon have a different attitude toward this. Now, three years later, I love and appreciate this small home-away-from-home on a whole new level. Well, that’s a lie. I didn’t appreciate what I had for all of those previous years, so I’m only loving it now.

When I come “home” for the nearly five warmer months we spend here each year, I realize what I should have many years ago: I do live in the best place on earth.

What prompted those words in my journal a few days ago, was this: I’d had the opportunity to sneak a live video of a female moose with her twin calves. They were chomping leaves close to our camper. I’ve never been a huge wildlife fan, but seeing this up close and more personally, made me think, “The bugs are worth it, and I've finally learned the secret to effectively cooking here.*(see below) Anyway, I guess I didn’t see what was right in front of me.”

If you ever feel as if you’re in the wrong place, or you’re not enjoying where God has appointed you to be right now, I totally get that. I suspect most people aren’t always content in the state of which they find themselves. Admittedly, I’m no Paul either. But … I suggest taking a closer look. It may not be a moose in your backyard, but don't wait for so long (like I did) before you see the best in your situation.

I decided to write this today, because tomorrow if we experience an ant infestation, or the AC quits, I may not feel so optimistic. But, God knows what He’s doing—even if He’s laughing louder than me.

And lets face it … we can’t all live in Hawaii.

If you’ve read about the life of Paul, you may feel humbled, as I do, when reading this verse. Oh how I’ve so wanted to feel content—even in a tent without a zipper.

Philippians 4:11 (NASB1995) “Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.” (He was in jail right then.)

Very Warmly (partly because it’s warm outside now), 

Pattie Janzen

*The secret to camping and cooking: buy your husband a grill and present it to him like a new toy. (Kidding. He wanted one, and he's willing to use it.)