A Redneck Takes His Two Daughters Camping and...

I want order in my life. This doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy spontaneity in my life from time-to-time. You couldn’t have lived in my house growing up and not appreciate daddy’s spontaneity. As a matter of fact, one Friday night when I was probably in the fifth or sixth grade, daddy said, “Let’s go camping.” I don’t remember what time he said this, but Lori and I jumped at the opportunity because daddy assured us we’d have fun, and he told us of this place that had a rope that we could swing over the bayou and jump in. SOOOO, we threw our things together and hopped into the truck and left. Mom had better sense and stayed home. We didn’t check the weather. We didn’t need directions because daddy knew where this place was. I’m sure we stopped somewhere to buy junk food for the weekend, and I’m sure we listened to music and laughed all the way down there. Ever heard “ignorance is bliss?” Yep, it’s going to be like that.


As we were unloading the truck, it started to sprinkle. No big deal. He assured us we weren’t made of sugar. We wouldn’t melt. We got the tent set up in the rain, and by the time we got into the tent with our things, it was a MONSOON! The wind was whipping the walls of the tent in and out. The rain was beating down on the top of the tent. AND THERE WE SAT. As the storm got worse, we became more and more alarmed. Did I mention we didn’t check the weather? Daddy made an executive decision. We were going home. It just wasn’t safe to be under these trees in a tent in the lightning and high winds and pouring rain. SOOOOO, we load our things back into the truck in the monsoon. Somewhere there is a Polaroid picture of the three of us with stupid grins on our faces, drenched to the skin, wet as a dog. We shivered the rest of the way home. The next morning when we got up, we heard on the news that a tornado had gone over us on Dorcheat Bayou (or however you spell it). A TORNADO! Yes, spontaneity can be fun. It can be exciting. It can be an adventure, and I wouldn’t swap my adventures for anything, but there is something to be said for order and peace.

While meditating on the creation and studying the creation, there is something that caught my attention, God didn’t create His menagerie of animals before He created the earth. He didn’t create the birds of the air before the trees were established. He didn’t create plant life before there was light. He didn’t do things all willy-nilly. He didn’t wing it. 1Corinthians 14:33 says, “since God is not a God of disorder but of peace.” Where there is order, where there is God there is peace. Do you have order in your life? Is God an active part in your life? If you do, then you know of the peace that passes all understanding (Phil 4:7).

Spontaneity has its place in life, but I want the core of my life to be peaceful. Even in the roughest of storms in life, we can have peace knowing that God is in control…WE MAY NOT BE IN CONTROL (which is an illusion and misnomer anyway), but He most definitely is in control…if we allow Him. So, do you want that peace? Do you want order? Seek God.