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FULLY EQUIPPED FOR THE JOURNEY<\/strong><\/p>\n While reading a short devotional recently (Jesus Calling<\/em> by Sarah Young), I came across a statement that captured my attention. As you may know, she writes this devotional from the perspective of what Jesus would say to her on any given day. What caught my eye was this:<\/p>\n \u201cLet Me prepare you for the day that stretches out before you. I know exactly what this day will contain, whereas you have only vague ideas about it\u2026 I will not show you what is on the road ahead, but I will thoroughly equip you for the journey.\u201d<\/p>\n Immediately, my mind went back to years of wilderness camping with my husband Dave. He should have been born with a tattoo that said, \u201cBe Prepared!\u201d His idea of a really great summer vacation was to spend two weeks planning and preparing, 10 days in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area of Canada, and another two weeks cleaning up and packing away all the equipment.<\/p>\n Now, understand that we\u2019re not talking about the kind of camping you do in a lovely RV in one of those civilized campgrounds. Oh, no! That would be too simple! We owned 8 canoes and about a dozen tents, to say nothing of all the cook kits and miscellaneous things you need for wilderness camping! We planned meals, gathered dehydrated foods, packed containers of meals, pots & pans, sleeping bags, tents, life jackets & paddles, canoes, and an average of 35 teenagers!! We drove about 12 hours to the outfitter on the Gunflint Trail and proceeded to load it all into our canoes and paddle for 28 miles (two days) to our lovely campsite in the wilderness. Cooking on a fire, sleeping on the ground in a tent, fishing, swimming, washing dishes in the lake\u2026sounds like fun\u2026for some of us!<\/p>\n Before we left home on that 10-day adventure, Dave had a vague idea of all the things that could possibly happen to those kids while in the wilderness, 100 miles from the nearest hospital. He anticipated every remote eventuality and planned for it. He trained as an EMT-D and worked on an ambulance to be ready for any medical emergency. By the time we were ready to load the canoes, we had packed absolutely everything but the kitchen sink\u2026.and a pot big enough to serve as that! Because I had no idea of the ropes and tools and equipment we might need, I was frustrated with having to drag so much along with us.<\/p>\n As I remembered with a smile, I realized that sometimes our journey through life is a lot like preparing for a camping trip with Dave! It seems that the Lord is so thorough about the tools, gifts, and spiritual training He pours into us that we want to say, \u201cEnough already! Do I really need all this?\u201d The answer from His perspective would be, \u201cYes, you really do need all this preparation for what I\u2019m calling you to do.\u201d<\/p>\n As I look back over my life (and it\u2019s been a rather long one), I can see that God has equipped and prepared me in a variety of seasons with many special tools. While I had only a vague idea of what my life might hold, God knew every detail. The Scripture says in Ephesians 2:10 that God has created good deeds ahead of time and intends for me to walk in them. The last piece of my equipping to lead a ministry for widows was my most difficult. But here we are\u2026.each of us prepared and fully equipped to walk in those things God has already laid out for us!<\/p>\n
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