Let me tell you a story of how my Prayer Closet came to be.
Years ago, my husband KD and I had a pop-up camper. We took all 5 of our children camping in this pop-up, and many great family memories were made. We are a blended family of biological and adopted children and camping was one of the greatest catalysts for bonding us as a unified family.
A little more than 10 years ago, I surprisingly found myself to be pregnant at the age of 45. We were soooo excited but knew we had a lot of baby equipment to buy since at that time our youngest was 11, going on 12, and the baby stuff had long been dispersed to younger families. The only thing we had was that camper… so we decided to sell it to afford all the accessories that go along with a new little one. Our older children were 15 to 19 so we knew camping wasn’t going to be happening as often anymore. Baby’s needs were more important.
The camper would not sell. We had it very nicely priced and it was in excellent overall condition, minus the nickel size hole in the awning from the exploding tomato… a story for another day. Try as we might we couldn’t sell it… we had a few lookers, but no takers.
About 6 months into the pregnancy, my Dr. became concerned that the baby wasn’t developing right, and fearing a Trisomy-18 she sent us for further testing. The same day the tests came back negative for the trisomy, the baby stopped moving. We went in the next day, and it was confirmed that she had gone on to be with Jesus. Much heart ache and grieving throughout that time… but that also is not the reason for this post.
The very next day… The pop-up camper sold. As soon as the man called on the phone, which was the same day we had been told our baby was no longer alive, I knew that this was God’s provision. Instead of baby paraphernalia, we would need to pay for a funeral, and deal with the aftermath of losing our baby girl. I have never forgot how my loving Heavenly Father took care of our needs in the darkest time of our lives. Painful as dealing with that was at that exact time, …it was necessary, as I couldn’t work for a while, and the selling of the camper took off a bit of the financial burden so we would be able to deal with the grief in our lives without the stress of money worries also.
Trust me, that this sad event of losing our precious daughter has shaped me in so many ways, but that also is not the point of this post. I’m sure it will come up in other posts over time. (Update: Here is the link to a post I wrote about losing our little Victoria.)
Fast forward 10 plus years. We MISS camping, my husband and I. We have always dreamed that one day we would be able to get another camper. Well, that day arrived this summer, quite unexpectedly. Friends had bought a 5th wheel last year, and hearing their tales of going RVing made us just want it again so much. Not a big RV; just another pop-up or small travel trailer. We began to pray more in earnest for it, and planned for perhaps in a year or two, God willing. My personal goal besides just good empty-nesters fun & travel with KD was that it would be a great way of spending time with the Grandchildren, one on one. Our oldest grandchild has just turned 10, a mere 6 months younger than my baby would be.
He is healing for my heart, I always tell him, and he knows why. 🙂
Well, we were going to look at a brand of camper that had a model we thought might suit us; small, lightweight, and the best of both worlds for us older folk who don’t want to do the work of raising up and lowering a pop-up every time we go camping as we get older. We were just looking for our future planning, as the model on their lot was too heavy for our vehicle. Lo and Behold, on their lot was a used camper, just a year old, perfect – in every way that we were looking for! It had just arrived on their lot, and because it was used (BARELY! If at all!) we got it for an amazingly awesome price that we could afford. Its a hybrid, so the 2 beds pop out the front and the back… like a pop-up, for that wonderful camping feeling. But, its enclosed so it’s enterable year round.
Hence, my prayer closet. SERIOUSLY! I go in the mornings, with my cup of coffee, Bible, notebook, and prayer list, and come before the Throne of the Almighty. My car used to be my main prayer closet as the commute to work was at least 30 minutes, but that part of my life has changed in the past couple months. Hence, my new quiet place is now Rover, the Camper.
Another timing miracle about all this is that the new camper was not in our budget just one month prior to us getting it, but then our youngest son found a new job that provided him with his own health insurance. We got a boost in our monthly income because we weren’t spending it on insurance for our 22 year old. God is so good, and His timing is better than our own could ever be!
I know this is just a material thing, and I am a very content person with not wanting “things” normally, but I do believe this answered prayer has bigger, more eternal purposes in its future. My grandson is looking forward to his first camping trip, and without going into detail, I think that will be an answer to his unspoken prayers also. As a prayer closet, it really ministers to something peaceful and quiet for me as I embark on this new journey of blogging, and say goodbye to doors God has recently closed.
My husband teases me about my new prayer closet, and says… “don’t forget, it’s really our camper” …but I smilingly think that’s just the second or third reason God gave it to us.
Only eternity will really tell.
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