This weekend we took a little camping trip as a family. It was the first time we camped with Remi and she did so wonderful. She really loves being outside, so she was in her element. We had not been camping in over a year and I truly forgot how peaceful it is.

There had been some scattered storms earlier that day. By late afternoon it all cleared up making the weather unbeatable. I’m talking sunny and 75. After we put Remi to bed, Colby and I sat around the campfire eating smores and talking.

I feel like there is so much noise at our house. So much distraction. The television or music or a podcast is always on. We live on a pretty busy street, so I don’t get to enjoy “peace and quiet” very often in my house. There is always noise all around us. But, when we were camping, it felt quiet.

We were at a campsite with plenty of other families, so there was still noise. It just was not the kind of noise I am used to. It was the sound of families bonding and siblings growing closer together. The sound of people actually talking to each other instead of a television talking at them. Colby and I were able to sit and reflect on our marriage, life and relationship with God. It was a beautiful time of quieting the external distractions and listening to the internal beating of our hearts.

When I was going to bed that night, I asked myself why we couldn’t have more nights like these? I even tried to plan another camping trip for this coming weekend because I enjoyed our campfire talk so much. Also, we have more than enough smore supplies that we should utilize before it goes bad.

Anyways, why does it take loading up the car and driving an hour away to get quiet? Why does it take a campfire to bring about meaningful conversation? How can we rid ourselves of the daily distractions to feel the same calm as when we are camping?

I hate to say it, but we watch a lot of T.V. in our house, so one way I want to find that same camping quiet is doing one night a week where we do not turn on the T.V. We used to call this date night, but now with a little baby it is called family night. One night a week we play board games or have a fire in the back yard. Just try to create a space for genuine conversation to develop.

Last summer, we camped on our move from Alaska to Missouri. I was pregnant and stressed out about moving that it was hard for me to enjoy sleeping in a tent in the middle of summer. When the road trip was over, I did not appreciate camping the way I used to. You can only pee in one of those bottomless campsite bathrooms so many times before you miss the sound of a flushing toilet. But, after a busy year without camping, I totally see the necessity of getting out in nature, setting up a tent with your husband, and eating smores around a campfire. These are all things that bring us closer to God and closer to each other.

I want every night to feel like a campfire conversation night. I get that we can’t ALWAYS have those nights because we have other things going on in our lives, but this weekend was a good reminder that we need to prioritize those nights.

“He stilled the storm to a whisper, and the waves of the sea were hushed.” Psalm 107:29 (CSB). God came and hushed the waves of constant distraction this week. He allowed nature and fellowship to combine in a beautiful way so His presence was known in that quiet.

Camping is just another way to see God work through His creation to meet us in our busy lives. We are able to sit in the stillness and quiet and let God speak to us or speak to others in God honoring ways. It is time to turn off all the noise of daily life and sit around loved ones like you do at a campfire and just talk. And make smores.