A Campfire by the Lake

   The miles continued to fly by as I walked North toward Maine. One night I met a couple of college age girls who were camping close to a lake. I had planned on hiking farther, but stayed and visited with them for a while. With their permission, I decided to camp with them by the lake. It was beautiful looking across the still water as the sun set through the woods. The girls asked if I could build a campfire and I obliged.

   You would think that I built a lot of campfires while hiking the whole Appalachian Trail, but I didn’t. I had my tiny backpacking stove which was efficient in cooking everything I needed. Besides, cooking over a campfire put soot all over the outside of my cooking pot. That’s not bad for a weekend, but for five months it’s a pain. But for that night I made a campfire. 

   We sat beside the fire as the light slowly faded away. We talked as the stars gradually made their appearance in the sky and the moon slowly rose to greet us. We could still hear the night sounds of the woods and the lake as the fire popped and crackled in front of us. As the fire died down and began to softly glow, the two girls bid me good night and went into their tent. I stayed by the fire lost in thought as the coals slowly died down into grey ashes.

   I realized that I had a lonely walk, but I was not completely alone. I met many friends along the way, like these two girls at the lake. And I was never completely alone because I knew that God was with me always. As I stretched out in my sleeping bag to go to sleep that night, I looked up into the starry sky and marveled at the wonder of creation and the majesty of The Creator!