“Enlarge the place of your tent…” (The Bible: Isaiah 54v2)

Enlarge… Dream BIG. Don’t let fear and anxiety hold you back. The bigger your tent the stronger the

ropes and the pegs you need as we don’t want the wind in the storm ripping up our dwelling place.

To live and expand - strength is required. Be brave, have hope.

In January, 2005 I arrived in Sri Lanka to engage in post tsunami work. I had been to Sri Lanka many

times before and had a fair number of local friends. My aim was to assist in the post tsunami

recovery work. I ended up staying 6 months to do just that. From here in Wales a camping shop

donated 5 large family size tents. Others also donated items for the aid/relief programme that was

unfolding. By a miracle I was able to get all items on a flight without having to pay for extra luggage.

Where families had lost their homes that were swept away by that mighty wave temporary

accommodation in the form of tents were put up. With the items that survived the tsunami, the

remains of belongings left were put inside of those tents. Clearing the ground and rebuilding took

place.

It is amazing what fits in a tent. Tents can be packed up and moved. Tents provide shelter from the

elements, the heat of the midday sun, the driving rains. If erected properly with the right strength

found in the cords and the pegs a tent can withstand the storm.

I love camping although these days I head out in my VW camper. I have loved a time in my life that

was somewhat nomadic in nature. For some years in my early adulthood everything I owned could

fit in one backpack.

Sometimes we experience trials and with those trials pain. Strength is something that is developed in

our character. It is this strength that enables us to deal with all and any issues that comes our way. It

is this strength that enables us to overcome. I would encourage you not only to withstand the storm

of life you are battling but to move forward, spread out, never give up and think big. You are more

than a conqueror.