Laura Ruth
“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.