need to give up on camping dream

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K

kim12345

Senior Member
#1
Aug 4, 2013
361
47
28
#1
Hi,
I have been praying for about 5 years for some fun friends that have kids same ages as ours to go camping with.
I am going camping and my daughter is bringing her friends this summer. I am grateful their parents are allowing their kids to go with us and trust us. I invited the parents but they didn't respond.
But I would like some adult friends that have kids same ages as our that WANT and CAN go with us. I invite people and no one wants to go.
Someone just invited us and I was so excited and then 24 hours later backed out. I think there excuse is because they dont have the money. Well thats hogwash because they go to Las Vegas all the time.

What is wrong with me and my husband that they do not want to have fun with us??

I even went to a camping trip that was advertised on my church website for people to come but when we got there I could tell the leader already had his set of friends and we were not really welcomed. I mean they were polite but they had there own friends and were not interested in meeting any more.

After praying for something so simple and God saying no Please pray I will give up this camping/boating dream. thanks
 
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Lorettamarie

Junior Member
#2
Mar 22, 2017
25
0
0
#2
Do you have many friends in general? Or do you struggle to form meaningful relationships?
 
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kim12345

Senior Member
#3
Aug 4, 2013
361
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28
#3
No, I don't have friends in general. yes I struggle to form meaningful relationships.
I don't know whats wrong with me other than Im weird I guess
 
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Lorettamarie

Junior Member
#4
Mar 22, 2017
25
0
0
#4
Ah yes its ok im a bit the same i know the feeling i was watching a vid on you tube today made by a christian counceler named richard doyle that another member mentioned, it was about struggling with self doubt i found it very helpful and gave me insight into why i tend to hold back from people and situations

And just a wee thought about what you said at the end about god saying no to camping friends, in my i have to say limited experience with god, and by that i mean im not a mature christian but i find god prefers to deal with the problem at the root sometimes and not just give us our desires out right, for instance what if god lined up 50 different camping loving familys at your doorstep would you be able to establish deep friendships with any or would you still struggle? God had to lead the isralites around in the wilderness for a good long while before they were ready for the promised land.

What is god trying to teach you in the wilderness?

I am the same as i say and i am learning to love god and love myself and draw all my strenth from him alone only then will i be ready to be a blessing in other peoples lives and be the kind of person others are drawn to :)
 
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kim12345

Senior Member
#5
Aug 4, 2013
361
47
28
#5
So through the pain what is God trying to teach me? is that whats going on?



Lorettamarie said:
Ah yes its ok im a bit the same i know the feeling i was watching a vid on you tube today made by a christian counceler named richard doyle that another member mentioned, it was about struggling with self doubt i found it very helpful and gave me insight into why i tend to hold back from people and situations

And just a wee thought about what you said at the end about god saying no to camping friends, in my i have to say limited experience with god, and by that i mean im not a mature christian but i find god prefers to deal with the problem at the root sometimes and not just give us our desires out right, for instance what if god lined up 50 different camping loving familys at your doorstep would you be able to establish deep friendships with any or would you still struggle? God had to lead the isralites around in the wilderness for a good long while before they were ready for the promised land.

What is god trying to teach you in the wilderness?

I am the same as i say and i am learning to love god and love myself and draw all my strenth from him alone only then will i be ready to be a blessing in other peoples lives and be the kind of person others are drawn to :)
Click to expand...
 
K

kim12345

Senior Member
#6
Aug 4, 2013
361
47
28
#6
Do all friendships have to be deep or can a person just have some camping buddies


Lorettamarie said:
Ah yes its ok im a bit the same i know the feeling i was watching a vid on you tube today made by a christian counceler named richard doyle that another member mentioned, it was about struggling with self doubt i found it very helpful and gave me insight into why i tend to hold back from people and situations

And just a wee thought about what you said at the end about god saying no to camping friends, in my i have to say limited experience with god, and by that i mean im not a mature christian but i find god prefers to deal with the problem at the root sometimes and not just give us our desires out right, for instance what if god lined up 50 different camping loving familys at your doorstep would you be able to establish deep friendships with any or would you still struggle? God had to lead the isralites around in the wilderness for a good long while before they were ready for the promised land.

What is god trying to teach you in the wilderness?

I am the same as i say and i am learning to love god and love myself and draw all my strenth from him alone only then will i be ready to be a blessing in other peoples lives and be the kind of person others are drawn to :)
Click to expand...
 
K

kim12345

Senior Member
#7
Aug 4, 2013
361
47
28
#7
also, why would a relative ask us to go camping then 24 hours later back out?
did they do that on purpose to mess with me and lead me on then hurt me OR am I reading too much into it
 
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Lorettamarie

Junior Member
#8
Mar 22, 2017
25
0
0
#8
Well my train of thought was if we are living our lives each day with and for christ then he cares about the things you care about
You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.
Psalms 56:8 NLT
http://bible.com/116/psa.56.8.NLT

Maybe looking at an unanwserd prayer from a different angle might be helpful
And ok instead of saying deep friendships i also mean just a meaningful lasting ones, do you want to just share a camp site with another family and a couple of laughs one time or do you want to establish somthing long term, because long term friendship even just ongoing good buddiness will require some amount of depth

And the last one about the relative i cant really comment on i hope it was just innocent i does hurt when things like that happen
Im just offering a different perspective and drawing from a bit of personal experience :)
 
Roughsoul1991

Roughsoul1991

Senior Member
#9
Sep 17, 2016
8,784
4,452
113
#9
Hi Im weird too and love camping lol I can't wait to show my kids the beauty in nature. They are 3 and 1. A Christian can sometimes be seen as no fun to the outside world and I dont know if this will help but maybe volunteer to help out with your local scouts group.
 
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kim12345

Senior Member
#10
Aug 4, 2013
361
47
28
#10
Loretta, that was a good question.... actually I would like the camping friends to be ones that would become long term friendships not just camping buddies.

Maybe I should see what God is trying to teach me through this pain.

I do wonder if this relative is innocent or if she did it to get me excited and then hurt me by backing out..but if so I guess God will take care of that


Lorettamarie said:
Well my train of thought was if we are living our lives each day with and for christ then he cares about the things you care about
You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.
Psalms 56:8 NLT
http://bible.com/116/psa.56.8.NLT

Maybe looking at an unanwserd prayer from a different angle might be helpful
And ok instead of saying deep friendships i also mean just a meaningful lasting ones, do you want to just share a camp site with another family and a couple of laughs one time or do you want to establish somthing long term, because long term friendship even just ongoing good buddiness will require some amount of depth

And the last one about the relative i cant really comment on i hope it was just innocent i does hurt when things like that happen
Im just offering a different perspective and drawing from a bit of personal experience :)
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
K

kim12345

Senior Member
#11
Aug 4, 2013
361
47
28
#11
Oh I hope you do take your kids camping!! Its so great for them...no electronics and lots of nature and talks around the campfire!

Roughsoul1991 said:
Hi Im weird too and love camping lol I can't wait to show my kids the beauty in nature. They are 3 and 1. A Christian can sometimes be seen as no fun to the outside world and I dont know if this will help but maybe volunteer to help out with your local scouts group.
Click to expand...
 
Roughsoul1991

Roughsoul1991

Senior Member
#12
Sep 17, 2016
8,784
4,452
113
#12
kim12345 said:
Oh I hope you do take your kids camping!! Its so great for them...no electronics and lots of nature and talks around the campfire!
Click to expand...
I love the outdoors and grew up experiencing the outdoors. I love how time goes so slow, your imagination runs wild with every sound in the night, all the yummy campfire food and early morning coffee. I was a cub scout and loved survival stuff so Im never bored when we go. My dad took me camping and I will carry on that great experience.
 
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imfinallyfree

Banned
#13
Dec 17, 2013
822
7
0
#13
Are you a True Believer? By that I mean do you live your life exactly how God says that we should? Not by interpreting His advise to fit your life?

If so then the reasoning is easy,those people are probably not true believers so they don't have the protection of God so they are influenced by dark forces to influence you to doubt yourself like you are doing right now.

This isn't mystical poetic b!!!!!!!t it's real they do this (non believers) without even being aware of it because the dark powers are sneaky like that only those that have given their entire self to God have protection from being influenced to influence others negatively.

Or maybe you are just a little awkward which doesn't make you a bad person but it can put people off sometimes,im very awkward because of my ADHD/bi polar disorder I talk way too fast and have strange mannerisms some people are even afraid of me when they shouldn't be.
 
H

Hungry

Banned
#14
Nov 26, 2012
3,095
1,050
113
#14
kim12345 said:
also, why would a relative ask us to go camping then 24 hours later back out?
did they do that on purpose to mess with me and lead me on then hurt me OR am I reading too much into it
Click to expand...
Were you discussing that nobody would go camping with you? How did the conversation come up? It's not a common topic. My assumption is that they felt bad you were disappointed and said they would go to make you happy before they thought it through. Maybe they had plans. People generally like to spend time with others who they already enjoy. Camping isn't for everyone. It's a lot of work if you don't enjoy it.
 
PeterJens

PeterJens

Banned
#15
Feb 24, 2015
13,204
168
0
#15
kim12345 said:
No, I don't have friends in general. yes I struggle to form meaningful relationships.
I don't know whats wrong with me other than Im weird I guess
Click to expand...
Kim, The real problem is you are not that interested in other people and interacting
with them.

You do not have a lot of close relationships, because you push people away. You
want a relationship but only on your terms. Once they break those terms, it is, this
is weird, not how I expected it to turn out.

Spending time with strangers, in a closed environment for 2 weeks is quite a commitment.
If after a few hours or minutes things go wrong, all the warning signs are there.

What people mostly want is some contact without any pressure or unexpected problems.
So if you want to start on this, go to a house group and see if after a 5 minute conversation
you have understood someone elses expression and feelings and either reached out to them
to encourage them or they have encouraged you.

A camping trip is at the top of this learning cycle, and is certainly possible, but you need to
know the mountain you are climbing.
 
K

kim12345

Senior Member
#18
Aug 4, 2013
361
47
28
#18
I probably do push people away.

But I think I always try to listen to them and wants going on in their lives.
Actually, the people asked us and then backed out.
They only do activities if it is something they pick and like . Ive always said yes cause I enjoy their company but
when it comes to activities I like they say no or back out



PeterJens said:
Kim, The real problem is you are not that interested in other people and interacting
with them.

You do not have a lot of close relationships, because you push people away. You
want a relationship but only on your terms. Once they break those terms, it is, this
is weird, not how I expected it to turn out.

Spending time with strangers, in a closed environment for 2 weeks is quite a commitment.
If after a few hours or minutes things go wrong, all the warning signs are there.

What people mostly want is some contact without any pressure or unexpected problems.
So if you want to start on this, go to a house group and see if after a 5 minute conversation
you have understood someone elses expression and feelings and either reached out to them
to encourage them or they have encouraged you.

A camping trip is at the top of this learning cycle, and is certainly possible, but you need to
know the mountain you are climbing.
Click to expand...
 
Roughsoul1991

Roughsoul1991

Senior Member
#19
Sep 17, 2016
8,784
4,452
113
#19
Try creating a facebook community page for local outdoor lovers. Invite your friends list and see if it grows. Then if it grows plan a camping event to help get kids outdoors
 
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kim12345

Senior Member
#20
Aug 4, 2013
361
47
28
#20
that is a good idea. Thank you for your encouragement

Roughsoul1991 said:
Try creating a facebook community page for local outdoor lovers. Invite your friends list and see if it grows. Then if it grows plan a camping event to help get kids outdoors
Click to expand...
 
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