Moving the Tents

This tent took some effort to put up.

My husband and the father of the groom helped the two men

that brought it out to the farm. Us girls helped too. :)

It probably took two hours and then stringing the lights took

two more. After that, we installed the dance floor, set up tables,

added the chairs, table cloths, decorations, etc.

I thought of this effort this morning while I was reading about

Israel moving their tents every time the cloud moved.

Sometimes they only camped for one day.

Imagine it....all those people, all their belongings,

tents, clumsy cows, sheep, and donkeys.

Sometimes things can feel heavy. We can feel as if our jobs,

our lives, our tasks, our responsibilities are a burden. As I read

through the book of Numbers and consider all the sacrifices

with blood, guts, and fires, along with

the task of uprooting, and re-setting up camp, I realize that

life is simply difficult sometimes. We can feel weary of the daily

"to do" list, the laundry, shopping, cooking, cleaning, taking out

the garbage, making beds. 

I mostly enjoy my tasks, but for the times when I start to feel

drained, I will remember Israel's crowds moving across the desert:

Numbers 9:15-23

On the day the tabernacle, the Tent of the Testimony, was set up, the cloud covered it. From evening till morning the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire. That is how it continued to be; the cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire. Whenever the cloud lifted from above the Tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. At the LORD’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the LORD’s order and did not set out. Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days; at the LORD’s command they would encamp, and then at his command they would set out. Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out. Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out. At the LORD’s command they encamped, and at the LORD’s command they set out. They obeyed the LORD’s order, in accordance with his command through Moses.