What could go wrong? The weather was right. Everyone was in a good mood. It wasn’t going to be too expensive. Camping was on!!! Just me and the kids, having some memory making time. Well, the memories came, but whether or not they were good, I don’t know.

My daughter got sick. We arrived a little later than expected, and the weather turned incredibly hot. All manageable until the next morning. “Ants!!!” My daughter screamed. Black ants, thousands of them were crawling in our camper. These were big, black, man-eaters.  They were on her pillow, on the ceiling, in the cupboards, I mean everywhere. All I could do was say to myself “Stay cool. This is a sabotage attempt. Don’t blow it over ants.” The kids scattered. No one wanted to be near the ants. The ants were everywhere in our campsite: the chairs, table, outside the camper, rocks, bbq, etc. I was about to pack up and go home, when a still small voice said, “Don’t let the enemy rob you of your joy that was meant for this weekend.”

I got my composure, walked down to the manager’s office and asked for a new campsite. She said no problem. I checked out the entire campground. It turned out that we were camping right in the middle of the biggest ant colony in all of California. It gets better, before I could move the camper, a baby mouse was squeaking on the ground under the back of the camper. (Baby mice come from nests).

This was a nice diversion for my middle daughter. She caught it, and put in a cup. At one point she tried to get some ground squirrels to adopt it. There’s more to the story, but I’ll share it later in another blog. (Again, baby mice come from nests).

I could have blown a fuse over the ants. It was definitely a trying moment, but I made a choice to know joy in the midst of a trial. I had prayed all weekend about knowing God’s true joy and to be the best father I could be that weekend. I think my patience dropped a couple of times, but the desire to know God’s joy moved me away from the usual grumpiness that a little hot weather, tired kids, and some dirt can bring on, not to mention the ants.

I read from Eldredge’s Walking with God about this very issue. Joy is the one thing that our enemy goes after, but it’s done in such a way that we stay distracted from what is really going on. He keeps us away from joy by our circumstances, addiction, shame, guilt, failure, and our own expectations. Joy is the one thing that will get us through the toughest of trials. Ask Jesus to help you know the fullness of his joy (John 16:24). Don’t let the enemy rob you of God’s blessing upon your life. Fight for your strength in being in joyous man. It will greatly benefit the world around you. And for the record, it’s a good idea to take ant spray when camping.

Making battle plans with you my brothers,
Lance Tullis

I’ve learned to use the opportunity of a lost dream to follow a new one. The Christian life isn’t about getting stuck in past regrets and failures. Sure we learn what we can from them, but there comes a time to move forward.

Maybe that time has come for some of you guys. It might mean letting go of a business, relationship, or pursuit of something. It’s OK to let go sometimes. When our focus is on the past, we can’t see the opportunities that are right before us today.

Let God into that past failure or regret, heal you from it, and prepare you for His best. We’re moving into Spring now. Look around. The hills are green. Lakes are filling up, and new life all around us. Some of us have had hard winters in life, but I assure good things are to come.

As the seasons change, may God open that masculine heart of yours to become a man alive to His intent for your life. Heaven knows that now is a time for masculine strength like never before. Remember, you’re a man, and as the great Zig Ziggler says, “Falure is an event, not a person.”

Keep up the fight men,
Lance Tullis