June 2025
In the summer of 2025 I found myself kind of all over the place. I spent my birthday in May with my family in Boise Idaho. During that time I was trying to figure out where my next destination would be and the same place kept coming up again and again, Moab, Utah. Friends and family kept suggesting places near there, and even my Bible presented Moab to me on more than one occasion. I felt, and still do, that God was trying to lead me there. So I figured I would just begin slowly making my way there and see what happened.
I headed east out of Boise in early June, and about that time a massive heat wave began sweeping through the northwest. RV’s and heat are like oil and water, things just don’t work as well in these things when it gets too hot and they are generally not very pleasant to be in under those conditions. As I made my way east I found a nice little area off the beaten path called Sublett Reservoir where the effects of the heat wave were greatly reduced thanks to elevation and proximity to water. I spent nearly two weeks here just reading, running and praying. I rather enjoy just be alone in nature with God for extended periods of time. It’s a far cry from the busyness of a constantly growing city like Boise and its utterly refreshing to the soul.
As the days ticked by I kept my eyes on the weather reports looking for an opportunity to move on but Utah’s temperatures stood defiantly in the triple digits day after day. I continued to pray for guidance and a few days later, I got the answer I was looking for. I have this weather app on my phone that I use all the time. In the app, I have saved the locations of several places I have been. I have locations saved from California, Nevada, Idaho and even a few from Montana where I was supposed to end up last summer. It’s nice to be able to see at-a-glance the temperatures for various places surrounding me.
As I thumbed through my list I saw something strange that I hadn’t seen before. Jackson, Wyoming was on my list. My face contorted in confusion as I scratched my head to this. I have never been to Jackson Wyoming. I don’t think I’ve ever even heard of Jackson Wyoming… why is Jackson on my list? I took it as a sign and decided to start heading that way. At least I’d be be making progress and get into proximity of some towns and churches. Along the way there looked to be a little town call Soda Springs which would act as a fork in the road. North to Jackson or south to Utah. Perfect.
I pulled up my camping apps to see what was available around Soda Springs and the very first site I clicked on just totally floored me. Blackfoot Reservoir. About 9 miles north of town, a State run campsite right next to a huge, beautiful lake. Rolling hills, tons of campsites for $5 a day, RV dump on-site, and the nicest weather to be had within 100 miles. I was sold.
We pulled into the camping area and started driving around to scout out the different options. Far in the back of the campground appeared to be the very best one. A huge and fairly level site all by itself right near the water… far away from all the other campers. I pulled in and leveled the RV before even hopping out. As we surveyed the area and marveled at our good fortune I noticed a tag hanging from the campsite post. These are the receipt tags that tell you how long the site is reserved for. This one appeared to be reserved for the rest of the week… dang it! But where were they? The site was totally abondoned just 3 days after they would have gotten here. Maybe they left early? Hmmm…
I grabbed Danny and we started walking around the park to look at the other options. As we walked I ran into a nice gal, Yulia, from Ukraine. We chatted as we walked and I asked her about the campsite. She said she was pretty sure they were not coming back, they had had a pretty large setup and would likely not have packed everything up if they planned to return. That sounded like a hole in one to me. All the same, we kept walking around to check out the other sites. There was a lot to choose from, and the place was just beautiful.
This campground is split into two sections… developed and primitive. The primitive sites are just that, basic dirt campsites with a firepit and maybe a picnic table. The developed sites, I came to find, were much more level, had a covered gazeebo, and they had POWER hookups. What?! In a place out here in the middle of nowhere? For 10 bucks a night? Power hookups? No way.
So it was decision making time… do I take the gift of the “best”, most secluded spot in the park, prepaid for 5 more days as my own… or do I move up to where the people are and grab a powered camp site? It was a tough call, I don’t really need the power, but it is a nice bonus. It was a tough choice.
I make mention of this campsite selection process not because it is an interesting story, but because of the resulting consequences of the decision.
That evening, as I was taking some trash down to the dumpster, I had Danny walking next to me and as we passed another camper walking his dog he made a comment that Danny was a good looking dog. I thanked him and noted that his black lab was also beautiful and that I had had a similar dog in the past. We talked for a little bit and I came to find out that his dog, Bonnie, had spent the previous night at the vet getting stitched up. This man had been out walking his dog and playing and she had gone barreling into the water only to come back out whimpering and limping. Bonnie had landed on something in the water that tore her chest open when she jumped into the water. Luckily the vet was able to fix her up. The water she had jumped into? Yep, it was the water right next to that campsite I passed up. That water would have been Danny’s first stop when we went out to play and he would have, undoubtedly, barreled enthusiastically into whatever sharp debris that Bonnie had had the misfortune of colliding with. (note: I saw John a few days later and Bonnie was doing great). Is God good, or is God good?
As I’ve written about previously, there are several points on these journeys where I begin to worry that I have veered from God’s path to follow my own. I’m always looking for a sign, some kind of acknowledgment that I haven’t gone totally off course. Thankfully God always finds a way to give me a nod, and that was a big one for me. And I got another one just a few days later.
I was on my morning run with Danny when suddenly we saw a gigantic moose crossing the road following a deer into the hills. For some reason I started thinking about my friend Kreso. I had missed a call from him several weeks prior and never got back to him. I started feeling pretty bad about this and started feeling like a terrible friend… I didn’t even know when his birthday was, had I missed it? The guilt started piling on and I realized I needed to get back in touch with him soon.
About an hour later as I sat cooling off from my run I got a text from another friend of mine named who Josh wanted to talk about his car. I called him up and we had a nice chat. He is planning on spending a ridiculous amount of money to have his car shipped across the country, have a new engine installed, and then drive it back. He wanted my advice on the matter and I pretty much told him he was crazy. I told him it would make way more sense to have the engine shipped here and that I knew a guy (Kreso) who would be able to install it for him at a fraction of the cost. He agreed and asked me to look into it so I hung up with him and dialed up Kreso.
I love talking to Kreso, he’s a really good friend and I always feel good when I talk to him… which makes me feel all the worse that I forgot to get back to him. In any case, as we spoke, I learned he is doing really well. He and his wife took some inspiration from me (I’m sure I don’t deserve all the credit but I am going to take some!) and started working out. They have really taken to it and had some amazing results, God bless them. Kreso and I chatted about nutrition and how good we feel these days for about 30 minutes before I brought up Josh’s car. Kreso said he’d be happy to do it and it would cost a fraction of what Josh would be on the hook for in his other scenario. I figured Josh would be happy about that. Kreso and I continued to chat for a while at which time I came to find out that today is Kreso’s birthday! I couldn’t believe it. I wished him the happiest of birthdays and showered him with some love before we wrapped up and concluded our conversation.
Isn’t it amazing how God works? How can you call any of that a coincidence? Thinking about my friend, wondering about his birthday, talking to another friend who basically forced me to call this friend that I was feeling bad for neglecting, and it just so happens that I called him on his birthday! Its just crazy. Not to mention that small amount of effort will bring two of my closest friends together. It will put food on one of their tables and save the other one thousands of dollars. Just absolutely unbelievable. God you are so amazing it takes my breath away.
By now, I had been at this campsite for a several days and was beginning to wonder if it was time to keep moving. I hadn’t received a definitive pull either north towards Jackson or south towards Utah, so I continued to pray on it. I found myself outside one morning working on my motorcycle when the camp host, Loren, came by and introduced himself. I figured he was probably there to tell me my stay limit was approaching but instead he invited me to fill out a review sheet for the park and welcomed me to stay pretty much as long as I wanted. He also mentioned there was a church in Soda Springs that I should check out while I’m in the area. I breathed a sign of relief as an answer to my prayers had just materialized.
Believe me when I tell you: God sends us angels to guide us… and I received this message loud and clear. Stay, relax, and find fellowship nearby. And this decision would end up shaping the entire summer.
“It is God who arms me with strength, And makes my way perfect”
Psalm 18:32