Article March 15, 2004 Issue

God was all around us

By Sharon Stanwood

Four people tell their stories of finding practical help from God

When we woke up in the old tent, my husband, Jim, and I found our backpacks and other camping gear floating around us in two inches of water. Our new collie puppy, Kelsey, snuggled between us, shivering from the rain that had pured down all night in a surprise storm.

Jim and I quickly realized that we had to tear down our camp and pack up so we could hike back to our old four-wheel-drive vehicle, a vintage 1972 Landcruiser, parked a few miles down the trail. The cold rain was coming down unabated. It was late September in California's High Sierra, and this kind of rain was unseasonable. We hadn't come prepared for it. In fact, because we'd brought Kelsey along, we'd taken our oldest, tattered tent in case she tried to chew her way out of it. Now it had become a sieve.