"Why Doesn't God Answer our Prayers?"

We had all prayed that God would grant us favor in relation to the weather so that the Escape Concert would go as we had planned. We had all worked so hard: planning, soliciting prizes, water, gifts, preparing meals, coordinating, handing out fliers, etc., etc. Now, it was the day of the concert and the projection units weren't working. Six of our team had stayed up all night working on the projection operation. It was cloudy, with some thunderstorms looming off to the west. We, once again, huddled in prayer and asked that the Lord would allow the rains to go around us so that we could have a successful concert.

Looking onto the crowd and the band as the Escape Concert Started


The concert started and a decent crowd had shown up. Sonlit had finished their set and the Butler Brothers were about halfway through theirs. Then it hit. The wind changed to the north, blowing information tables and their paraphernalia everywhere. Rain started and people scattered. The Escape team made a dash for the equipment, holding down tarps and carrying sensitive instruments and amplifiers under the protection of the amphitheater roof. Our audience, our precious audience was running for their cars and leaving before our headliner band DOWNHERE had even had a chance to play. We hadn't even had a chance to allow for the testimonies that we had planned or the alter call that was to be given. Why hadn't God answered our prayer? We had it all planned out to the smallest detail! Didn't God want what was best for us and His Kingdom? We were doing all of this for Him. Or so we thought.


Little did we know that had our projection units been working, instead of already being packed away when the storm hit, the strong winds would have ripped back the protective covers and the projection units and equipment would have been destroyed by rain. Little did we know that because of the weather circumstances, the Dove award winning group DOWNHERE would perform an intimate, worshipful service/concert using an inexpensive sound system from our church and a tom-tom, bucket and wastebasket for drums. Little did we know that a group of around one-hundred people would see and hear one of the most rewarding Spirit-filled concerts that some of us might ever attend.

The High School members of the FBC Youth Group performed a skit during the concert

The group Downhere sings to the crowd under the shelter of the backstage & roof of the amphitheater.

Why didn't God answer our prayer? He did. In more ways than we will ever know. You see, our prayer was our plan, not His. Our prayer was what we thought was best. Our prayer was what we wanted for us and what we wanted for God.

God's answer was better than we could have ever imagined. Praise be to God!!

Be happy in your confidence, be patient in trouble, and pray continually. Romans 12:12

Cow Slobber?

It's my "Sunday" and I'm sitting in the dining room listening to all of the birds sing their morning wake up songs. I've never thought of it this way before, but what a great bit of worship music for

me (since it's my "Sunday", after all). Isn't it great how God always provides? And this is my kind of worship "music."

Another major summer holiday down at the Park. Considering the weather and the number of people we had, it was a pretty good weekend overall. There were no major injuries and no property loss from the storms. (Update - the boy who rode his bike down the dam is ok and he didn't have any broken bones after all.) The final visitation count came in at 47,416 people. We figured if one out of five people brought their pooch along with them, that was over 5,000 canines! Our visitation would have been much more, had it not rained over five inches over the course of the weekend. That sure brought the day use down. We've conceded to the fact that many people are going to vacation locally this year instead of spending the extra gas money on going out of state. What do you think?

We saw the Prince Caspian Chronicles of Narnia movie yesterday with the boys. They really have been wanting to see it. Have any of you seen it? What did you think? We enjoyed it - I guess it was quite a change from the book, though. Collin didn't care for the ending. See what your opinion is.

The boys are both in basketball activities this week. Collin is practicing for the summer Grizzly league (an organized league for the County players to keep up their skills) and Adam has summer basketball camp for the EHS team. Coach Melcher is the head coach this year. I think Adam will enjoy him. (Adam told me that he dunked it in practice last night. Coach M asked him if he was going to do that in a game. This I would like to see!

Our Sunday School lesson this week is on prayer. Give me your feedback on this subject. Does it scare you if someone asks you to pray out loud? Or what about praying for others? Please continue to pray for those on my previous blog. Also please remember: 1) Steve A's situation at work; 2)Peggy W's dad & the move; 3) Rick G's heart situation 4) Steve E's upcoming surgery.

Lastly, it's time for your interpretive Ranger Lesson for the day. I'm somewhat of a wildflower fanatic and this is my time of year. There has been an abundance of moisture (sorry, Rick) and the wildflowers are incredibly beautiful. I picked one of my favorites to show you for today. Does anybody know the name of it? The common name is Spiderwort. Break the tip off a leaf and wait for a drop of sap to appear, then touch it with your fingertip and notice how far you can stretch a thread of sap. This resemblance to a spider's silk may explain where its name came from. The gooey quality of the sap definitely explains its familiar nickname of "cow slobber"! Spiderwort flowers have a very short life - only a single morning - but each plant will produce 20 or more flowers per stem. The stems, leaves and flowers of spiderworts are edible. They may be eaten raw or added to stews. The flowers (which may be either pink, blue or rose-purple) make an attractive edible garnish for salads. Can you see why this is one of my favorites?


Take some time this week and look at the wildflowers. I think the Lord did a great job in their creation. I'll leave you with this: Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solemon in all hos splendor was dressed like one of these. Luke 12:27