This year they decided not to return to manage the park and we missed them. Although we'd occasionally receive an email from them (from where they resided in Tennessee), that was not the same as being able to see them every week.

One summer day, Eva felt like disconnecting the RV and going to a local park for a few days. Where to go? We could choose from two lakes or go to Henderson Creek. We asked God, in the usual manner, praying that His hand be solely involved as to where we go. We asked if we were to go to either of the two lakes, our first choice, and got a No. Henderson Creek, Yes. We had wanted to go to a campground new to us, one of the lakes, but when the Lord chose Henderson Creek, we bowed our heads in thanks, knowing He was taking us there for a reason. Then we asked if we could take a friend for Kristina. Yes. Who should it be? Crystal? No. Mary? Yes.

This was a Thursday and we were planning to spend Thursday, Friday and Saturday, returning home Sunday. Mary, it turned out, wasn't available this weekend. Why would God choose someone who wasn't available, we wondered. There are times when I question my sanity at talking with God in so informal a manner as this. Am I actually getting intelligent answers from our Creator, using a coin? When things don't appear to make sense to my carnal mind, I become aware that my only other alternative is to do things from data that comes from my own limited perception. But it doesn't take long for me to realize, once again, that my way is fraught with disappointment because my flesh man taints my thinking and I am unable to see the whole picture. I believe God can see the whole picture, I believe He wants to share that portion of it that would be invaluable to making current decisions. I believe God can communicate with His children who are willing to radically trust Him. I believe His children underestimate how much God loves them, and how much of an awesome, supernatural Being God is.

I went to sing at a nursing home (which I did every week on Thursday afternoon), and Eva and Kristina stayed to get the motor home ready to travel. When I came back, Eva was getting ready to run over to Henderson Creek to reserve our space for the weekend and asked if I wanted to go along. I said, "Sure," and hopped into her car.

When we got to Henderson Creek, I told the man at the front gate that we were friends with the previous managers, George and Esther.

He pointed toward an RV and said, "They're right there."

Thinking I hadn't heard properly, I said, "What?"

He said, "George and Esther are sitting right over there." Meanwhile, Eva realized they were there and got out of the car to greet them. It was like seeing dear friends we'd known all our lives. Now we knew why the Lord chose Henderson Creek. It turned out they were only going to be there one night and had thought about us, wanting to see us but did not know how to get in touch with us. We made our reservations for the weekend and headed back to finish getting the RV ready for the short drive.

Meanwhile, since Mary wasn't available to come along as a companion for Kristina, we asked God who else we could take. Jennie? Yes. But it turned out Jennie wasn't available either. We knew Crystal was available, but God always put someone else in our minds to ask about, and saying No when we asked about Crystal. After getting the motor home ready to travel, we ran into a new snag. I tried to start it and found our battery was too low to turn over the engine. Upon examining it, we saw that there was much corrosion on it and we'd probably need a new battery. I called a friend who told me he'd come first thing in the morning to help us make a determination on the battery (can it be recharged or do we need to buy another one).

Now that we had a plan and a mechanic to help us implement it, we hopped back in the car and went back to visit our friends at Henderson Creek, and had a wonderful evening, sharing music and our constant testimony of God's faithfulness, as well as listening to their testimonies.

The next morning the mechanic came and found that the battery still had life in it. He cleaned off the corrosion and gave us a jump which started the vehicle right up. Now that we saw our original plans to take the motor home to Henderson Creek on Thursday had been thwarted, causing us to stay right where we were, we saw the wisdom of not taking a friend of Kristina's for Thursday night, as we were grounded and merely going to visit friends at the park. Now we decided to ask God if we could take Kristina's friend, Crystal, the only one we knew was home. God said Yes. And we found out more. This was definitely a timing issue with regard to Crystal being able to come with us.

It turns out it was her birthday that day (Friday) but her mom had accidentally forgotten it and had to work. Our invitation to take her along and celebrate it at Henderson Creek, was gratefully accepted by Crystal, who never would have dreamed of going with us earlier, as she was anticipating her birthday celebration with her mom. God utilized the acceptance of the other kids (who couldn't go) as a means to stall for time, so that we would ask Crystal just when she found out her family had accidentally neglected preparing anything for her birthday. God knew our battery wouldn't work and that Crystal would be able to come along on Friday. He also knew that she would not have agreed to come with us on Thursday.

Nature of God: God can use people who can't come with us in order to stall for time so that the person that is supposed to come with us, can. What are the chances that the other two children would NOT be available so that the one who was home could go with us on the proper day? In addition, if we had just asked about Crystal, and God had said No, we would not continually badger God by asking about her again and again. God knows we have a rule that we do not ask Him over and over again about the same thing. By putting it in our minds to ask about the other girls (that couldn't go), He put Crystal on hold so that time could pass and He could put it once again on our hearts to ask about her at the right time. I know this is not earthshaking, but when things like this happen all the time, you've got to take notice and appreciate that God's wisdom will beat our meager and limited knowledge every time.

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