What you do always trumps what you say

Today we spent the afternoon at the pleasant Lake Jackson State Park north of Wiggins, Colorado. We found another beach, and a few skiers and Jet-skis to watch, so we relaxed in our beach chairs and just read.

After a couple of hours we saw huge storm clouds brewing off to the north. Lightning flashes were visible but no thunder could be heard.

The State Park Patrol Boat went up and down the lake, on the north and south sides, several times, but then returned to its dock.

I asked several fishermen if they had a feeling the storm would come south toward us and they thought not, but none of them had been at this lake before.  Then we saw some families begin to pack up and leave.

 Yes, the storm was going east, not south. Yes, the rangers had not warned us to move though they obviously had inspected the situation an hour ago.

And then the first drops came.

We packed up.

The drops were a light rain for a while as we drove around to the other side of the lake to visit a wildlife preserve (WELL preserved, apparently. Invisible too).  But in 30 minutes or so the skies above were blue and the beach we had been on, now across the lake, was full again with new arrivals coming in to spend the evening and prepare supper at the many picnic tables and grills.

So should we have paid attention to the rangers, ignored a few drops, and stayed on or in our car near the beach?

Should we take the advice, or even apparent advice, of others even if it contradicts our own past experiences?

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Before we left camp this morning I searched for a well recommended restaurant online for lunch and found one in the small town of Wiggins, just south of Lake Jackson.  I'll leave out the name here in kindness to the owners though if they read this blog they will surely recognize themselves.

Mona found this inspirational poster on the women's bathroom wall.  I also found similar posters on the men's room wall.

There were other positive words and phrases shared elsewhere in the Mexican cafe, (oops, that might give the place away. Wiggins is a SMALL town).


But when we tried to order it took forever to get service.  Then the kind but under-impressive staff took forever not only taking our order but completing the setup of our table.  When the food finally did come it was a 3 on Mona's 6 point Mexican restaurant quality  scale.  She is a very astute Mexican food aficionado.

The bill took forever to pay (confusion with the charge system) and when we left we had no problem tossing the leftovers we had asked for a box for, at the next stop.  If it wasn't great the first time, it would be little improved the second.

Should we have ignored the online reports of others who had reported good food and service here in the past?

What should we use to help us make decisions every day in our world?

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Two thoughts come to mind.  First, no matter whose advice we take, even the longest term friends, we may have a completely different experience than they, wherever we go. Second, no day is guaranteed to be great.  Some days just have things happen in them that aren't super. Sadly, some of us have one or two bad things hit us and we decide the whole day is, or will be, bad.  And guess what... then it often is.

What, or whose, advice should we take before making decisions about where to eat, or how long to hang around a beach?  Gods.

Don't laugh or even giggle.  These are not trivial items to our Creator who wants to assure us of the best possible life every day, IF we do follow His advice. So Mona and I do try to pray and ask for guidance, even as we are reading Tripadvisor or Google Reviews, about a restaurant.  We sort of expect Him to have a handle on whats up with weather so thats a no-brainer.

But God gives us a mind to reason with, and if we don't feel His clear direction one way we often do go in another.  And sometimes we are right; that is Gods plan.


One final thought. Before we rolled back into Fort Morgan this evening I had been looking for a nice pizza shop online.  All I found open was Domino's and Pizza Hut.  So we settled for trying to be satisfied in a downtown pub.  Turns out they had some of the best thin crust veggie-pizza we've had in a while, and I overate my calorie limit for the day by 170! Thank you Cables Pub & Grill.  "No ice cream for me tonight", smiled Mona.  :(

We had a good day today.  We found a second beach, the weather was fine while it lasted and supper was just right. And I got home in time to write this blog and spend some time just relaxing with Mona, a movie or a book.

God is GOOD! All the time!  And all the time, trust me on this, God is good.

-Pastor Ken