Trust

Last night we decided to head back to Pickens. Every year the East Pickens Baptist church hosts a great family event for the 4th of July. The YMCA is directly across the street and the church uses the fields there. They put up the giant blow up slides and bounce houses. They offer free cotton candy and snow cones. There is a stage on the other side of the fields where live bands play. It really is a great time and a good atmosphere.

Then around nine pm they have a presentation. There is video and some speaking. Last year the program was focused on the military and their families. At ten, fireworks are launched from the church.

That's how it is supposed to happen.

At 9 pm this year, as a speaker was finishing his speech on finding Jesus, a lightening storm snuck up behind us. Another man got on stage and told us he was shutting down the stage to protect the electrical equipment. He said that the storm was headed for our area and we should all take cover. Fireworks would still happen at ten if the rain let up.

We headed to our car with just about everyone else. (Everyone else was going to their own cars, not ours.)

It never did rain. We sat at the car waiting for the fireworks. Prepared to leave quickly if the rain started coming down.

At that time, Cari and I were joking that maybe the church leaders didn't trust God enough. Didn't they trust God to keep the event going? Maybe God didn't approve of their message. Why else would we all be sitting in our cars?

We continued to trust that the fireworks would launch at 10. And with only a minute or two delay, they started. The kids sat on the trunk with Cari while I stood next to the car with my camera.

I didn't look through the viewfinder this time. I had the camera on the tripod and just roughly aimed as I pushed the button. The result was some really neat fireworks pictures. Roughly 90 of them. The only thing that bothered me was a parking lot light just off to the side. That light bled into my pictures a bit.

Maybe next year our faith will be stronger and I'll get some better pictures taken from the field.