5K On the 4th: In Which God Shows Us Who's Really In Control

The weather forecast for our 4th was abysmal. Every day leading up to today, the rain chances seemed to increase. The forecasters were calling for several inches of rain and lots of flooding. We had to postpone our outdoor plans with family. All the fireworks displays in the area were cancelled. Basically, the day seemed like a washout.

But you know what? A bunch of families I know were praying over an event that was scheduled for today: Zoe's Rainbow Dash. And it turns out that God has a little more say in the weather than those forecasters.

To provide some background, Zoe was a local 4th grader who died in a tragic boating accident last summer. Her parents planned this 5K in her memory with all the proceeds going to Zoe's favorite charities. 

My 8-year-old and I had been planning to run this race for months. We were both so excited! As the big day approached and the weather forecast grew increasingly dismal, we prayed that God would hold off the rain for this event.

And that HE did.

Just take a look at what one of our local weather forecasters had to say on his website this afternoon: "The flooding event that I was talking about for the past few days has turned out to be a dud! so far.  I guess that is a good thing, but for a forecaster it makes you scratch your head and wonder what happened."

I believe I know what happened.

I think one of my local friends said it best on her Facebook page after the run. "I'm picturing Zoe and her angel friends dancing around with bright colored rainbow umbrellas in heaven. I can't think of any other way to explain how "100% chance of rain" turned into perfect running weather. I'm grateful and proud to live in a community that has gone to such great lengths to honor this sweet girl and her family."

And perfect it was. Here are my sweet girl and I before we headed out to the run:

It was SO much fun y'all! The atmosphere was electric. Everyone was excited to be there. And there was no rain to be found.

We got bombarded with color at several stations throughout the run. Here's a photo from the finish line.

And here we are after the run.

Let's not forget the obligatory photo in the same spot as our "before" shot was taken.

As we pulled out of the parking lot after our run, my girl asked me if I thought Zoe could see what had just happened from heaven. I told her I did think that she could. With a big grin on her face, my girl told me that Zoe must be so happy to know that all these people came out for her and to help other people. I had to agree. 

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17

Blessings to you and your family this holiday!