there is a good reason I have no new photos

When I went out to the garden to take some photos of my beautiful God-blessed squash, cukes, pumpkins, water melons, beans, peppers, tomatoes, egg plant, zucchini, radishes and corn, I discovered that the rather passionate morning rain storm had really done a number on my veggie vines and stalks. I spent hours staking, and re-staking tomatoes and cukes, which led to "needing" to pull some new rain -inspired weeds.I also had NO IDEA that three pumpkin plants would a) take up so much space and b) make SO many pumpkins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I actually pulled one vine out so that the rest of the garden didn't drown in pumpkin leaves and tendrils. You can't have too many cucumbers but yes, you can have too many pumpkins. BUT while I was working and not taking photos, Esther called me to ask that I get online ASAP and ask ALL my prayer partners to pray for the father of her friend Kip. He was electrocuted by lightening this morning and had been taken for gone; medical staff worked on him doing CPR, got a pulse and hoped that they could save him. We were praying for him and for his family as soon as I got word out. Kip, who is 19-ish, lost his dad this afternoon. I have been praying about them since then too. Dear Esther has lost way more friends in death than any other 18 year old that I know. God has used her to be such a comfort to the parents of her departed friends and I am pretty sure that God will be using my daughter to comfort her friend and his family this week. The memory of her phone call while I was tying up tomatoes, and praying as I tied vines, will stay with me for a very long time, I am sure. How thankful I am that her first response was to call and ask for prayer!!!!
Thank you, everyone who knew and who prayed. AS details got straightened out......second hand info being what it is, Kip's dad was not struck by lightening here in Stillwater as she'd been told originally , but that Kip and family were on a beach together in Florida.Storm coming in... Kip felt a small jolt, and thought little of it but looked around at his mom, dad and sister and saw that they were lying, knocked flat on the beach!!!!!!!!!!!! The mom and sister are still in the hospital, but Kip's dad died. This reminded me so much of a news story I heard from Maryland a few weeks ago when two young boys were struck by lightening while throwing a baseball, after their Little League referee called their game for the in-coming storm. The boy who threw the ball was struck and was killed...the lightening traveled with the pitched ball and struck the other boy. He lived, but was injured pretty badly himself. Lightening is serious stuff, plain and simple. Its amamzing how fussing about a quick hard rain storm and what it did to my veggies turned into a season of prayer for a family forever affected by a similar storm. Once again I was reminded of how very much I have to be thankful for, and that I should NOT complain about ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, "He gives and takes away.....Blessed be the Name of the Lord" Some of us were talking about that song just the other day, sending phrases back and forth to each other ...."though the darkness closes in Lord, STILL I WILL SAY BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD"
My prayers are with the Paxton family tonight as I trust God to be glorified even in this sad and unexpected time.