Fisherman’s Corner Army Core of Engineers, East Moline, Illinois
Then he (Abraham’s servant, Eliezer) prayed, “O LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a girl, “Please let down your jar that I may have a drink, and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’ – let her be the one You have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.” ~ Genesis 24:12-14 See how a faith lived out influences others? This servant was acquired by Abraham at least 40 years ago, and because of the years living under Abraham, he’s learned faith in God. And he’s learned prayer. And he’s witnessed answered prayer. I wonder if he isn’t one of the servants Abraham took along when he went to sacrifice Isaac? This prayer of his is what I like to call ‘laying down a fleece’ (see Judges 6:36-40) in order to get confirmation to clarify the direction God wants us to go, or that the thing we think we’re supposed to do is really of God. I’ve used this technique a few times in my life and it’s worked every time! But I believe it’s something that should be used sparingly. We need to learn to listen to His voice, not constantly demand signs. And we must approach the decision to use it with a clear conscience. Attitude and motive always count with God. He knows our hearts – even better than we do.
Well, after all that research and time spent on the last two “Special Editions”, I guess it’s time to get back to our (by comparison) uneventful lives.
Unfortunately, I haven’t made notes for the next few days, so by now, I’m not sure what I’ll remember. I remember we enjoyed our day, and the weather, while nice, was a bit warm again. Today, we went sightseeing again – visiting (or at least trying to visit) the Army Corps of Engineers Visitor Center for Lock #15 and the Black Hawk State Park in Lake View, Iowa.
As far as the Visitor Center goes, we could see it, but despite our most valiant efforts and even a phone call, we couldn’t figure out how to gain access behind the barred walls. So we just walked around the area and over the bridge, to look down on the Mississippi and into the lock.
Maybe we shoulda tried swimming . . . .
This shows the walkway across the river. We went halfway, then turned around.
Once we left this area, we made a fairly brief stop at a county Park.
They offer tours, but have been closed since Covid hit.
We saw one of them as we were driving by and they’re taking the down time to do some remodeling.
Part of us appreciates the artistry one can do with a can of spray paint.
If you look, you’ll see the windows that’ve already been replaced.
Obviously they don’t want visitors. : )
The Black Hawk State Park was more productive. We were able to take in a few miles of trails, as well and check out their Visitor Center/Museum. So much interesting history here!
I promise. I’m not doing a Special Edition on Black Hawk.You can read the pictures I took. 😊
But I did look something up – –
Currently, there are 574 federally recognized Indian Nations in the US. Of those, approximately 229 are in Alaska. The rest are located in 35 other states. That’s many more than Blaine or I realized! I was curious as to how many tribes there used to be, but without spending hours – or figuring out the right way to ask Google – all I could come up with was an estimate of the number of people, the best “guess-ti-mates” range from 7 to 18 million people.
I have no idea why I have no pictures of the beginning of our hike here.
Maybe the heat is affecting my brain?
It wraps around itself and anything else that gets in its way.
It’s not really smoke, it’s the clouds!
It’s also located in the CCC lodge.
That’s okay. So did we. : )
I think it’s part of some kind of scavenger hunt.
Good thing Blaine has a fantastic sense of direction!
After a full day of hiking, we decided to use our Olive Garden gift card that we’ve been carrying around forever. We ordered dinner, and since they have those $5 take home meals available now, we each ordered one of those too! It was pretty good food, although they’ve either changed their breadstick recipe, or this particular restaurant had a problem. They were about half the size they usually are, and tough. I sure hope they haven’t changed the recipe – it’s always been one of the main reasons for eating there! Sorry. No pictures of dinner. I’m pretty sure most people know what Olive Garden food looks like. : )
We were stuffed when we left, so we visited a nearby mall to walk around. There were hardly any people in it! How can these businesses stay afloat? We didn’t help them out. All we did was window shop.
Where is everyone?!?
It was kinda eerie walking in here.