A Cave and a Prayer

In the summer of 2014 while we were in the States on furlough, William decided he would like to go on back to Brazil.  The whole family couldn't go at that time but we had tickets scheduled for July and William wanted to go.  Uncle Byron had wanted to take at least one good camping trip while we were all still together.  So we set to some quick planning for a weekend camping trip and looked for a place where the boys could do some spelunking.  Do you know what that is?

Once William had read a book about the man that discovered the Mammoth Cave system and he really wanted to go there.  Sadly Tennessee was just too far away for a weekend trip, so we looked for a cave with spelunking that was closer and came upon the Organ Cave in West Virginia after some web searches.  We found a campground nearby and made reservations and got set to go.

The weekend looked to be rainy and things were not going very smoothly.  Dalton wasn't real keen on going on the trip.  Our plans were rather haphazard and we were not real organized.  There were some tense moments but somehow we got off and convinced Dalton to go along to Roanoke and spend the weekend with Grandma and Grandaddy.

The rest of us got into WV in time for a kayak ride down the Greenbrier River.  We got our tent set up before it was too dark and managed to grill some hot dogs and eat a camp kind of supper.  Even Aunt Michele rode the rapids, but that's another story!

The next morning we went off to find the Organ Cave and see about a spelunking tour.  We found the cave and were informed that the long, deep inside the cave kind of tours had to be booked in advance.  It would not be possible to do that day.  Sadly it was the only day we had as we had to head back the next morning.  We took the regular tour with a tour guide and tried to console ourselves with that.

We got in the car to leave.  Down in the gully spot where the cave entrance was we had no cell phone signal. Uncle Byron drove to the top of the hill and the little highway and stopped so I could try to call another nearby cave that advertised adventure cave tours, but they said the same thing as the first.  It was almost lunch time, so I said, Hey, let's go back down to the cave gift shop area where there were some picnic tables and have our lunch there.  So down we went, all trying not to be too sad.  I said a little prayer asking God to work something out for the guys to still take the big tour that they had wanted.

After a bit, we saw the lady from the gift shop/office stick her head out the door and look all around.  She saw us and started waving.  She said one of her spelunking tour guides had finally called back and said he could come in and do the tour and that he was on his way right then - could we wait a bit?

I believe God answered my prayer that afternoon.  William, Greyson and Uncle Byron got to go down deep into the cavern with lights on their heads, crawling around on their tummies through small holes with water and mud, and see parts of the cave that few ever get to see.  I stayed above ground!
William later said that it wasn't Mammoth Cave but it was one of the coolest things he had ever done.

The whole trip was by no means perfect but we made a memory, fulfilled a boy's desire and saw an answer to prayer...

p.s.  This week our new little puppy, Spunky, came down with some sort of intestinal virus.  She became very dishydrated and close to dying.  Since we live in a place without much medical help for dogs and cats, I wasn't sure what to do.  I did talk to a vet that had helped us some with Tiny and Girl and the cat.  He gave me some suggestions and I did some research online.  After four days of force feeding and giving liquid with a syringe, little Spunky is coming back to life.  She wagged her tail yesterday and played a little and is eating and drinking on her own now.  She is getting spoiled eating special foods and waits for me to fix them very patiently.