Our city and surrounding areas have been in a severe drought for the past couple of years. I wrote a post called, Learning from our Drought, where I shared we were in a stage 3 drought. Since then we have been at stage 5 which means no one could water their yards. Our ground has been very dry and even caused plumbing in house to get damaged. Hardly anyone had green grass in their yard unless you had a well and no one could use their swimming pools.
A couple of weeks ago, heavy rain came in our area that caused a significant dent in the drought. We have two lakes that are our main water sources and they were at a combine 22% capacity. After a week of heavy rain and strong storms, they were almost at 50%. A week after that they were over 50%. Today I learned that one of the lakes, Lake Kickapoo, is over 100% and flowing into the spillway which flows in our other lake, Lake Arrowhead, which is at 66%. Our lakes could be at a combined 100% sooner than a lot of people expected. Our city officials decided to move us from stage 5 to stage 3, which sounded a little to rash at first, but it seems like a good idea now.
We are grateful to God for answering the prayers of the people. Many churches were praying for rain and we got it. Many were worried if our city would survive this drought. Thanks to all of you, who have prayed for city. However, with all the rain comes one big problem, flooding. In 2007, our city got hit with some major rain that caused flooding in some areas. I ask for prayer for those people who are in flood zones that have to be evacuated before the flood waters come rushing in.
What are my hopes after all this rain? I pray the people of our city know that there is a God who will give us all that we need and will answer our prayers in His timing. I hope those who do not know Jesus, this will be an opportunity for them to hear the gospel. I hope our city learned lessons in water conservation even while our lakes are full. I heard someone say we have 10 years of water. A lot can happen in 10 years so I hope we don't go too crazy. I pray more businesses come to Wichita Falls so people can get jobs. I also hope our churches will realize that God is Sovereign. He gave us these last few weeks of rain because He is a gracious God, not because someone repented or drew a circle around the city.
Almighty Father, you give rain to those who are yours and those who are not yours. Thank you for answering our prayers. I pray many will worship and praise you not the acts of men thinking they had something to do with this. I pray for those in the flood zones that you will protect them and give them peace. Allow your church to proclaim the gospel during this time and I pray hearts are now opened to hear your gospel. In Christ name, Amen.
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