Faith-Filled Friday: Fair time!

Good morning, Crushers and Happy Friday!

Today is not only one of my best friend's birthday, but it is also the first Friday of the Wisconsin State Fair! For all the joking about what kind of people you see at the Fair, it is still the premier attraction in Wisconsin to highlight all of the amazing plants, creatures and creativeness that our state has to offer. I'm not talking about the deep fried peanut butter bacon or mullets either. I'm talking about all those 4-H kids who work so hard on their projects. I'm talking about the ladies and gentlemen who painstakingly garden the most beautiful flowers and produce possible. I'm talking about the amazing animals that family farms raise.

Side commentary: Dear people who think that the animals shown at the farm are abused or in some way mistreated, Are you nuts? The kids who raise these animals voluntarily sleep in a barn to make sure that their animal's every need is taken care of. They also depend on showing their animals to make a living or pay for college. If you take offense at a teenager giving their cow a swat on the butt to get it moving, it isn't hurting the animal. Have you seen how big a cow is? Please take some time to learn and talk to the kids who show these animals. Then you would understand how much they care!

OK, now that I'm down from my soapbox, let's back up a bit. The best friend who I mentioned above? Her name is Ashley and she has been showing Belgian Draft Horses with her sisters for as long as I have known her. She was the first person to teach me about the Fair and how it's not all cheese curds and cream puffs. Thanks to her tip, a former Fairest of the Fair for Washington County, I applied for and got two internships at the Wisconsin State Fair teaching me so much about tourism, agriculture and public affairs. Although we had some crazy times chasing around the state with a car full of cream puffs for interviews, early morning interviews, getting stepped on by a cow, and all sorts of stuff, it was amazing.

Sometimes, when I see everything the Fair has to offer in competitions, I wonder if God ever looks at it and says, "Hey, I made that." When you think of the account of creation in the book of Genesis, and how he simply said, "Let there be" and there it was, it was good. Knowing how hard all these kids work at the Fair and then having an example of how big our God is gives you pause. Why wouldn't you hand your problems to God in prayer if he can fill the whole universe in six days? Think He can't handle it? Ha!

As 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." Why not take a look at your surroundings today and let yourself be amazed at the world and think about your creator. That's one of the many things I plan to do at the Fair tonight. Along with finding a bunch of food on a stick!