“Camp Rainy Day,” Friend, January 2025, 16–17.
Camp Rainy Day
Why didn’t Heavenly Father answer her prayers?
A true story from the USA.
“My game is tomorrow, right?” Lucy asked as Mom tucked her in bed.
Mom nodded. “Yes! Tomorrow night at 6:00.”
Lucy could hardly wait. She had been looking forward to her team’s first softball game for weeks. And this year their jerseys were pink! She was so excited it was hard to fall asleep.
But the next morning, Lucy looked out the window and frowned. Grumpy gray clouds hung in the sky, and puddles were everywhere. It had rained all night.
She knelt to say her morning prayer. “Dear Heavenly Father, please help the weather to be good for my softball game tonight.”
All day at school, Lucy thought about the game. She pictured herself wearing her new pink jersey, reaching up to make a winning catch. But outside, it was still rainy and wet.
Lucy said a quick prayer in her mind. Heavenly Father, please help the sun to come out soon so we can play tonight.
When the school bell rang, Lucy grabbed her backpack and ran outside. She could see the sun starting to peek out from behind the clouds!
But when Mom came to pick her up, she had bad news. “The game for tonight is canceled,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
Lucy looked at the sky. “The sun is coming out, though. Maybe the rain will stop.”
“I know,” said Mom. “But the softball field flooded from all the water. So even if it stops raining, it’s too wet and muddy to play. They’ll reschedule the game for another time.”
Hot tears welled up in Lucy’s eyes. She was so disappointed! She really, really wanted to play tonight. Why didn’t Heavenly Father answer her prayers?
At home, Lucy felt as gray and grumpy as the rain clouds. She didn’t feel like reading her favorite book. And even though Mom made her favorite pasta for dinner, it didn’t taste as good.
After dinner, Lucy’s littlest sister, Ellie, crawled on her lap. “Play with me?” she asked.
Lucy sighed. “Sure,” she said. Then she had an idea. “We need something fun to do.”
She grabbed a broom and tied a scarf to the end of it to make a flag. Then she gathered all her sisters. She held up the flag and said, “Welcome to Camp Rainy Day! It’s where you go to have fun when you can’t play outside.”
Her sisters cheered.
“First,” Lucy said, “we’ll sing our camp song.”
The girls giggled as they made up a silly song and words to go with it. Then they marched around the room with their flag, singing as loud as they could.
“Now we need to set up our tent!” Lucy helped her sisters gather blankets and pillows to make a fort. It toppled over a few times. But when they fixed it, they all huddled inside the fort to play games.
Soon it was time for bed. “I hope it rains again tomorrow,” said Lucy’s sister Liza. “I want to play Camp Rainy Day again!”
“Thanks for playing with your sisters,” Mom said as she hugged Lucy goodnight. “You made your own sunshine out of a cloudy situation. I’m proud of you.”
Lucy felt happy as she climbed into bed. Her prayers weren’t answered the way she wanted. But Heavenly Father had still helped her find something fun to do with her family—and that was just as fun as wearing pink at her first softball game.
Illustrations by Apryl Stott