National Day of Prayer in Washington, D.C.

LuAnn, Amy, and I had a great time in Washington attending the National Day of Prayer events.

On Tuesday morning, we went to a prayer breakfast with Beth Moore, Shirley Dobson, and about 60 other women. Beth and Mrs. Dobson spoke, and other women prayed for the seven centers of power in our country: Families, Government, Education, Media, Churches, Business, and Military.

We first saw Dr. Dobson in a lobby at the hotel. We were so impressed with how he acted so delighted to talk to us; like he had known us forever. He is a very humble, kind man. He is somewhat keeping his distance in this picture. He said that he had an eye infection and was not getting too close. We all believe that is true, right?? I am sure that it had nothing to do with the chasing him into the bathroom incident from last year. :)

I am frequently reminded to thank God for Dr. Dobson's work on behalf of families in our country.

On Tuesday afternoon, the NDP group went to Mount Vernon to tour, have dinner, and listen to an incredible presentation by David Barton.

This is from his bio: "David Barton is the Founder and President of WallBuilders, a national pro-family organization that presents America's forgotten history and heroes, with an emphasis on our moral, religious and constitutional heritage."

As my sister said, David Barton is like a walking history book. In an auditorium at Mount Vernon, he gave a very informative talk about George Washington and his faith. Dr. Dobson had opened the presentation by saying that our President had recently said on foreign soil that we are not a Christian nation. He asked David to talk about that. He talked about the many references to God and Jesus Christ in Washington's letters and speeches that make it clear that we were indeed founded as a Christian nation.

We had some free time on Wednesday morning, so we headed first to the White House for a picture.

We made our way down to the Capitol to see if we could participate in the Bible reading which was being held on the Capitol steps. Unfortunately, the time slots were all filled. Still, it was great to see the word of God being read aloud there!

Thursday was the NDP National Observance. It was three powerful hours of worship and prayer for the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of our government. The Dobsons were vocal about their disappointment in this administration's refusal to participate in the National Day of Prayer. Since Reagan, each administration has been a part of this event. Reagan and the two Bushes had events in the White House, and even Clinton sent a representative from the executive branch to the national observance. (Clinton did let Mrs. Dobson come and pray over him in the Oval Office one year.) Obama did not even send a representative. The other branches of government had a representative there to speak before we prayed for their branch. Sadly, the executive branch was noticeably absent. We, of course, still prayed fervently for Obama, Biden, and the Cabinet members.

We had a fabulous time and considered it a great honor to lift up our country in prayer in our nation's capital!