Florida Manatee Festival in Crystal Springs

Psalm 98:6 says, "With trumpets and the sound of the shofar make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord." The sound of the shofar is a joyful sound, indeed, and we had the blessing of hearing one sound at the 39th annual Florida Manatee Festival in Crystal Springs. During this amazing event, we met an abundance of beautiful people, including a lovely couple named David and Rhonda. These two were carrying shofars from Israel, and decided to sound them right in front of our booth. It sent chills throughout my body, and by the end of the trumpets' blow, the Holy Spirit had moved me to tears. This was just one of the many genuinely special and sacred moments during this festival. 

Earlier in the day, another gorgeous married couple prayed with and for us, and this interaction set the tone for the entire show. This was the second event our prayer wall had been up. The entire day, our prayer table was completely packed with people, young and old, writing down their most vulnerable prayers. We feel an immense sense of gratitude and responsibility to the community we serve with this wall. 

Since it rained all of Sunday, we did not want to risk damaging merchandise, so we took advantage of the Three Sisters Spring's free admission for The Manatee Festival. This was my first time seeing manatees in real life, and I was astonished and overjoyed. This was so exciting for me, so much so that we booked a local manatee tour for the following Monday after the festival was over. Swimming with manatees was a bucket list activity, and this experience did not disappoint. 

We look forward to returning to Crystal Springs next year for the Florida Manatee Festival, and we cannot wait to swim with these gentle giants once more. Celebrating manatees is easy when they are so extremely cute!