Beating Mother Nature

Psalm 66: 1 – 20

Beating Mother Nature

To the Chief Musician. A Song. A Psalm.

1 Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth! 2 Sing out the honor of His name; Make His praise glorious. 3 Say to God, “How awesome are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You. 4 All the earth shall worship You and sing praises to You; They shall sing praises to Your name.” Selah 5 Come and see the works of God; He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men. 6 He turned the sea into dry land; They went through the river on foot. There we will rejoice in Him. 7 He rules by His power forever; His eyes observe the nations; Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah 8 Oh, bless our God, you peoples! And make the voice of His praise to be heard, 9 Who keeps our soul among the living, and does not allow our feet to be moved. 10 For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined. 11 You brought us into the net; You laid affliction on our backs. 12 You have caused men to ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water; But You brought us out to rich fulfillment. 13 I will go into Your house with burnt offerings; I will pay You my vows, 14 Which my lips have uttered and my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble. 15 I will offer You burnt sacrifices of fat animals, with the sweet aroma of rams; I will offer bulls with goats. Selah 16 Come and hear, all you who fear God, And I will declare what He has done for my soul. 17 I cried to Him with my mouth, and He was extolled with my tongue. 18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. 19 But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer. 20 Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me!

Have you ever developed a youth outdoor sports program? Has Mother Nature ever tried to ruin your ministry plans?

Our Precious Holy Lord God used sports to keep me out of trouble. As He picked me to minister to youth, it was natural for me to include sport programs. One program which has drawn hundreds of kids each year has been our soccer league.

We try to do all things first class, so each team has the same uniforms worn by the pros. Our referees are all trained in soccer certification schools and we outfit them with professional outfits.

A trouble with outdoor sports is that mother nature does not cooperate with us. Since all our games are on Saturdays, we have to cancel the scheduled games if the weather makes the fields un-playable. I remember one season that it rained every weekend for 5 weeks strait. Needless to say it ruined our season. I think each team wound up playing only 4 games for the whole soccer season.

I am not one to just accept defeat so I investigated and found some material that will dry a field in a short time. The best all round material for water management and infield conditioning for most conditions is calcined clay.

Calcined clay is a popular soil amendment used on baseball infields for water management and soil conditioning. Clay is heated at a high temperature, about 1500 degrees Fahrenheit to expand the clay forming calcined clay. On baseball fields calcined clay is used to fill in infield depressions caused by cleats and smooth the surface to provide a true baseball bounce, which contributes to the safety of the field. Calcined clay absorbs water that can help dry a field after a rainstorm, and firm the surface.

Versions of calcined clay include vitrified clay and finely ground calcined clay products. Vitrified clay is similar to calcined clay but in the case of vitrified clay it is heated to over 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. The result is vitrified clay will absorb and hold water longer than calcined clay. Many sports field managers will combine calcined clay and vitrified clay in various proportions. During wet periods the proportion of calcined clay to vitrified clay will be higher to absorb water quickly and during dry periods the proportion of vitrified clay will increase. During dry periods the vitrified clay holds moisture longer allowing for a little more moisture on the infield surface than calcined clay.

Calcined clay can be ground into a finer product, almost like a powder. Finely ground calcined clay like Rapid Dry can absorb water quickly. It is often used after a heavy rainstorm to absorb puddles of water quickly on the infield. The disadvantage of the finely ground materials is that once the infield dries out it becomes hard and dusty.