So much to do…

I’ve been home from Wisconsin for a week and a half now and I haven’t stopped!!!  We had Adam and Laura’s wedding, lunch with the girls, a Mother’s Day celebration, a fish fry with my dad, I did Shane’s books and now I’m trying to prepare for the next two months!

How do you prepare to live on the road for two whole months???  Very carefuly! Sometimes I’ll be in tents or tipis using disaster relief shower units.  Other times I’ll be on the floor of a church using a bath house.  Some days I’ll be in hotels.  For a few days I’ll be on a cot in someone’s home.  All of these situations require different needs…flashlights, battery operated fans, sleeping bag, cot, air mattress, etc.  They also all require a different mode of transport for my toiletries to and from whatever bathhouse/restroom is available to me.  I don’t even want to think about having to shave my legs!!!!!!!

Then there is the issue of keeping up with all of the dates.  Which reservation I’m on and what dates…the date to meet one church at Pine Ridge in South Dakota, the date to meet another at Ft. Belknap in Montana and still another date to meet another group on the Navaho reservation in northern New Mexico.  Then there’s the date that I pick my mom up at the airport in Denver to spend some vacation time with her on the way  home.

Then there are the decisions to make.  Should I wing it or make reservations at places to stay in between reservations?  It’s summer so hotel rooms will be scarce but at the same time I don’t want to follow a strict schedule if I don’t have to.

I’ve also still things I want to do before I go. There are people to have lunch with, a slumber party with Mama and Kaylee, Kaylee’s 6th grade graduation, keeping Hudson and Denton…all things I’ll miss while I am gone.

And of course there is all of the preparation for being gone so long.  I’ve got to make sure my mom has all the information she needs to pick up my mail and make my deposits ( or none of this can take place ); I’ve got to make sure my dog is taken care of, my home phone and Direct TV are cut off (I’m not paying for something I’m not using for two months), my hair is cut, my oil is changed, my brake light is repaired, my car is checked out, my bags are packed and my car is loaded!

I get tired thinking about all of it…but I wouldn’t trade this life for anything!

New Life…

It’s been an interesting week here at Lac du Flambeau.  Mr. Ed came home from the hopsital and then had to return.  Mrs. Virginia is lost without him.  Here’s a shot of the two of them acting silly after he got home.

He should be able to come home again tomorrow.  I hope so!

Mrs. Judy had eye surgery Wednesday and came home Thursday night.  Her surgery went well but she has now come down with the flu.  The house I am staying in while on the rez belongs to her.  She has been beyond generous and I’ve really come to love her.  Here’s a shot of where I’ve been living these three weeks.

I’ll miss this double wide on the rez…it’s MUCH better than the one I live in at home and it’s defintely better than the tents and tipis I’ll be sleeping in on other reservations this summer!

Friday night Mr. Buddy, Dar and Pam took me to eat supper.  After supper Dar and Pam invited me to come back to their house for a visit. They’ve got a full house.  A son, his girlfriend and her three children along with their daughter’s two children.  It’s a home filled with laughter and fun.  One of the sweetest sights I’ve seen the whole time I’ve been here was Dar singing a hymn to his grandson, Bryson.  Let me introduce you to Bryson…

He is bright eyed and full of life!  And, thanks to his grandparents, he will know the Lord!  I believe we are looking at a future Christian leader in the Native American community!

Then there’s Hazel…a beautiful little girl with lots of black hair and eyes to match.  She looks as if she’s questioning everyone and everything around her.

And this is a picture of Pam’s life!  She loves it but all I can say is, “Better Pam than me!”

Today was great because we had two more children come to Children’s Church!  They are Mrs. Virginia’s great, great nieces, Emily and Sky…

Their dad is Walter, Mrs. Virginia’s great nephew…and the operative word here is “great.”  Walter is there every time Mrs. Virginia needs him.  He is 34 years old and has six children that he is raising on his own…and he’ s doing it well. I have a great deal of admiration for him.

My beautiful niece, Kaylee, turned 12 on Thursday and she had her party yesterday. It was hot there and the kids played on a slip and slide that my brother made.  I have to admit, it made me kind of homesick.  I hate hot weather but playing around in the water on a hot day with my niece is always fun! The last two days here on the rez have been cold and dreary outside. The kind of days that make you want to stay inside and sleep or read a good book.  Getting out of bed this morning was not easy until I got to church and saw this…

It just kind of puts everything into perspective doesn’t it?  God shows us through nature how everything is always changing.  Everything comes to an end and begins again.

The children on this reservation are the future of this reservation.  There’s a church in a nearby town (not on the rez) that picks the reservation children up on Wednesday’s and brings them to a special children’s program at the church.  The kids are learning God’s Word and I’m pleased with that.  The church that is ministering to these kids is great but once again, the children are experiencing Christ in the “white man’s world” rather than in their own. I want these kids to know that Jesus resides on their reservation as well!  Now is the time for that…I believe that this is the season of new life here at Lac du Flambeau….in nature and in the Church.  New groups are coming in behind me; the members here are prepared to reach out to the children in this community and lives are being restored on this reservation.  I’m so grateful that God allowed me to be a small part of it.

So, what’s next?  I’m headed home…to a place where I’m not the only one who “talks funny.”  I’m going to pick up my dog, love on my niece and nephew, have a fish fry at my Daddy’s, enjoy Mother’s Day with my Mama, go to a very special wedding, give Hudson and Denton a big bear hug, spend time with Josh and Nikki,  have a slumber party with my Mama and Kaylee, get ready for a new baby girl, go out with friends and finish preparing to leave again in June.  I’ll keep you posted…

as soon as I’m on the road again…