You can probably tell by looking at my list of “Recent Posts” that April has been a little different than other months. One major factor in that was my trip to Venezuela with a medical missions team from a church in Devils Lake.
The other factor was a sudden death in the family . . . my sister-in-law’s dad had a heart attack and passed away on April 11, 2008. Art was a quiet and gentle man who loved nature, loved his family, and loved the Lord. My parents and I drove to Nebraska to be with my brother, Erika (my sister-in-law), and her family and to be at Art’s funeral. Even as I type this, I am encouraged by the truth that was shared at his service . . . “For we do not grieve as those who have no hope . . .” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). Along with Erika and her family, I am clinging to the hope that we have in knowing Jesus and am so thankful that, although Art is absent from this life, he is living today in the presence of Jesus. Please ask the Lord to comfort and soothe Erika and her family with the reality of that truth and with the reality of His hope.
All of that to say, it’s been a different month. I am slowly getting back into the groove of “normal” life. This past week was my first full week being back, so I was able to do all of my usual weekly activities: Bible study with the younger girls, the KABU radio show, reading and recess at the school, and Wednesday-night youth group at Tokio.
Wednesday night was particularily interesting . . . it was dark, cold, windy, and pouring rain as the four girls and I left the church. The girls ran to get into my car (which was locked) while I was turning off lights and locking up the church. As I stood outside and turned the key to lock the church door, my car keys dropped, fell between the boards of the patio, and landed somewhere underneath the patio. The patio is only a few inches off of the ground, so we couldn’t crawl under there to get my keys. When the girls realized what had happened, they all jumped in to help: one using a broom handle to probe for my keys, one holding my cell phone (we used the flash of the camera as a flashlight), one holding the door open against the crazy wind and rain, and one taking pictures of the whole event (click Browse My Photos on the left to see them!). After about half an hour of that, we called Pastor Larry and he came with a rake. He used the rake and found all kinds of broken glass, plastic silverware, garbage, mud, a wrench, and a set of keys that HE had dropped over a year ago (!) . . . but not my car keys. By this time, the girls were all using garbage bags for rain coats. The rake wasn’t working, so Pastor Larry suggested that we just pry one of the boards off of the patio . . . and THAT is how we finally found my keys! The whole ordeal took about an hour, but the girls were chipper and helpful the whole time. When we finally got into my car–cold, wet, and windblown–we all admitted that it was actually pretty fun. 😉
Please continue to pray for these girls and for all the youth of Spirit Lake Nation . . . I believe that the Lord is transforming hearts!
I’m realizing more and more how thankful I am to be here and to be involved in these activities. The Lord has been so good to answer our prayers and He has been SO faithful to lead and guide and create opportunities here. Thank you for your prayers!
