God is Smiling on Rosebud

This past week I was touched by a lot of people and I saw lots of great things happen. The Prairie Light Youth Camp has been going on for the past six years; I have had the privilege of being there for the past three. While it has faced its challenges, PLYC has pushed through only by the grace of God.
Over the past years, PLYC has gone from a two week camp to a one week camp. There are so many people involved and they all want to shine the light of God into the darkness that has a hard hold on the reservation. This year we had groups from Michigan, Iowa, and South Dakota.
The group that went from my church was made up of around nineteen people (give or take a few cause some came late and left early). We stayed in a hunting lodge near the 'town' of Lakeview, SD. Lakeview is made up of a church and a school. That's it. Drivers take 15-passenger vans and mini-buses to different towns around Rosebud and pick the kids up. The kids are separated into grades and do different activities from 10:00a.m. til 3:15 p.m. The day is separated into activities that have to do with school and a time structured kinda like a vacation Bible school.
For my 4th grade kids, we started with Math and Reading Skills, then went to Gym and Rec., then to Art. After Art we went from the school to the church and ate lunch then had VBS time. The kids were led in song and the leaders performed skits for them every day.
The week went really great; it was amazing to be able to see the difference that is happening in these kids that attend. It was crazy to see the difference between the kids out there and the kids that I work with every day. Deep inside, they are all just kids, but the Rosebud kids have learned that life isn't always easy while my daycare kids have really easy lives. (I hope that makes sense).
Along with working with the kids, I made some great new friends. Some of them I just met, others I have known for most of their lives. I learned some really interesting things and came to the conclusion that boys will always confuse me, no matter how much I try to understand.

Now onto the adventures that were had. These are only a few:
1. Fitting 18 people into a GMC Yukon...
2. Playing Ninja, The Human Knot, Mafia, and Buck Buck
3. Going on walks and runs
4. Fitting 24 people into a 15-passenger and driving 30 miles
5. Star gazing til 12:30 at night
6. My sister and I playing the angels in the Christmas story
7. Water fights and bonfires
8. Square dancing (We really had an official square dance with a caller)
9. Major van/vehicle problems (We almost didn't make it home!)
10. The guys chasing turkeys away from the front door of the lodge so that I would go outside.

Yep, a great time was had by all!!

Dust, Grime, and a Good Time

The last few weeks here in southeast South Dakota have been absolutely beautiful! Most of the storms that have come through at night and most of the days have been sunny with a slight breeze. It's been really nice to have while working in a daycare because the kids will go stir crazy if they are stuck inside for too long. However, good weather brings something to life at my house: the never-ending task of landscaping. Ever since my family moved into our house over eight years ago, the landscaping has been either ignored because of projects to do in the house or it has been done and hasn't satisfied my parents (and so it will be re-landscaped).
Yeah, that's what my family has been doing lately. I'll post pictures of the work in progress because it has been interesting. The wind and dust have a way of making us really tired, really dirty, and ready for a good nights sleep. Hopefully it will get done soon.
Also, this next week I will be traveling to another part of South Dakota: the Rosebud Indian Reservation. There's hardly anything out there, but it is beautiful! The rolling prairie had hardly been touched by time. I will be going there with a group from my church and we will be running a youth camp for the week. This will be my third year going and I'm so excited! Hopefully the weather will be good and a wonderful time will be had by all while we bring God to the young people out there.