Day 3

Rain moved through last night, pretty heavy rain too. They need it. After a fairly wet spring, the last few weeks have been really dry. We are hoping the rain is done for the day, weather radar looks promising. However, as the heat of the day returns we will have to wait and see. Besides the moisture the rain brings, we start out the day almost 10 degrees cooler than yesterday. Bad news, just heard from someone sleeping in the basement, we had some of the rain leak into the basement. Going to be an interesting day.

Today, the boys cooked breakfast. Scrambled eggs and ham with hash browns from left over potatoes. They did a great job. As we headed out to the reservation, Karl stopped by to begin wet vacuuming the basement. By the time we got back from the reservation, the carpet was only a little damp, and those who had had some wet clothes this morning were able to hang things up to dry. While it was not a welcome event, it could have been a lot worse and thankfully it was not. Anyway, up on the reservation, our service team got to work and finished the last of the mold abatement in the basement. With lots of ventilation, good masks, and goggles, the work went off without a hitch. Part of the team began to lay the new subfloor in the chancel area and part began to sand down the front doors of the church so that the paint will adhere better. A couple of the ladies on our trip, bought some plants and really spruced up the front of the church.

We had a much bigger turnout today for VBS. It was great to see even more returning faces and to hear about their last year. Unfortunately we learned that some of our regular attendees have moved away from the little town we are in. While it is sad, about half of the kids we have attending are new faces to get to know and begin to build relationship with. It is so great to watch kids working side by side on crafts and having fun playing games outside. We had a special visitor today; a gentleman named Tom (a Lutheran seminarian) joined us for part of the afternoon. Tom is an intern working on the reservation and it was great to hear his story. We look forward to his return tomorrow.

After we took the kids home, it was time to head back to Valentine. On the way back, we could see a sizable rainstorm to the west. Immediately, people began to worry about the basement. But it was a quick rain and not too heavy, so no problems were noted. However, the one problem we did encounter was that due to the weather, the pool had closed. This meant no showers! It may not be ideal, but we are all in the same boat, so we will get through the night. This did give our team a little extra down time and our youth took advantage of it. Some played games, some read, some slept, some walked back and forth to the store in the rain. Well, not all the way back. Fr. Tom timed his getting gas in the van to be near the corner the youth were passing. Almost all took advantage of this opportune blessing.

Dinner was excellent tonight and everyone was hungry. It was interesting to note that after eating as much as they did, our youth still had room to enjoy an ine cream cone, sundae, or shake from the store down the street. Jokingly, one of our adults asked the kids to bring back an ice cream cone and preferably before it was all melted. When they came back, one of our youth had done just that and it was very much appreciated. Bible study ran a little long tonight as we also blended in discussion on one of the short articles we read about Lakota Morals and Ethics titled "Generosity". Great discussion and interesting insights. Because we ran a little long, the VBS crew did not have as much time to prepare as they would have liked, but they are okay with it as there will be time in the morning when we get to the reservation to fine tune things.

Another wonderful night of Compline led by our youth. One thing that has amazed me over the last few years is that our youth really taken to this service. Our team leaders organize it and they teach their team how to include everyone. Not sure any of our youth can recite Compline without the prayer book, it would be a challenge for this blog writer, but they have the flow and pace just about perfect. Lights are going out. I think our teams will sleep well, it was a long day. Having said that, they are looking forward to tomorrow as they know we will be traveling to Smith Falls after returning from the reservation. So for now, God bless and sweet dreams.