We were told today that the dryer the conditions get....the stronger the winds blow. It has been very windy again and YES it is very dry. In the evening we run the sprinklers for two reasons....one because it is so dry and the other is because the grasshoppers don't like the sprinkling of water on their veggies. When we arrived this July the ranchers were saying they had never seen it so green.....and it was beautiful.....but now it's back to normal. Brown is what we see now. However, we were told once that the cows still do good on the dry grasses and there is still plenty of that.
Apparently the Todd County School system is having trouble with scheduling (at least at the high school level). But that involves Ms. Lucas who is also in charge of the local Lakeview Elementary School were we are wanting to have Release Time. And so we wait.....
Yesterday we had 2 girls over for scrapbooking and 5 boys came to build a tower. Then we all sat down to some homemade pizza. :-) They cleaned up all the food.....and we had brownies for birthday cake (Mark Left Hand Bull turned 15) and then we took them home. We left with the kids at 6:45 and got back home at 8:55......2 hours traveling the roads on the reservation. Distance is totally different out here.......and that doesn't make sense because a mile is a mile.....Guess I should rephrase that......The reservation is large and kids live from one end to the other........ But we traveled through some amazingly beautiful country!!! Some that we had never seen before. It's quite interesting taking these kids home..... "Turn here....no that's not our house keep going....." So we continue on this 2 track.....open a gate surrounded by horses...and we still don't see a house. Finally we catch a glimpse of a house on the edge of the canyons....beautiful location. "That's our house". The house isn't anything glamorous but the location certainly is!!!!
Yes, as some of you read (in the church overview) it was our anniversary yesterday.....40 years of togetherness. Thinking we'll stick it out for a while yet
:-) :-)
The church had a potluck in honor of Pastor Leiter and his wife (Winnie) who are retired as of today. They will be missed very much.... Winnie was a SS teacher and also taught at the Lakeview School. Pastor Leiter always had very powerful sermons. Pray for the congregation as they vote next week on a replacement.
Thank you for your support and prayers............Gary and Barb
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Coming along slowly...........
We have to remember that we are on the reservation and time is a bit different out here. Sometimes that's good.....sometimes that's not so good. We were hoping that Promised Land would begin next week....but we are beginning to wonder if that will be the case or not. The gal in charge is "checking out the policies of the other schools"..... So it sounds like no permission slips will go out this week......and we feel that we need those in order to take the kids off the school grounds. The teachers were talked to a while back and everyone was excited about the program..... But the powers that be have to get all the ducks in order......and that moves slowly...........
Meanwhile, we are staying busy working with the local ranchers as they work with their cattle.....getting ready for fall. The other day we helped as 171 cows were given an ultrasound check to see if they were AI (artifical insemination) or bull bred. Quite interesting..... What did we do??? Well I (Barb) was the secretary ---- recording the cows new ear tag number and whether AI or bull bred. Gary put fly spray on each cow as she came through the chute. It got very exciting as one cow decided to go out the side (where the vet was working)...bounded into the tent where the ultrasound equipment was stationed....and then went out the side door of the tent. Thankfully the vet and his assistant and the equipment were spared any injury. The cow??????? Well that ended up being quite the rodeo getting her back into the chute.....but the cowboys won!!!! (on this note --- a prayer request----- A couple of weeks ago this vet accidently dropped one of those large round bales on his son....breaking his back. So far the son has phantom feelings in his legs but is paralyzed from his waist down.)
We were asked to help the same crew tomorrow (Friday) again....This time an hours drive to the west.
Please pray that our Release Time will begin soon. We are ready!!! And getting excited ----but then those let downs when it doesn't happen....
Thank you so very much for your prayers and support!!!
Gary and Barb
Meanwhile, we are staying busy working with the local ranchers as they work with their cattle.....getting ready for fall. The other day we helped as 171 cows were given an ultrasound check to see if they were AI (artifical insemination) or bull bred. Quite interesting..... What did we do??? Well I (Barb) was the secretary ---- recording the cows new ear tag number and whether AI or bull bred. Gary put fly spray on each cow as she came through the chute. It got very exciting as one cow decided to go out the side (where the vet was working)...bounded into the tent where the ultrasound equipment was stationed....and then went out the side door of the tent. Thankfully the vet and his assistant and the equipment were spared any injury. The cow??????? Well that ended up being quite the rodeo getting her back into the chute.....but the cowboys won!!!! (on this note --- a prayer request----- A couple of weeks ago this vet accidently dropped one of those large round bales on his son....breaking his back. So far the son has phantom feelings in his legs but is paralyzed from his waist down.)
We were asked to help the same crew tomorrow (Friday) again....This time an hours drive to the west.
Please pray that our Release Time will begin soon. We are ready!!! And getting excited ----but then those let downs when it doesn't happen....
Thank you so very much for your prayers and support!!!
Gary and Barb
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Prairie Winds
Have you ever heard that the wind howls......well it is howling right now on the prairies!!! We have had wind for the last few days.....about 20 mph with gusts up to 40+- . I took a walk this morning and YES the wind DOES howl. Makes us wonder just what it will be like this winter.....-20 degrees with winds at 40 mph????? But we take each day as it comes.
Yesterday morning we watched a doe leave her twin fawns behind in the weeds in the pasture just west of us. We could see them off and on during the day so we knew they were staying put. At dusk we got to see the doe come and retrieve the two. Mama made a graceful jump over the barbed wire fence and we wondered how those little ones would make it. Well, the fence is 3 strands.....so inbetween the bottom and middle wires.....no problem.
The land really needs a good rain....things are getting very dry. But it is still a beautiful sight.....all the hay bales and the cattle "on a thousand hills".
I have been preparing a lot of "stuff" for the beginning of Release Time which we have dubbed "Promised Land". It really seems that God is directing my thoughts and preparations are coming along very nicely.
We will really cherish your prayers once "Promised Land" begins. Thank you for your support!!
Love, Gary and Barb
Yesterday morning we watched a doe leave her twin fawns behind in the weeds in the pasture just west of us. We could see them off and on during the day so we knew they were staying put. At dusk we got to see the doe come and retrieve the two. Mama made a graceful jump over the barbed wire fence and we wondered how those little ones would make it. Well, the fence is 3 strands.....so inbetween the bottom and middle wires.....no problem.
The land really needs a good rain....things are getting very dry. But it is still a beautiful sight.....all the hay bales and the cattle "on a thousand hills".
I have been preparing a lot of "stuff" for the beginning of Release Time which we have dubbed "Promised Land". It really seems that God is directing my thoughts and preparations are coming along very nicely.
We will really cherish your prayers once "Promised Land" begins. Thank you for your support!!
Love, Gary and Barb
Monday, August 18, 2008
Week of Visitors
This past weekend we were blessed with visitors from Michigan. Hazel and Paul VanKoevering - Gary's sister and her husband came to visit with us. We always enjoy giving new comers directions to our home. There are no street names, no house numbers.....you just follow the directions we give and come in faith. But so far everyone has found us with little difficulty. Luckily everyone has arrived in day light. I would even hate to have to find our road from the west entrance in the dark.....and that's the way everyone comes in.
We have sent a "letter of intent" to the school concerning Release Time, and we are told that the teachers are excited...."oh boy, one more hour to plan". We have asked to have the kids on Tues. and Thurs. afternoons. There are 4 classrooms in Lakeview Elem. ----- Kindergarten through 8th grade. So we will take 2 classrooms on Tues. and the remaining 2 on Thurs. We have asked for at least an hour each time (doing only 1 classroom at a time --- So we will be doing our lessons 4X). We forsee this as a very busy two days with preparation days needed also. Please keep Release Time in your prayers. We are just so thankful that we had the "Teaching Children Effectively" class through Child Evangelism Fellowship. We truly feeling this was a wonderful blessing from God!!!
We did have more girls over for scrapbooking and they really seem to enjoy it and ask when we will do it again. The hard part is not being concerned with the miles that we have to put on to accomplish this......I put on 160 miles for the round trip getting the girls and bringing them home. (And then the next day we had a flat tire.....) Oh Well, "comes with the territory" we are told.
Our days remain full (for the most part) helping my cousin with his ranch work. Moving cattle, fixing corrals etc.......but it's rewarding work and they do need an extra hand. Gary also was able to fix a four wheeler that was stuck in 5th gear. He found the broken part and was able to get the parts needed in a couple of days.....and succeeded in getting it all back together and running again.
We DO have long distance service now!!!! Thank you for prayers concerning that. That was quite the task ..........
For those of you who haven't heard ---- we are grandparents again. Holly and Dennis had a baby boy born on August 15 ---- Sawyer Marvin Kroeze. A real cutie!!!!! :-) Mother, baby and family are all doing well and have returned home again.
Thank you again for your support !!!
Gary and Barb
We have sent a "letter of intent" to the school concerning Release Time, and we are told that the teachers are excited...."oh boy, one more hour to plan". We have asked to have the kids on Tues. and Thurs. afternoons. There are 4 classrooms in Lakeview Elem. ----- Kindergarten through 8th grade. So we will take 2 classrooms on Tues. and the remaining 2 on Thurs. We have asked for at least an hour each time (doing only 1 classroom at a time --- So we will be doing our lessons 4X). We forsee this as a very busy two days with preparation days needed also. Please keep Release Time in your prayers. We are just so thankful that we had the "Teaching Children Effectively" class through Child Evangelism Fellowship. We truly feeling this was a wonderful blessing from God!!!
We did have more girls over for scrapbooking and they really seem to enjoy it and ask when we will do it again. The hard part is not being concerned with the miles that we have to put on to accomplish this......I put on 160 miles for the round trip getting the girls and bringing them home. (And then the next day we had a flat tire.....) Oh Well, "comes with the territory" we are told.
Our days remain full (for the most part) helping my cousin with his ranch work. Moving cattle, fixing corrals etc.......but it's rewarding work and they do need an extra hand. Gary also was able to fix a four wheeler that was stuck in 5th gear. He found the broken part and was able to get the parts needed in a couple of days.....and succeeded in getting it all back together and running again.
We DO have long distance service now!!!! Thank you for prayers concerning that. That was quite the task ..........
For those of you who haven't heard ---- we are grandparents again. Holly and Dennis had a baby boy born on August 15 ---- Sawyer Marvin Kroeze. A real cutie!!!!! :-) Mother, baby and family are all doing well and have returned home again.
Thank you again for your support !!!
Gary and Barb
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Back from Colorado
We had a fun time in Colorado with everyone. We did some hiking in the beautiful area around Leadville. Would post a picture but as of right now things aren't working as well as we would like. Our camera is being sent out for repairs and ......................
We have been called on several times by one of my cousins to help out with cattle work.....moving them to different pastures, vaccinating calves, etc. It's always an interesting job getting the cattle through the chute. Tomorrow (Monday) we will go out again with a different rancher to round up a herd and vaccinate and spray cow and calf pairs. We enjoy being of help to all of these ranchers as there is always a shortage of help out here.
We haven't worked with the kids since we returned from our trip. Things go rather slow because our phone problem is still unresolved. However, we do have plans in the works so hopefully these will all work out. School on the reservation starts in a couple of weeks. But there is also a fair and rodeo in Rosebud this coming weekend and so that will involve a lot of the kids.
A couple of prayer requests:
We would ask for prayers for the Lakeview Church as they continue to search for a new pastor. Pastor Leiter will be leaving at the end of this month for retirement. He will, in fact, be moving to the Hudsonville area.
Also pray for Kathy Tinant (a member of LCRC) who was just diagnosed with colon cancer. They have caught it early but it is of the type that does not respond well to treatment.
I believe that's all for now. Thank you again for your interest, support, and prayers. They are all important to us.
Gary and Barb
We have been called on several times by one of my cousins to help out with cattle work.....moving them to different pastures, vaccinating calves, etc. It's always an interesting job getting the cattle through the chute. Tomorrow (Monday) we will go out again with a different rancher to round up a herd and vaccinate and spray cow and calf pairs. We enjoy being of help to all of these ranchers as there is always a shortage of help out here.
We haven't worked with the kids since we returned from our trip. Things go rather slow because our phone problem is still unresolved. However, we do have plans in the works so hopefully these will all work out. School on the reservation starts in a couple of weeks. But there is also a fair and rodeo in Rosebud this coming weekend and so that will involve a lot of the kids.
A couple of prayer requests:
We would ask for prayers for the Lakeview Church as they continue to search for a new pastor. Pastor Leiter will be leaving at the end of this month for retirement. He will, in fact, be moving to the Hudsonville area.
Also pray for Kathy Tinant (a member of LCRC) who was just diagnosed with colon cancer. They have caught it early but it is of the type that does not respond well to treatment.
I believe that's all for now. Thank you again for your interest, support, and prayers. They are all important to us.
Gary and Barb
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)