October 13, 2008
Monday- The school celebrates Columbus Day, so school was out today. Our family spent the day bonding and playing. We spent a lot of time playing games with the girls and teasing each other. It was a very nice day. Tonight, the Roberts and Miss Springer came over and we watched Monday night football. Miss Springer always says it, but it is funny to watch. The kids all think it is so exciting to see their teacher outside of the classroom. Miss Springer teaches Abby, Ian & Dylan, so they were all very excited to have her there. I enjoyed getting to know her better as well. It isn't easy with our conflicting jobs and time schedules to get together and just talk about general things. It was nice.
Tuesday
Jerry killed another rattlesnake today. The kids went down after lunch to the playground. When any child has to sit out of recess for some time, they have to sit on the picnic table. Well, this day there was five boys sitting on the table, when Jerry notices the snake, right underneath the table. The snake was all sprawled out, not coiled up. It didn't seem to even notice that it was surrounded. Jerry softly instructed everyone to back away and then dealt with the imminent threat.
Wednesday
We got another new student! The child enrolled this morning, just in time for the Navajo lessons in the morning. This time, the teacher gave us sheets to study the Navajo language. I am working on it! It seems much more complicated than Latin and Russian that I have studied in the past.
Thursday
I went to the library this evening and picked up some books by the author Hillerman. He writes mystery novels, a lot of them based on the Navajo reservation. I have heard that his depiction is very accurate. The girls are in bed asleep. It is about 10 o'clock at night and I hear one of the girls crying out. I rush back to their room, thinking they must be having a nightmare. They are both sound asleep and the sound continues. I then realize what the scream really is. Coyotes. They are right outside our back door, it sound like at least three of them. I wonder if they are killing the rabbits that I see playing out there sometimes. When I turn on the porch light on the back of the trailer, I can't seem them. And, they don't stop bawling. Jerry and I hear them a couple of more times that night. It is a scary sound to hear, right outside your window where your children sometimes play.
Sunday
Today, Daron & Tami & Noah are driving to the Dilkon Christian Church and Daron is preaching the lesson at 9AM. Then, they turn around and drive back here so that Daron can preach the message at Red Sands Christian Church at 11AM. Dilkon Christian Church is around 50 miles away, so their traveling starts at 7:30 AM. Dylan and Ian are staying with us while their parents travel to Dilkon. The kids play well together this morning. Abby and Dylan walked up the hill to the church arm in arm, stopping every now and then to pick flowers. Unfortunately, the flowers are on cactus and Kelcy gets stuck by the cactus trying to pick flowers, too. However, she did pick her own splinters out of her hand today.
We had 30 people in the church service today here at Red Sands. I had lots of kids in my class. It was really great. We are averaging 28 people at the church services here in October.
I received some packages from my Ladies Bible Study group back home! Thank you all for your gifts! We have all enjoyed them and we all appreciate your thinking of us!
Next Week--Another new student for the school!
Monday, October 27, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Rattlesnake, Tumbleweed, Dust Storm.
Tuesday October 7th, 2008
This was a busy week! We had school every day as usual. I was busy getting things prepared for the board meeting. On Tuesday, we took school pictures and class pictures. For those of you who are familiar with the campus, we took the school pictures outside, by fence on the horse corral. It was a beautiful, cloudless day. Jerry took the pictures with our film camera and Miss Dawn took pictures with the digital camera, just in case. We took individual shots, then all of the kids in one family, then the individual classes and their teachers, then the staff all together. I hope to post some of these soon. We also had music with the Sprinkles on that day AND library with Ms. Anne. It was a busy day for the kids. The kids all got very rambunctious when their routine was messed up like that. It was a rough, loud ride home of the school bus that day.
Wednesday, October 8th, 2008
On Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Roberts parents and his middle brother arrived for a surprise visit. And I do mean surprise! No one knew they were coming. They arrived at about 2:30PM, when the guys were outside teaching P.E. They are a lovely and loving family. I must confess, I was glad for Daron, but seeing his family here, also made me more home sick. I wished that my family and Jerry’s family might be the ones visiting here some day. Wednesday evening, Mr. Rich and Mr. Mark from Miamisburg Christian Church in Ohio arrived to visit with the school children prior to the board meeting. We had been expecting them. They were both very kind and I enjoyed getting to know them. They stayed at the church building in the Sunday school room with the couch. They both have an obvious love for Red Sands and the Navajo people.
Thursday, October 9th, 2008
This morning, I ran into town to the bank and the post office. While driving from the mission to the interstate, I saw my first TUMBLEWEED. I don’t know why I was so excited (and still am excited) to see tumbleweed. Maybe it is because I love western movies and I have seen many scenes where the tumbleweed rolled across the dirt road and it was exciting to see one in person. It was initially a small one. The tumbleweed was a little piece of brush that had dried up, turned white and been broken free from its fragile hold in the sandy soil by the wind. It rolled right across the road, just like in the movies. I have since seen several more tumbleweeds cross the road. Some are green, some are brown and some are white.
After lunch, the school children have P.E. One of the kids came inside the school and said there was a snake. Jerry, thinking it was a joke, went outside to check. Sure enough, there was a rattlesnake just outside the school door. It was curled up under a rock, so I don’t think it was being aggressive at the time, but Jerry got to kill his first rattlesnake that day. All the men who were on the premises at the time, Daron, Rich, Mark, Daron’s Dad and brother were there to witness the killing. Jerry said it was probably an unfair battle, having seven men again one little rattlesnake, but the snake needed to be disposed of and Jerry was the man to do it.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
At 3AM, I am awakened from sleep by the sound of the wind. The wind hits the trailer and I can hear the roof roll and something that is loose on the outside slams open and shut. I can never quite see what it making the noise when I look outside. A wind/dust storm at night is not unusual, so I prepare to wait it out. An hour later, Abby and Kelcy are awakened by the ferocity of the storm. I send Abby to our bed with Jerry and I take Kelcy back to her room and lie down with her, again figuring to wait out the storm and hoping to return to sleep. Unfortunately, it is hope that does not play out. The storm continues. I take Kelcy back to our room, hoping she will sleep in there. She keeps asking “What is trying to get in here?” and “Why is our house shaking?” Then she starte telling me there are bugs in my hair? I am not sure about that one, but I assume it is a manifestation of her fear of the storm. By now, we can feel and see the wind shaking and moving the house. Abby keeps saying, “I’m not afraid anymore”, probably trying to convince both me and Jerry and herself that it was true. I must confess, I was getting a little nervous. I know that this trailer has stood for 30 years, but I wonder if the roof is capable of withstanding the battering it is taking. Time moves on: 5AM, 6AM, 7AM. By this time, Kelcy and I are in the living room. I was hoping the wind would not be so loud out here and I began making dessert for the board meeting today. Abby finally goes back to sleep about 7AM. Kelcy never goes back to sleep. When it is light outside, I can see the dust. It is like fog, only not just close to the ground. It swallows up the landscape and envelopes everything around us. It insidiously makes its way inside our house through any opening. At the windows, the front door, an electric outlet, sand piles up in our house. The wind is blowing from 30-40 miles per hour, with reported gusts up to 70 miles per hour. We have to leave the house to go to the board meeting. We have to plan to load up the car. We look like Western bandits, with handkerchiefs over our mouths and noses and our sunglasses on to keep the sand out of our mouths and nose and eyes. We wait for a brief break in the sandblasting force of the wind and make a break for the truck. The wind makes it difficult to get the door to the house shut, as it is blowing directly into the door. We wrap the girls’ heads in towels to protect them and carry them out to the truck. When we get to the church up the hill, the process is repeated. The storm lasted for roughly fifteen hours, from 3AM to 6PM that day. The end result is that the roof on the new staff house and the old school building has been destroyed beyond repair, there is insulation from the house all over our fence and yard. The ground no longer has that soft layer of sand, it was all blown away. What remains is the small rocks on top of the bedrock. I am told that the length and intensity of this storm is unusual, even here. I sincerely hope that is true!
The board meeting went well. Both the board members and the staff met from 9AM till Noon and then we had lunch. Afterward, Keith came down to the trailer and we got to talk to him about everything going on at home and how we were all doing here. It was nice to get a chance to see and talk to him. We did miss Ms. Aleta. I know that she wasn’t able to attend the meeting this time and I just want her to know how much she was missed. Ms. Aleta always brings life and sparkle to a room!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
I was wondering if the storm would affect attendance. It was down today, we only had 21. I did have four of my regular class members present, so that was nice. One of the Navajo ladies, Miss Sonja, led the singing today for the first time, while Miss Anne played the piano. It brought a big smile to my face to see her up there leading us. We also got to sing “Jesus Love Me” in Navajo. That was really neat. Mr. Keith preached the sermon on Jonah and his experience. The message being it took being swallowed by a fish to get Jonah to be obedient, but “what’s it going to take to get your attention?” It was great! Afterward, we went out to eat at Denny’s with Mr. Keith and the Roberts family. It was nice to not be cooking and cleaning up for the meal. Abby and Kelcy were very well behaved, so it was an enjoyable meal all around. After lunch, we drove over to the Little Painted Desert that I described before. Abby called it a big slide. She was not even a little afraid to get near the edge and she wanted to slide down the smooth rock to the bottom. She was running around the edges of the canyon and making me terribly nervous. I think it looks like a large cemented skateboard park. It has natural ramps and curves like that. I did take some pictures of the LPD to share.
This was a busy week! We had school every day as usual. I was busy getting things prepared for the board meeting. On Tuesday, we took school pictures and class pictures. For those of you who are familiar with the campus, we took the school pictures outside, by fence on the horse corral. It was a beautiful, cloudless day. Jerry took the pictures with our film camera and Miss Dawn took pictures with the digital camera, just in case. We took individual shots, then all of the kids in one family, then the individual classes and their teachers, then the staff all together. I hope to post some of these soon. We also had music with the Sprinkles on that day AND library with Ms. Anne. It was a busy day for the kids. The kids all got very rambunctious when their routine was messed up like that. It was a rough, loud ride home of the school bus that day.
Wednesday, October 8th, 2008
On Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Roberts parents and his middle brother arrived for a surprise visit. And I do mean surprise! No one knew they were coming. They arrived at about 2:30PM, when the guys were outside teaching P.E. They are a lovely and loving family. I must confess, I was glad for Daron, but seeing his family here, also made me more home sick. I wished that my family and Jerry’s family might be the ones visiting here some day. Wednesday evening, Mr. Rich and Mr. Mark from Miamisburg Christian Church in Ohio arrived to visit with the school children prior to the board meeting. We had been expecting them. They were both very kind and I enjoyed getting to know them. They stayed at the church building in the Sunday school room with the couch. They both have an obvious love for Red Sands and the Navajo people.
Thursday, October 9th, 2008
This morning, I ran into town to the bank and the post office. While driving from the mission to the interstate, I saw my first TUMBLEWEED. I don’t know why I was so excited (and still am excited) to see tumbleweed. Maybe it is because I love western movies and I have seen many scenes where the tumbleweed rolled across the dirt road and it was exciting to see one in person. It was initially a small one. The tumbleweed was a little piece of brush that had dried up, turned white and been broken free from its fragile hold in the sandy soil by the wind. It rolled right across the road, just like in the movies. I have since seen several more tumbleweeds cross the road. Some are green, some are brown and some are white.
After lunch, the school children have P.E. One of the kids came inside the school and said there was a snake. Jerry, thinking it was a joke, went outside to check. Sure enough, there was a rattlesnake just outside the school door. It was curled up under a rock, so I don’t think it was being aggressive at the time, but Jerry got to kill his first rattlesnake that day. All the men who were on the premises at the time, Daron, Rich, Mark, Daron’s Dad and brother were there to witness the killing. Jerry said it was probably an unfair battle, having seven men again one little rattlesnake, but the snake needed to be disposed of and Jerry was the man to do it.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
At 3AM, I am awakened from sleep by the sound of the wind. The wind hits the trailer and I can hear the roof roll and something that is loose on the outside slams open and shut. I can never quite see what it making the noise when I look outside. A wind/dust storm at night is not unusual, so I prepare to wait it out. An hour later, Abby and Kelcy are awakened by the ferocity of the storm. I send Abby to our bed with Jerry and I take Kelcy back to her room and lie down with her, again figuring to wait out the storm and hoping to return to sleep. Unfortunately, it is hope that does not play out. The storm continues. I take Kelcy back to our room, hoping she will sleep in there. She keeps asking “What is trying to get in here?” and “Why is our house shaking?” Then she starte telling me there are bugs in my hair? I am not sure about that one, but I assume it is a manifestation of her fear of the storm. By now, we can feel and see the wind shaking and moving the house. Abby keeps saying, “I’m not afraid anymore”, probably trying to convince both me and Jerry and herself that it was true. I must confess, I was getting a little nervous. I know that this trailer has stood for 30 years, but I wonder if the roof is capable of withstanding the battering it is taking. Time moves on: 5AM, 6AM, 7AM. By this time, Kelcy and I are in the living room. I was hoping the wind would not be so loud out here and I began making dessert for the board meeting today. Abby finally goes back to sleep about 7AM. Kelcy never goes back to sleep. When it is light outside, I can see the dust. It is like fog, only not just close to the ground. It swallows up the landscape and envelopes everything around us. It insidiously makes its way inside our house through any opening. At the windows, the front door, an electric outlet, sand piles up in our house. The wind is blowing from 30-40 miles per hour, with reported gusts up to 70 miles per hour. We have to leave the house to go to the board meeting. We have to plan to load up the car. We look like Western bandits, with handkerchiefs over our mouths and noses and our sunglasses on to keep the sand out of our mouths and nose and eyes. We wait for a brief break in the sandblasting force of the wind and make a break for the truck. The wind makes it difficult to get the door to the house shut, as it is blowing directly into the door. We wrap the girls’ heads in towels to protect them and carry them out to the truck. When we get to the church up the hill, the process is repeated. The storm lasted for roughly fifteen hours, from 3AM to 6PM that day. The end result is that the roof on the new staff house and the old school building has been destroyed beyond repair, there is insulation from the house all over our fence and yard. The ground no longer has that soft layer of sand, it was all blown away. What remains is the small rocks on top of the bedrock. I am told that the length and intensity of this storm is unusual, even here. I sincerely hope that is true!
The board meeting went well. Both the board members and the staff met from 9AM till Noon and then we had lunch. Afterward, Keith came down to the trailer and we got to talk to him about everything going on at home and how we were all doing here. It was nice to get a chance to see and talk to him. We did miss Ms. Aleta. I know that she wasn’t able to attend the meeting this time and I just want her to know how much she was missed. Ms. Aleta always brings life and sparkle to a room!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
I was wondering if the storm would affect attendance. It was down today, we only had 21. I did have four of my regular class members present, so that was nice. One of the Navajo ladies, Miss Sonja, led the singing today for the first time, while Miss Anne played the piano. It brought a big smile to my face to see her up there leading us. We also got to sing “Jesus Love Me” in Navajo. That was really neat. Mr. Keith preached the sermon on Jonah and his experience. The message being it took being swallowed by a fish to get Jonah to be obedient, but “what’s it going to take to get your attention?” It was great! Afterward, we went out to eat at Denny’s with Mr. Keith and the Roberts family. It was nice to not be cooking and cleaning up for the meal. Abby and Kelcy were very well behaved, so it was an enjoyable meal all around. After lunch, we drove over to the Little Painted Desert that I described before. Abby called it a big slide. She was not even a little afraid to get near the edge and she wanted to slide down the smooth rock to the bottom. She was running around the edges of the canyon and making me terribly nervous. I think it looks like a large cemented skateboard park. It has natural ramps and curves like that. I did take some pictures of the LPD to share.
I've seen how the joy outweighs the pain...
This week was a pretty normal week. We had the Indian Health Center come and checked the kids teeth and sealed them. I am not sure what this entails, but Abby is now super excited about brushing her teeth. Kelcy has picked up on this and they both brush their teeth morning and night now. Of course, the “brushing the teeth” emphasis in on bed time, when they are both trying to avoid going to sleep. They have to brush their teeth again. I am really excited about this because the water here is well water and it does not contain fluoride. At home, we mostly drank distilled water, but the kids were also exposed to fluoride in their bath tub and shower water and I would fix them water from the sink occasionally, to keep some fluoride on their teeth. Abby, along with her whole class, brushes her teeth at school. That is really great!
The Red Sands Christian School sent out report cards on September 30th. Some were really good, others needed some improvement. The school uses a system with three periods of six weeks, instead of 2 periods of nine weeks. Some of the kids confessed that they were worried what their parents would say when their parents saw their report card. However, progress is being made with all of the students. You may wonder about Abby? Kindergarteners do not get a report card the first six weeks, so we don’t have anything to report yet. Although, Miss Dawn says that Abby can read several words, like “pot” and “cat”. Very exciting stuff!
Mr. Mark came to visit on Friday, October 3rd. He was on his way to a business meeting in Las Vegas, so he said he wanted to stop by since he was in the neighborhood. He arrived here at Red Sands on Friday evening, about 9:30PM Arizona time (that is after midnight Eastern Daylight Time). We were all so happy to see him. Abby & Kelcy has been anxiously awaiting his arrival. Abby even agreed to take a bath that night so she would smell good when Mark got here. Mark brought a drawing from Alex and Jason for the girls to have. We have it posted on the refrigerator here. Abby & Kelcy both wanted to send something back, so they drew some pictures to send back with Mr. Mark. On Saturday morning we got up and had breakfast and it was pretty cold outside here. I don’t remember the temperature reading, but it was colder than it had been here in the morning. And it rained almost the whole day on Saturday! Mark came to the desert and it was cold and rainy all day! I don’t know if he was laughing or disappointed. Mark had rented a sweet ride for his trip here from the Phoenix airport. The girls and I loaded up in our pick-up and Mark & Jerry road in the rental car and we headed into “town”. We drove downtown to get some building supplies for the staff house under construction. We drove right by “the corner” from the Eagles song, “Standin’ on the corner in Winslow, AZ such a fine sight to see.” Mark & Jerry turned around and headed back that way. I thought maybe Mark wanted a picture of the “corner”, but they said there was a car show back there and they drove through it. The hardware store is right across from the Post Office, so the girls and I crossed the street to check the mail. By the time we made it back to the hardware store, the boys were there. We picked up the supplies and then Mark & Jerry drove on from Winslow to Dilkon to see Mr. Bill’s church.
Mark & Jerry drove up highway 87, headed toward the Dilkon turn off. The road toward Dilkon begins with what I call “scrub”. It is miles and miles of sandy soil with short bushes and rocks. It appears relatively flat and the road is certainly straight. Soon, you begin to see the Buttes (no pun intended) at Dilkon. They appear like giant, rounded rock formations in the distance. Jerry stopped at “The Little Painted Desert” on the Navajo reservation. The LPD (for short) is just a barely marked turn off on the road. There is a rusty, difficult to read historical marker. You drive up a little dirt (read sandy) road up a little bit of a hill, and then you get to the top. AWESOME! You are looking down on the LPD, which consists of a canyon with mounds of rock formations that have been “painted” by the hand of God beautifully. They are gently rolling rock formations that are orange and black and yellow in color. When I say you are looking down, you are looking DOWN. You stand on the edge of a precipice, with a radical vertical drop below it. It is so much like all the land around here. You are driving along looking at what is straight and boring and just off the road “surprise!” Some of the most beautiful country is hidden so much that you would not even know it was there and certainly not expect it to look like the LPD. We have since been to the LPD as a family, which is how I can describe it.
Mark and Jerry then continued on to Dilkon to see the church and Mr. Bills hooghan, then back to Leupp. They stopped at the flea market and saw one of the kids from school and their parents. They spent a little time walking around the market and then bought some Navajo tacos for their lunch. They returned back to the trailer, where it was raining. It was a drizzly, fall rain that soaked into the ground and made it harden back up. When we got here in August, the ground was hard and rocky. After the kids returned and the buses were driving up and down the road and the kids were playing on the playground, the soil softened up and became more like Sand than rock. After this rain, the ground hardened back up a little.
Mark stayed for church on Sunday, Oct 5th. He rode with Jerry on the bus run to Tolani Lake to pick up the Navajo church-goers from that area. After making the trip, Jerry said that Mark asked if he ever got scared when he was driving the church bus out to the reservation alone. Jerry replied that he had not, at least not since the first trip he made out there by himself. Jerry figures that God can protect him. It was another great day at the Red Sands Christian Church. We had 34 people in attendance at the church service, and I counted at least six regular attendees that we were missing. I taught my Sunday School class and I had ELEVEN kids, ranging from second grade through eighth grade. It was very (what’s the word?) hectic, maybe. Some of the kids were a little rowdy and laughing, but it was exciting to see them all there. All of the new people at church were from different families and it was exciting to meet them. Jerry asked Mark to do the communion mediation and he did a great job! After the service, we had the monthly scheduled potluck.
We were a little panicked that we might not have enough food for everyone, because the new people didn’t know it was pot-luck Sunday. But again, the Lord provided. The Lord was at work, because Miss Dawn’s Sunday school lesson was about the feeding of the five thousand! She was a little concerned because we had one meatloaf, one crock pot of sloppy joe, one casserole dish of corn pudding and a single dessert. To our other offerings, the Roberts added hot dogs, macaroni and cheese and Ramen noodle soup. In the end, everyone was fed and again we had leftovers. Thank you, Lord! Mark left and we were sad to see him go. We love you, man! And, it was very nice to see a familiar face.
Next entry is titled Rattlesnake, Tumbleweed, Dust Storm... Very Exciting!
The Red Sands Christian School sent out report cards on September 30th. Some were really good, others needed some improvement. The school uses a system with three periods of six weeks, instead of 2 periods of nine weeks. Some of the kids confessed that they were worried what their parents would say when their parents saw their report card. However, progress is being made with all of the students. You may wonder about Abby? Kindergarteners do not get a report card the first six weeks, so we don’t have anything to report yet. Although, Miss Dawn says that Abby can read several words, like “pot” and “cat”. Very exciting stuff!
Mr. Mark came to visit on Friday, October 3rd. He was on his way to a business meeting in Las Vegas, so he said he wanted to stop by since he was in the neighborhood. He arrived here at Red Sands on Friday evening, about 9:30PM Arizona time (that is after midnight Eastern Daylight Time). We were all so happy to see him. Abby & Kelcy has been anxiously awaiting his arrival. Abby even agreed to take a bath that night so she would smell good when Mark got here. Mark brought a drawing from Alex and Jason for the girls to have. We have it posted on the refrigerator here. Abby & Kelcy both wanted to send something back, so they drew some pictures to send back with Mr. Mark. On Saturday morning we got up and had breakfast and it was pretty cold outside here. I don’t remember the temperature reading, but it was colder than it had been here in the morning. And it rained almost the whole day on Saturday! Mark came to the desert and it was cold and rainy all day! I don’t know if he was laughing or disappointed. Mark had rented a sweet ride for his trip here from the Phoenix airport. The girls and I loaded up in our pick-up and Mark & Jerry road in the rental car and we headed into “town”. We drove downtown to get some building supplies for the staff house under construction. We drove right by “the corner” from the Eagles song, “Standin’ on the corner in Winslow, AZ such a fine sight to see.” Mark & Jerry turned around and headed back that way. I thought maybe Mark wanted a picture of the “corner”, but they said there was a car show back there and they drove through it. The hardware store is right across from the Post Office, so the girls and I crossed the street to check the mail. By the time we made it back to the hardware store, the boys were there. We picked up the supplies and then Mark & Jerry drove on from Winslow to Dilkon to see Mr. Bill’s church.
Mark & Jerry drove up highway 87, headed toward the Dilkon turn off. The road toward Dilkon begins with what I call “scrub”. It is miles and miles of sandy soil with short bushes and rocks. It appears relatively flat and the road is certainly straight. Soon, you begin to see the Buttes (no pun intended) at Dilkon. They appear like giant, rounded rock formations in the distance. Jerry stopped at “The Little Painted Desert” on the Navajo reservation. The LPD (for short) is just a barely marked turn off on the road. There is a rusty, difficult to read historical marker. You drive up a little dirt (read sandy) road up a little bit of a hill, and then you get to the top. AWESOME! You are looking down on the LPD, which consists of a canyon with mounds of rock formations that have been “painted” by the hand of God beautifully. They are gently rolling rock formations that are orange and black and yellow in color. When I say you are looking down, you are looking DOWN. You stand on the edge of a precipice, with a radical vertical drop below it. It is so much like all the land around here. You are driving along looking at what is straight and boring and just off the road “surprise!” Some of the most beautiful country is hidden so much that you would not even know it was there and certainly not expect it to look like the LPD. We have since been to the LPD as a family, which is how I can describe it.
Mark and Jerry then continued on to Dilkon to see the church and Mr. Bills hooghan, then back to Leupp. They stopped at the flea market and saw one of the kids from school and their parents. They spent a little time walking around the market and then bought some Navajo tacos for their lunch. They returned back to the trailer, where it was raining. It was a drizzly, fall rain that soaked into the ground and made it harden back up. When we got here in August, the ground was hard and rocky. After the kids returned and the buses were driving up and down the road and the kids were playing on the playground, the soil softened up and became more like Sand than rock. After this rain, the ground hardened back up a little.
Mark stayed for church on Sunday, Oct 5th. He rode with Jerry on the bus run to Tolani Lake to pick up the Navajo church-goers from that area. After making the trip, Jerry said that Mark asked if he ever got scared when he was driving the church bus out to the reservation alone. Jerry replied that he had not, at least not since the first trip he made out there by himself. Jerry figures that God can protect him. It was another great day at the Red Sands Christian Church. We had 34 people in attendance at the church service, and I counted at least six regular attendees that we were missing. I taught my Sunday School class and I had ELEVEN kids, ranging from second grade through eighth grade. It was very (what’s the word?) hectic, maybe. Some of the kids were a little rowdy and laughing, but it was exciting to see them all there. All of the new people at church were from different families and it was exciting to meet them. Jerry asked Mark to do the communion mediation and he did a great job! After the service, we had the monthly scheduled potluck.
We were a little panicked that we might not have enough food for everyone, because the new people didn’t know it was pot-luck Sunday. But again, the Lord provided. The Lord was at work, because Miss Dawn’s Sunday school lesson was about the feeding of the five thousand! She was a little concerned because we had one meatloaf, one crock pot of sloppy joe, one casserole dish of corn pudding and a single dessert. To our other offerings, the Roberts added hot dogs, macaroni and cheese and Ramen noodle soup. In the end, everyone was fed and again we had leftovers. Thank you, Lord! Mark left and we were sad to see him go. We love you, man! And, it was very nice to see a familiar face.
Next entry is titled Rattlesnake, Tumbleweed, Dust Storm... Very Exciting!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Great is thy reward!
I can't believe that it is October already! These last two months have flown by! The school kids are doing great! We have a total of twenty kids from Kindergarten through eighth grade now. I am getting to know them a lot better now. I had the opportunity to give the Chapel lesson this week. My verse focus was Jeremiah 29:11. God led me to focus on this verse to help the children see how important they each are to God. And they He has plans for their future!
I thought this would be a good time to show a little about the school schedule, so listed below is a typical week at school:
Monday
8AM School Opening program
11:30AM Lunch at Church (kids walk from the school to the church)
12-12:30 Playground
12:30 Music with the Sprinkles
3PM Bus departs for home
Tuesday
8AM School Opening program at Church
8:15AM Chapel
11:30AM Lunch at Church
12-12:30 Playground
2:15PM Story hour and Library book check-out
3PM Bus departs for home
Wednesday
8AM School Opening program
11:30AM Lunch at Church
12-12:30 Playground
2:15PM P.E.
3PM Bus departs for home
Thursday
8AM School opening program
11:30AM Lunch at Church
12-12:30 Playground
2:15PM Music with Miss Springer
3PM Bus departs for home
Friday is a duplicate of Wednesday
I cannot remember if I have mentioned about the Sprinkles. They are a husband and wife team who travel around and teach music to the kids on the reservation. They live on the Apache reservation currently. They bring with them keyboards, electric guitars, acoustic guitars, drums and sometimes other instruments. They teach the kids to read music and how to play the instruments. At the end of the lesson time, the children get to practice and play music on whichever instruments they choose. The Sprinkles do a great job relating to the children. They are good at keeping them focused and disciplined. The school kids all LOVE this time. All of the kids seem to be very musically inclined. I believe music class is their favorite extracurricular activity. The Sprinkles do a great job and we all really appreciate their dedication and initiative!
Miss Anne does the story hour and library time. She also does a wonderful job. She organizes the library and records the books that are checked out. She insures that books are returned. She also gives the chapel lesson. She is an inspiration of service and dedication. Miss Anne also plans the music and plays the piano at the church service on Sunday mornings. Thank you Miss Anne!
Mr. Jim is also dedicated in service and love. He works at the mission almost every day somewhere. He is currently working on the new staff house during the day. He serves communion and takes up offering most Sundays. He just generally does an awesome job and is also an inspiration in the area of service. Thank you Mr. Jim!
Mr. Bill is also an inspiration in service. He does so many things, I am afraid that I will forget something. He is currently traveling in the Northwest and promoting missions to Christian congregations all over Oregon and Washington and Montana and places in Northern California. While here he ran the school bus route to the reservation some mornings, especially until Jerry was familiar enough to do it by himself. He also made sure the van was serviced and full of gasoline when needed. He is the preacher at Dilkon Christian Church on the Navajo reservation, about 50 miles from here. So, he preaches there on Sunday morning at 9AM, Sunday evening at 6PM and Wednesday evening at 6PM. While serving the congregation there and maintaining their property, he also drove 50 miles over to Red Sands each day since I have been here. He would obtain the construction materials for the new house and the trailer. He also helped in the construction work. He would babysit the children when needed. He mopped the floors in the church, taught P.E. twice a week and preached at the Red Sands Christian Church on Sunday mornings (after having already preached at Dilkon). And, I am quite sure I am leaving things out. He does an amazing job. Thank you Mr. Bill! We miss you and pray for your safe travel!
Miss Dawn Springer is another amazing person here. She has been ministering here for fifteen years. She currently teaches the Kindergarten through Second grade AND functions as the School Principal. She does an amazing job. She submits monthly reports to the board. She teaches her class of 10 students five days a week. She provides the students with snacks and drinks and inspiration. She also performs her public ministry for the "Least of these", providing meals, clothing and emotional support for homeless people here in Winslow, Arizona. Miss Springer also alternates teaching the preschool through first grade Sunday School class and the Service time Wee Worship at Red Sands Church on Sunday. I am sure that I will forget lots of things that Miss Springer does. She is a bundle of energy and efficiency. The children all love her and so do adults! Thank you Miss Springer!
I apologize if the following thank yous are not as specific, but I do not observe all of these people in their jobs, as I have the others.
Ms. Tami is also a bundle of efficiency and love. She teaches the third and fourth grade class at the school. She works had to show them love and have them love and respect one another. She also motivates her kids and provides them with occassional snacks. She teachs the chapel lesson and, on Sunday, she alternates teaching the preschool-first grade Sunday School class or the Wee Worship during the Sunday Service with Miss Dawn. All this, and she cares for her husband and three children after hours, providing food and love.
Mr. Daron teaches the fifth and sixth grades at the school. He does a great job and is being motivational for the children. He is good at relating to them and sharing fun time and serious work time with them. While Mr. Bill is gone, he is helping to teach the P.E. classes. Mr. Daron also does maintenance around the church and generally does what needs to be done. He is also working on the new staff house in his spare time. He is also preaching at Red Sands Christian Church while Mr. Bill is absent.
Mr. Jerry teaches the seventh and eighth grades. He drives the school bus each morning to pick up the kids on the reservation and returns them home each evening. He works individually with the children in his class to makes sure that they stay on task and learn as much as possible. The curriculum is tough and the kids are doing great! He also spends a lot of time outside of class preparing his Lesson plans and reading through the material so that he knows it well enough to teach it. He is also teaching P.E. while Mr. Bill is gone. Jerry is also teaching the Adult Sunday School class at Red Sands Christian Church on Sundays and driving the church bus route to pick up the church-goers.
In addition to their regular duties, the teachers also are responsible for one of the following each week. They alternate weeks:
1. Cleaning and mopping the school and the bathrooms when the kids are not there.
2. Leading the morning opening program
3. Leading prayer at lunch time and cleaning up the lunchroom after lunch each day.
4. Playground duty-observing the children after lunch while they play on the playground.
I hope that you all have enjoyed this entry. I wanted to let you know about all the people serving here and what a great job they are all doing! Continue to pray for all of us and I will get back to my regular personal post next week.
On Saturday, October 11th, we will welcome the NTM board members for their semi annual board meeting.
I thought this would be a good time to show a little about the school schedule, so listed below is a typical week at school:
Monday
8AM School Opening program
11:30AM Lunch at Church (kids walk from the school to the church)
12-12:30 Playground
12:30 Music with the Sprinkles
3PM Bus departs for home
Tuesday
8AM School Opening program at Church
8:15AM Chapel
11:30AM Lunch at Church
12-12:30 Playground
2:15PM Story hour and Library book check-out
3PM Bus departs for home
Wednesday
8AM School Opening program
11:30AM Lunch at Church
12-12:30 Playground
2:15PM P.E.
3PM Bus departs for home
Thursday
8AM School opening program
11:30AM Lunch at Church
12-12:30 Playground
2:15PM Music with Miss Springer
3PM Bus departs for home
Friday is a duplicate of Wednesday
I cannot remember if I have mentioned about the Sprinkles. They are a husband and wife team who travel around and teach music to the kids on the reservation. They live on the Apache reservation currently. They bring with them keyboards, electric guitars, acoustic guitars, drums and sometimes other instruments. They teach the kids to read music and how to play the instruments. At the end of the lesson time, the children get to practice and play music on whichever instruments they choose. The Sprinkles do a great job relating to the children. They are good at keeping them focused and disciplined. The school kids all LOVE this time. All of the kids seem to be very musically inclined. I believe music class is their favorite extracurricular activity. The Sprinkles do a great job and we all really appreciate their dedication and initiative!
Miss Anne does the story hour and library time. She also does a wonderful job. She organizes the library and records the books that are checked out. She insures that books are returned. She also gives the chapel lesson. She is an inspiration of service and dedication. Miss Anne also plans the music and plays the piano at the church service on Sunday mornings. Thank you Miss Anne!
Mr. Jim is also dedicated in service and love. He works at the mission almost every day somewhere. He is currently working on the new staff house during the day. He serves communion and takes up offering most Sundays. He just generally does an awesome job and is also an inspiration in the area of service. Thank you Mr. Jim!
Mr. Bill is also an inspiration in service. He does so many things, I am afraid that I will forget something. He is currently traveling in the Northwest and promoting missions to Christian congregations all over Oregon and Washington and Montana and places in Northern California. While here he ran the school bus route to the reservation some mornings, especially until Jerry was familiar enough to do it by himself. He also made sure the van was serviced and full of gasoline when needed. He is the preacher at Dilkon Christian Church on the Navajo reservation, about 50 miles from here. So, he preaches there on Sunday morning at 9AM, Sunday evening at 6PM and Wednesday evening at 6PM. While serving the congregation there and maintaining their property, he also drove 50 miles over to Red Sands each day since I have been here. He would obtain the construction materials for the new house and the trailer. He also helped in the construction work. He would babysit the children when needed. He mopped the floors in the church, taught P.E. twice a week and preached at the Red Sands Christian Church on Sunday mornings (after having already preached at Dilkon). And, I am quite sure I am leaving things out. He does an amazing job. Thank you Mr. Bill! We miss you and pray for your safe travel!
Miss Dawn Springer is another amazing person here. She has been ministering here for fifteen years. She currently teaches the Kindergarten through Second grade AND functions as the School Principal. She does an amazing job. She submits monthly reports to the board. She teaches her class of 10 students five days a week. She provides the students with snacks and drinks and inspiration. She also performs her public ministry for the "Least of these", providing meals, clothing and emotional support for homeless people here in Winslow, Arizona. Miss Springer also alternates teaching the preschool through first grade Sunday School class and the Service time Wee Worship at Red Sands Church on Sunday. I am sure that I will forget lots of things that Miss Springer does. She is a bundle of energy and efficiency. The children all love her and so do adults! Thank you Miss Springer!
I apologize if the following thank yous are not as specific, but I do not observe all of these people in their jobs, as I have the others.
Ms. Tami is also a bundle of efficiency and love. She teaches the third and fourth grade class at the school. She works had to show them love and have them love and respect one another. She also motivates her kids and provides them with occassional snacks. She teachs the chapel lesson and, on Sunday, she alternates teaching the preschool-first grade Sunday School class or the Wee Worship during the Sunday Service with Miss Dawn. All this, and she cares for her husband and three children after hours, providing food and love.
Mr. Daron teaches the fifth and sixth grades at the school. He does a great job and is being motivational for the children. He is good at relating to them and sharing fun time and serious work time with them. While Mr. Bill is gone, he is helping to teach the P.E. classes. Mr. Daron also does maintenance around the church and generally does what needs to be done. He is also working on the new staff house in his spare time. He is also preaching at Red Sands Christian Church while Mr. Bill is absent.
Mr. Jerry teaches the seventh and eighth grades. He drives the school bus each morning to pick up the kids on the reservation and returns them home each evening. He works individually with the children in his class to makes sure that they stay on task and learn as much as possible. The curriculum is tough and the kids are doing great! He also spends a lot of time outside of class preparing his Lesson plans and reading through the material so that he knows it well enough to teach it. He is also teaching P.E. while Mr. Bill is gone. Jerry is also teaching the Adult Sunday School class at Red Sands Christian Church on Sundays and driving the church bus route to pick up the church-goers.
In addition to their regular duties, the teachers also are responsible for one of the following each week. They alternate weeks:
1. Cleaning and mopping the school and the bathrooms when the kids are not there.
2. Leading the morning opening program
3. Leading prayer at lunch time and cleaning up the lunchroom after lunch each day.
4. Playground duty-observing the children after lunch while they play on the playground.
I hope that you all have enjoyed this entry. I wanted to let you know about all the people serving here and what a great job they are all doing! Continue to pray for all of us and I will get back to my regular personal post next week.
On Saturday, October 11th, we will welcome the NTM board members for their semi annual board meeting.
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