July 3-5, 2009

On Friday morning, July 3, we drove south from Minot, North Dakota to Washburn to visit the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center per the suggestion of a lady that had attended the concert the evening before at Minot Baptist Church. Washburn was on the way to the town we were scheduled to sing in next, Hazen. The Interpretive Center was a museum/rest area with a proud admission fee. Fortunately you could use the rest room without having to fork out the bucks. But after using the facilities and pondering over whether or not we wanted to hand it over (the money, that is) we agreed to spend the money and learn some history. After reading the exhibits, looking at paintings and drawings, viewing a video and touring Fort Mandan on the Missouri River, we felt a little more educated than when we had first arrived two hours earlier and we moved on down the road, passing by Hazen to check in to our hotel in Beulah first.

What a pleasant evening we had at Hazen Christian Fellowship pastored by Bob Pittman. His wife, Becky, was a southern belle having been raised in Houston. They have a great group of people in a cute little church situated in a beautiful part of the country. During the concert I sat there thinking, “This is so pleasant!” I sat on the front pew with an open window nearby, a ceiling fan above sending comfortable breezes my way, the sun getting lower in a cloudless sky, enjoying Gospel music sung by a familiar voice. The evening was lighthearted with an ice cream social following the concert. Following the ice cream was, of course, fireworks. The kids enjoyed sparklers, bottle rockets and even a few bigger fireworks shot by one of the teenagers from the front yard of the church. Kids know how to have a good time.

Independence Day 2009! We jumped in the van and drove to Rapid City, South Dakota. It's difficult to describe the beauty of the day. It was different from anything we have seen so far. There were lots and lots of hills all day long, the gentle rolling kind. Most of them were emerald green with an occasional splash of canary yellow, which Bobby told us was canola. What a beautiful crop! As we got further south, closer to the Badlands, the yellow wasn't canola but some weed that was in bloom and making Landis



sneeze a bit. It was a shade more dull than the canola but still beautiful and a couple of times we saw it everywhere around us except for the ribbon of blacktop we were driving on. We were on two-lane highways most of the day and we took our time stopping frequently to take pictures of things that interested us. Our first stop was at the world's largest metal sculpture located on Interstate 94 west of Bismarck at the entrance to the Enchanted Highway. There are metal sculptures all along this route. We only knew this because when we stopped to admire the first sculpture right off the Interstate, a gentleman who lived in the region informed us of it and then added this was the greenest he has seen the land in many years. That's because North and South Dakota had such a snowy, long winter this past season. We decided against taking Enchanted Highway and continued on the originally planned course. Bobby told the kids to keep their eyes peeled for buffalo and sure enough, in the southwest corner of North Dakota there they were grazing in a penned field. We pulled off the road and everyone got out to take pictures and get a closer look. Quite cooperatively, as if he felt it his duty, one single buffalo left the herd and approached us stopping about 20 yards from us and the fence to pose and model his strong bovine physique for the camera. Then Landis spotted the buffalo hair caught in the fencing. He gathered what he could find and stuffed it in a plastic bag for his souvenir.

It occurred to us at some point during the day that if we would have kept the motor home and driven it on this trip with only it's reserve gas tank working, the tank that only holds 35 gallons, we could have been in some sticky situations considering the wilderness we've driven through and the scarcity of gas stations. The lack of places to fill up has caused a wee (wee) problem when it comes to emptying the bladders and it would have been terrible to get stranded in the middle of desolate prairie. I guess that would have given me quite an adventure to write about, wouldn't it?

We had been seeing signs for Belle Fourche for a couple of hours and when we drove through it around 5:00 mountain time, Bobby said he finally remembered why the name of the town was so familiar. It was John Wayne's desired destination in his four hundred mile (or something close) cattle drive through the "meanest, baddest, country you ever saw" in the movie, "Cowboys." Have you ever seen it? Good movie.

The next town we passed through was Spearfish and then Sturgis. The famous motorcycle town was a lot like I had imagined being set in hills and the occasional sound of a Hog rumbling by. We stopped to fill up and empty out there and during the approximately fifteen minutes we were there, I heard the roar of at least three Harleys.

Finally, we coasted down into Rapid City and Laverne helped us find the apartment we were told was waiting on us. You just never know what to expect when someone offers you their home or property to lodge in. Bobby has had some "memorable" experiences in the past and so we approached the address cautiously. But all fears and anxieties melted away when we knocked at the door of the Williams' residence and Mrs. Kay came to the door. She warmly greeted us and walked us over to the door adjacent to their house. The apartment was built attached to their already existing house and made to match in siding and style so as to appear as if it had been there all along. The purpose for it was to accommodate Mr. Jim's elderly, blind aunt, who, has since passed away. When Pastor John Little of Rapid Valley Baptist Church announced that we were coming to minister on July 5th, the Williams told him we could stay in their vacant apartment. It was a delightful little place, with not quite enough beds but still much larger than a hotel room and much more homey. Mrs. Kay had purchased several breakfast cereals, juice, milk, margerine, bread, lunchmeat, cokes, chips, cookies, and fruit for us, as well phone numbers and a list of fireworks showing around town.

We got settled and three of the four children bathed and then set out to see fireworks. Now, let me just tell you that months ago, when I learned we would be near Mount Rushmore on the 4th of July, I had made plans to watch fireworks from the famous and monumental site never thinking that half of South Dakota had the same plans. Three days earlier in Oungre at the Gospel Jamboree, Wayne Daae told Bobby that to go to Mount Rushmore on the 4th of July was taking on a great task and that discouraged Bobby from proceeding with our (my) five-month-long plans. However, the following evening in Minot, someone told me that seeing the fireworks at Mount Rushmore was a grand sight to behold but we should be prepared to wait hours after the show coming back down the mountain to Rapid City. When I put all the information together, the sun not setting until ten or ten-thirty, the fireworks and laser show lasting about an hour, the crowds, the hours of waiting after the show to get back to the apartment and the fact that it was Saturday night and we would be getting up on Sunday morning and ministering, caused me to re-think my precious plans and put some God-given wisdom to use. I gave up my big plans and submitted myself to the cold hard facts and decided to go to plan B. What we ended up doing instead, was really a treat and oh, so simple. I think God gave us this simple little joy to replace my plans. And by the way, I must not be a very good planner for we found out on the night of the 4th that the fireworks on Mount Rushmore were actually shown the night before. We couldn't have gone Friday night because we were singing in Hazen, South Dakota, but we found out later that we didn't miss a thing because others told us that a big cloud had come over the mountain about the time the sun set and very few fireworks could be seen.

Sunday morning I got up and noticed a couple of clocks had the wrong time displayed but decided that since no one lived in this apartment, the clocks weren't all accurate. We always go by the time on our cell phones and according to our phones we left the house at the correct time. First we pulled into a church just a couple of blocks away and I saw someone in the parsonage looking out the window but not coming out to greet us. So we looked at the church sign and the service time didn't correspond with the time Bobby had written down so we decided that we were at the wrong church. Only a little embarrassed, we drove on down the street.

We found the correct church a minute later and upon pulling into the church parking lot, Bobby called Pastor John Little who sounded a little surprised that we were already there. Pastor John arrived shortly after and unlocked the doors. Bobby unloaded, got set up and did a quick sound check while the kids and I set up CDs and hung out in the nursery. I did something I've done many times and that was some last minute praying telling God I wish I had more time to give Him but the little bit of time I had I wanted to praise Him and seek Him, knowing that I've got to prepare for ministry like Pastor Sarah teaches the choir. However, I knew I wasn't preparing like I should have been. It was about that time that Bobby came and told us we were an hour early. The western side of South Dakota is on mountain time and evidently our cell phones didn't adjust to the new time zone. I walked back into my little corner of the basement, looked up at the ceiling as if I were looking up at God, laughed and said, “You are so funny.” I told Him I didn't have enough time so He found me some time. Isn't He wonderful? He longs to be with me so He made time for me! Pastor John pointed out later that I could enjoy a 25-hour day. I responded with, “I've been praying for one of those!”

Pastor John, his wife, daughter and her fiance joined our family around Jim and Kay's kitchen table for a wonderful lunch. Afterward, we rested and then went back to Rapid Valley Baptist Church for the evening service and had a blessed time.