But to make up for the delay, we decided to report on both Day 7's & 8's events. We would have included the car trip back, but we took the trip back as an opportunity for most of the group to regain sleep before work on Monday...
Anyway, let's start off this post with Day 7, which was Friday, our last day at Lakota Hope. Since we knew that it was our last day, we wanted to get as much done as possible. But just before we could fully dive into our work, Shelby surprised us by stopping by for one last breakfast and morning hugs with us. It was really cool seeing how much she and Travis connected over the week, with him mentoring her for National Guard stuff. It was a very long and touching goodbye, with one last set of 50 push-ups.
Most of our group focused more on the general maintenance of the property instead of working on the tiny homes. A few of us finished the wiring for most of the houses while the rest tackled lawn care and cleaning out the shed. The idea for the shed was to make it a more work-friendly storage area for future mission teams, but we might've bitten more off than we could chew.
Due to the very nature of shed's being the collection site for all donated odds and ends, we found ourselves in a sea of things that we just weren't sure what to do with. We began to empty as much as much of the contents as we could onto the lawn, but it was difficult knowing where to go from there. We started out thinking we'd just find the stuff that was still functioning or useful to be placed back inside, but there were a lot of miscellaneous items and abandoned projects, and we simply weren't sure what was still relevant. Fortunately, Paul was able to step in after he'd completed all of his errands and told us to discard anything that didn't have anything to do with camp maintenance or building the tiny homes. This made it easier for Eric to use his gift of Leadership and charge ahead with putting things back in a neat and organized manner after performing some much needed maintenance on the shelving.
We're pretty sure that Tony had the most fun out of all of us when cleaning the shed. We pulled out multiple weed whackers that weren't functional because someone hadn't used a proper gas/oil mix and burned them out. Paul thought that all of them were probably junk. But then we gave them to Tony and he got to play around figuring out if any of them could be saved. He was definitely in his element fixing all but one of the machines. He and Brian modified a mismatched blade to get a mower up and running, and he even found this old hand drill that he turned into a makeshift screwdriver.
The cleaning of the shed was a bigger project than expected, so some of the group opted to stay at camp and continue working while the rest went to the second night of the Powwow. Luckily, even though we ran behind schedule, we were able to find good seating for the Grand Entry. It was really energizing to sit behind the drum circle group known as the Crazy Horse Group as they helped provide the entry music for the dancers. We also ran into a friend of Pinky's that likes to sit next to this group.
We could really tell that the dancers were excited to be there and they put their all into dancing. Just seeing the different styles and how they interacted with each other highlighted the culture behind them. Along with the pro-dancers, there were the folks who were there to have fun. Some of them didn't even have full regalia but were dancing anyway. We could've even joined in ourselves, but felt a bit self-conscious about doing so.
After enjoying the Powwow, we trickled back to Lakota Hope, finding a nicely mowed lawn (thanks to Celeste, a.k.a. The Energizer Bunny), pruned trees and a tidy shed. We had evening Devotions around a roaring campfire, and got to have some really yummy s'mores. For devotions, we discussed what we would do with what we learned this week going forward. For most of us, it would mean being more proactive with our interactions within our community back home and being willing to serve in little ways like we did that week.
By the time we were done, everyone was more than ready to hit the hay, but the gals had a mystery on their hands, and they were dying to solve it. A fan that they were using each night was mysteriously moved out of position. Celeste, having questioned everyone on it, came to the conclusion that it was Emma (that's me btw) who was moving it because she was the closest to it. But since she, like everyone else, claimed innocence, it was assumed that she was sleepwalking, which was funny because she did have a very distant history of doing just that.
So all of us gals put our collective noggins together to try to find the Fan-tastic Mover. We put a pair of gloves parallel to where the fan was currently facing, hoping to confirm that it moved by morning. So we all went about our evening routine with everyone being semi-aware of who was going by the fan. Emma was the one to discover the culprit just as she turned to go to sleep.
"The Fan Moved!" Everyone sat up in disbelief, because the fan was out of position despite no one touching the thing. The fan's vibration had gradually inched it across the floor. The fan was moving itself, so it was dubbed "the Fantom."
Day 8 started out with everyone scrambling to finish packing before breakfast, with the idea being that we could just roll out afterward. We got mostly packed, but the need for food delayed us just a little. We got to hang out with Abram one last time before he headed back to Day 3 of the Powwow.
Just before we left, Rose, an artist we met on Tuesday (Day 4) stopped by. She had been asked to redo the beadwork on Travis' Native Veteran's hat from Vietnam to Iraq ribbon colors. She was worried that she wouldn't get to him in time, but thankfully we got to see her again just before she headed off to get ready for the Powwow.
After one last prayer with Paul and a quick rinse for the very muddy cars, we headed off for Storm Mountain Retreat Center in South Dakota. It was a two hour trip with a quick break to view the Bad Lands and get a few pics. We even had the chance to play with the drone for a cool aerial shot.
When we made it to Storm Mountain, we were floored by how beautiful everything was. The retreat was hidden between Mountain ridges that weren't too far away from Mt Rushmore, but felt like another world. The resort offered a wide variety of activities, along with serval worship centers scattered in hidden spots for other church groups to visit.
Our only regret visiting there was that we only had a few hours to spend exploring before it got to dark out. But we all went off to enjoy ourselves while we could. Some went hiking, others went swimming, explored a gold mine, and played a couple games of carpet ball.
After a delicious supper, we held our last devotions, discussing what we would share with folks once we were back home. How would we give a 30-second answer to the question, "How was your trip?" versus a 3-minute one? They were though question for our group as we all tried to hold off sleep, but we worked through this very important task. We eventually retreated to the deck, singing the Doxology and Amazing Grace before calling it a night.
The very accommodating resort director woke up extra early on Sunday to make sure we had a good breakfast before our 7am departure. It was bittersweet to finally be headed home.
As we pulled in to Northwood House, Cyndi was waiting there with open arms. It was a happy reunion as we shared stories about our trip, and she shared with us how a "random" call from a dear friend became a reminder that she was a fully functioning member of the team, appointed to pray over us and encourage us throughout the week.
We'd like to thank you for your interest in our adventure, and tell you how grateful we are for your prayers. There will be additional posts as we reflect on our trip and share some personal experiences.