Our First Few Days

Well, we’ve been in Medora for almost a week now, and it still doesn’t seem quite real that we are going to be living here until the middle of September. After driving across over 300 miles of nothingness that is punctuated only by a few small cities, the first glimpse of North Dakota’s badlands makes it immediately obvious why it was deemed worthy of being a National Park. They are difficult to describe, and “Badlands” truly is the most adequate word. We find ourselves in landscape that is a strange mixture of harsh and dry, delicate and beautiful.

We’ve ventured into the park a few times, stopping at a few of the vistas. We’ve been by the Cottonwood Campground and begun to develop a strategy for campground walking. We’ve seen the amphitheater where we will weekly offer up our worship to the Lord. It is an exciting thing to know that we have months in this place to grow closer to God and to let his love flow through us into the lives of others.

I (Lane) have started my job as a member of the Bully Pulpit Golf Course grounds crew, and I can already tell a few things for certain. First, I will have a most excellent farmer’s tan and raccoon eyes by the end of the summer, for the North Dakota sun seems far closer than the one over North Carolina. Second, there is a lot of alcohol abuse; after only three days of work I’ve learned that being hungover is a common morning affliction. Third, and I think most important, I have learned that these are some very good people. Riding around a golf course together offers plenty of time to talk, and several good conversations have already been had. I expect that, as the springtime turns into summer, these conversations and relationships will only grow.

As I have been at work, Susan has been busy turning our RV into a home, and if you ask me, she’s done a fantastic job. All of the things that littered the floor as we were driving have been put away, decorations have been hung on the wall, and most things have been cleaned. Living in an RV is certainly a transition from living in a full-sized home, however. For example, clean dishes must be put away before one can use the stove. Also, we shouldn’t buy so much food the next time we go to the grocery store; the refrigerator and freezer are deceptively small. Nevertheless, it is just one more piece of excitement for our summer.

Finally, we will try to close our posts with something of the devotional nature. The other morning, I had to be at work at 5:00 (yes, AM) because the course was hosting a tournament. For those of you not fortunate enough to be in the North Dakota badlands at that hour, that is the time of day when the sun and the moon share the same sky. Off to the west, the nearly full moon, though it was setting, was still quite visible. To the east, the powerful sun was rising and casting brilliant hues of gold and orange on the rugged cliff sides. As I noticed these two heavenly bodies, I realized that they will never catch each other; they will always be as far from each other as the East is from the West. In the same way God has cast our sin so far from us that it shall never meet us again. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.

Grace & Peace,

Lane and Susan