Bloom Where You Are Planted

As promised, I (Susan) am finally writing a blog post.  It has been about three and a half weeks since we last posted, and as Lane said, at this rate we will only have a few more posts.  Our jobs and ministry commitments are keeping us extremely busy.  Things are starting to get even busier because a lot of the seasonal staff are starting to leave.  Many of our co-workers are college students or work in school systems, and with classes resuming they are heading home to their normal lives. As the summer draws to a close, attendance at the Medora Musical is increasing and town is extremely busy on the weekends.  It seems that people are trying to get one last bit of vacation in before the end of the summer.  With increased crowds and fewer employees our work hours are about to increase drastically.  I expect my hours to increase about ten hours a week, so the last three weeks of the season are going to be exhausting.  Lane will probably pick up some extra hours at the golf course as well.

Luckily, we were able to get in our own mini-vacation before the chaos begins.  By some random chance, I was scheduled two days off back to back last week.  Lane was able to work it out with his boss and work some extra hours each day in order to have the same days off.  We took the chance to travel back to the Black Hills and explore some areas we missed on our last trip.  We got up early Thursday morning and made the 5 hour drive to the Black Hills of South Dakota.  Over the next two days we visited Jewel Cave National Monument, Custer State Park, and Wind Cave National Park.  Lane was like a kid in the candy store!  As someone who loves to climb on rocks and see trees, he loved every minute of our journey.  I also enjoyed the chance to get out of Medora and see natural bodies of water.  We explored caves, took a few short hikes, climbed on rocks, and enjoyed God’s creation.  Custer State Park is absolutely amazing!  There are so many trees (very unlike the North Dakota Badlands), the nation’s largest bison herd, the Needles Scenic Drive, beautiful lakes, and captivating rock formations.  Our journey refreshed us and invigorated us to finish the season!  Yesterday, I also got a massage at the local spa.  My body has been aching a lot lately, and it was one of the best massages of my life!   

With the summer drawing to a close, we are also faced with saying goodbye to many of our new friends.  This has been one of the hardest parts of our summer.  One friend, who I became extremely close to, left last week and Medora has not been the same since.  Earlier this week, a large group of students from a college ministry left and many others are leaving each day.  The rest of our ministry team will be leaving Saturday, and we will be tasked with hosting the worship services on our own.  It is very sad and we will miss all of our new friends.  It is also hard because we are a bit jealous.  While this summer has been awesome and God has been doing amazing things, we are ready to come home.  We miss all of our family and friends, and the comfort of being home in NC.  Our moms did make it out for a visit back in July, which was amazing, but made us miss home.  It is difficult to see our friends excited about going home, while we still have three weeks left in Medora. 

One thing my longing for North Carolina reminds me of is my longing for Christ's return to earth.  While I wish that I could leave and head back to NC, I know that God has called us to be in Medora until the end of the season.  Through the chaos of the end of the season, we have been called to serve as God’s light in this place.  As we look at the state of our world, it is easy to lose hope in the future.  There is so much sadness and corruption, that we can easily find ourselves selfishly praying for Jesus’ return.  I often find myself praying for Jesus’ return because I am tired of living in this world.  However, there is still so much work left to do in Jesus’ name.  Of course, the fulfillment of God’s Kingdom on earth is a wonderful thing, and Jesus commanded us to pray for it!  But, there are still people in the world who have never heard the name of Jesus, felt the love and peace offered by our one, triune God, or experienced the comfort and strength of being surrounded by brothers and sisters in Christ.  So, while we long to go home (whether it is our earthly or heavenly home) God has called us to be in specific places at specific times to do God’s will.  As one of our CUDS professors, Dr. Mike Cogdill says, "Bloom where you are planted."  Today, I challenge you to reach out to someone and show the love of Christ to them as you eagerly await Christ’s return.