The Fourth

One really cool thing about my house in Florida is that you can see the fireworks display from our street, so instead of having to pack lawn chairs into our car and fight crowds, we get to step out our front door two minutes before the fireworks are scheduled to start. Yup, we've got it made.

What's even cooler is that in the opposite direction you can see the fireworks from a neighboring city cresting the trees at the end of our street. The view isn't nearly as clear, but it is kinda awesome to be able to see two different firework displays at the same time.

All my piano lessons were canceled for the day, so I got to take the day off! Normally, my grandparents come down to celebrate the fourth with us. However, since my great-grandmother's stroke, my grandma does not like leaving town for long periods of time. We almost went to see them, but when we realized how much time we'd spent in the car lately and remembered that we have to visit the other side of the family sometime this month, we decided we needed a break from all the travel.

The worst part about the July 4th is that the noise terrifies my dog. She starts hyperventilating and following people around and licking their heels to beg, "Please don't leave me!"

My littlest sister was particularly impressed with the fireworks that had specific shapes. Stars, one that might possibly have been a flag, a few flowers, and some smiley faces. I like them too, but it always amuses me what angles they manifest themselves in. Sideways, diagonal, and occasionally one will be upright. Sometimes they are barely recognizable!

Oh, you upside-down smiley face fireworks, what patriotism you inspire in me.

Swift Bird and White Horse

So I got home last night around 11:30 after a very long return trip from a Native American Reservation in South Dakota. All in all, I spent about 70 hours in the car getting up there and getting back down. The ride was brutal.

Still, I want to go back.

We did VBS with the kids up there, each of us at two of five locations. The communities consisted of a few streets each, small clusters of houses, dogs roaming everywhere. But those kids...It was awful telling them goodbye. I didn't want to leave them. I entered a sort of preemptive grieving period while we were still there, but before we left God gave me a sense of peace about it. I can't be everything, do everything, be everywhere. I cannot help everyone and give them all they need. But He can. And in the meantime, I can pray.

I definitely want to go back, and stay longer this time. I want to really have the time to get to know those kids.

I still don't know what I want to do with my majors, what kind of career I want to pursue. But wherever I end up, I want to invest myself in the community. I want to make myself available to help, to encourage, to guide. For the first time, I could see myself being a teacher. I still don't know if that's what I really want to do, but it doesn't seem like such an impossibility anymore. I think I would enjoy it.

During the trip, I traveled through multiple states I had never previously visited: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and of course, South Dakota. It was interesting to watch the terrain gradually change. It was incredible to be able to see for miles and miles all around you, to see the hills rolling endlessly before you, to watch a sea of grass ripple under a gust of wind. I saw buffalo for the first time, as well as prairie dogs and antelope. We stopped by the Badlands on the way up, which was an experience in itself. I saw huge windmills and terraced farm land and wild horses. Life up there was pretty different from life in Florida, or even in Auburn. They were so isolated in such small communities, surrounded by such vast space.

I liked it. All of you praying folk out there, keep those kids up there in your prayers. And keep your eyes open to the needs of those around you. Suffering and pain are ever-present. You don't have to travel 1500 miles to find someone in need.

There. That's my advice of the day. :)