GOING HOME chapter 61

Everyone told me I should swing by Wascana before going home. That is the man made lake in front of the Saskatchewan Parliament. Wow! Beautiful. School should have begun in spring and concluded in fall when Regina shines its brightest. Of course, no one would have never studied as they would have wanted to be outside all the time. If not there in winter, what would have happened to the hockey team?

While I was anxious to get home, the shortest route, but not necessarily the fastest, was through the Black Hills. I had to see the heads of the presidents carved on the mountain. It is magnificent. The years and skill are astounding. Naturally I took some time to see some other sites in the area. I visited Rockerville, So. Dakota, one of the first placer mining camps in the area. It would have looked like a ghost town if not for all the souvenir stores.

I got home on a Saturday and could hardly wait to see my friends on Sunday and hang out with them that evening. We went out to eat after church and I was trying to hang on to the end. I did not feel well. I ate very little and threw it up when I got home.  During the night I was in excruciating pain. It was so bad mom called the doctor who came right over (yes, our doctor made house calls). He took one look at me curled up in a knot on the bed, touched just below my stomach and made a call to the hospital. I was rushed in a couple of hours later, processed and had surgery for a nearly ruptured appendix by 7:00 a.m. That was Monday morning. I was due to begin work that very day. I had mom call and tell them what happened.

I lost my job. My recovery time was scheduled to talk longer than they could wait for. I was heart broken and had no idea how I was going to earn enough to return to school.

My friends came to visit me in the hospital and torment me just to delay the healing. Every laugh felt like another rip to my incision. As I lay there I was trying to figure out what I would do. No bending. Selling shoes included hundreds of deep knee bends a day. Doc said that would be too much strain. I was trying to learn to trust God. This was about to be my first big test.

After I was out a few days, I was over to visit Al. While there his mom and dad encouraged me being a counselor at Rivercrest Bible Camp near Fremont, Nebraska. I knew nothing about being a camp counselor. I had only gone to one as a little kid and I didn’t like it.  Al’s parents were quite involved in the camp, maybe even on the board. They didn’t put great pressure on me, but they certainly were extolling the virtues of Rivercrest.

What else was I going to do? Walking was still somewhat painful but I could get around. I knew it would be awhile before I could chase any kids around. I wasn’t going to be playing any baseball or running any races. Besides, they assured me that God would provide. I knew that was possible, but didn’t know how it worked. In the end I went because I didn’t want to be sitting around the house.

It ended as a good experience. I had some trouble getting the guys to settle down at night but one the other guy counselor said he had no trouble. All he did was get them in bed and then pray around the world for everyone he know and every missionary and every country until they fell asleep. I loved it. It worked perfectly. There were some who tried to sneak out at night, not to meet girls – they were too young, but simply because it was the thing to do. No one got by me. I pulled my bed out just enough so that the door could not be opened without hitting my bed.

The camp was typically flat land Nebraska, but it sat on (I believe), the Platte River which was a cool place to look for snakes, frogs and all kinds of bugs. My guys loved that. I just wish I knew more about snakes. They made me nervous. But I had some little kid who considered himself an expert on Nebraska snakes and seemed to know the poisonous ones from the non-poisonous ones. There were none he would not handle.

I met a very unique guy at camp who was doing chalk art for the kids. He wasn’t much older than me, but he had set out going from one small town to another conducting Vacation Bible Schools. He did no advance planning and made no advance contacts. He would simply go into a small place, find a church or open family, explain that he would love to hold a VBS if they would be willing to have him. All he asked in return was a place to sleep and a home to feed him. He got a small offering for gas at times and all his needs were met. He had no concern for numbers and did it because the places he went could not likely do it for themselves. He amazed me. He would get a crowds of 15-25 simply by setting out his sign Announcing “VBS Tuesday to Fridays.” He could change the days to whatever time frame available.

He told a story of kicking around the Ozarks in the back hills the previous summer. He pulled into a small place with no church, but met a family that liked what he wanted to do and put him up for the night. They lived in a one-room cabin with blankets hanging on ropes to create rooms. The family all moved behind one blanket to give him the privacy of his own corner. Plumbing was down the path out back.

They fixed squirrel stew one night. It was served in the pot in which it was cooked. Each one had a bowl that they dipped in the pot to get their serving. When he took his bowl out, he had gotten the skull. He had no idea what to do. He picked off what little meat there was and ate the rest. When the meal was over he was asked if he liked the meal. He told them he did. “Why, then, didn’t you eat the skull? It’s the best part.” He explained that he ate all the meat he could find. “But you are suppose to crack the skull and eat the brain. Next time he would know.

He asked if I would like to go do 2-3 VBS’s with him after camp. That sounded interesting and I wanted to see what he was doing with his art. He was a very good chalk artist and I wanted to learn more about that art. One of our stops was in the hometown of Al’s mom. Can’t remember the name of the pace.

Between camps and VBS I did not get back to Omaha until August. Now my work was cut out to get enough money to return to school. I still had some left, but it wasn’t enough. Then there were car payments.