Thanksgiving

Hello to everyone continuing to read my blog,
even after over three months time~

I am excited for Thanksgiving break, as I believe all students and faculty are.... and in particular, I am leaving for Boston in two days! My good friend Katie (from HS, not my housemate) lives there, and a mutual friend and I are headed her way to spend Thanksgiving. I will surely miss being home with family, but it will be great to reunite with Katie and Nealy!

Reflecting on this past week is quite appropriate, actually, considering our Saturday spent with fellow volunteers in a "day of reflection." Thus, I shall reflect on a larger scale of my time being here, since last week the routine of school went without much excitement....a few details first:

I helped judge artwork for the art teacher as she decides who's work to take to the Lakota Nation Invitational (Dec. 19-22), a huge event in Rapid, hosting 16 schools in various competitions, basketball tournament, wrestling tournament, handgames, knowledge bowl, Lakota Language competition, and Artwork- which is the reason I was judging in the first place. :)

As faculty, a group of us meets during the lunch hour once a week for a time of spiritual reflection and renewal, and this week we had a number of people, and the time together was quite beneficial....I have really come to appreciate this time, growing in knowledge of God, ourselves, and one another- particularly cool since it involves all faculty we work with on a daily basis.

And Saturday- we spent almost the entire (beautiful) day in honest reflection, listening to God, praying, and hearing from others regarding their experience thus far, and their emotional response to the change that has brought us all to be at Red Cloud. I found this time to be a beautiful opportunity to escape from a normal routine and simply think on- and pray about- my time here thus far. I have come to understand that the reasons I initially came out here are positive (learning more about the Lakota culture and serving youth)... yet I also came to realize and name a few ways which God is working, which I wasn't necessarily expecting-

I initially thought that I would be taking a 'break' from thinking theologically about everything (as I seemed prone to in college)... yet I realize now that my time and interaction with students thus far has been a wonderful chance for me to continue my theological reflection on youth ministry (as if I'll ever stop) :) in an environment in which youth are constantly present in my life....a place where stories are shared in abundance and hearts are open to conversation about real life issues.... and Saturday I realized fully for the first time how much this experience fulfills me, since I am able to be a part of the development of these students' lives- in so many ways- and this will only increase with time. Thus, God has been using this time to further validate how much I feel called to working with youth in the future- I am continually fascinated by adolescent development- particularly when it come to the integration of spirituality throughout all of life.

I have also come to realize this through my reflection: in the three and a half months that I've been here, I already am growing in many ways in my spiritual development- as a young person contemplating future ministry and my own relationship with God- I marvel at how a change of environment really requires new honesty in my faith commitment, and being willing to accept what God is doing... regardless of my own fears and uncertainties.

Ah, so plenty of reflection and relaxation this weekend has prepared me well to finish out these last two days of school and head into my travels with energy! :) I wish you all a blessed Thanksgiving...and may we all remember those less fortunate than ourselves as we also express our gratitude for what we have been given. God knows we all need gratefulness in our lives! :)

Much love, Emily