Why don't you get a real job?

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If you have ever told a Rainbow Bible Ranch Staff Member that you think its time they get a “Real Job”, you might just want to reconsider. Like, I get it. I know what you’re thinking and I that you mean well… but to be honest…its almost offensive and should be said only after careful consideration and observation! And if after that careful observation and consideration you still feel the need to say that _________ needs a real job, then maybe a heart realignment is in store. :)
I would like to give you a few reasons of why I believe this…

Camp. 10 weeks. June 1- August 14 (With most weekends and one week break over the 4th of July).

The life of a team leader:
The Mornings are early. Every morning is early, and that after a very long day of riding, swimming, fishing, untangling that line for the fourth time, preparing devotions, giving devotions, answering questions, answering the same question for the 8th time, helping the homesick kid work though the homesickness and see a huge smile after the ride...the work projects, where you try to get the whole team involved…capture the flag, capture the flag, capture the flag, answering questions, getting climbed on, answering questions, oh, “one more game of capture the flag?” 3 games later… answering questions, preparing a group skit with 8 little girls...or 8 little boys who just want a battle scene, staying up late talking to kids about their home life, trying to help them understand that there is Someone Who cares, getting woke up at 2 by the little girl that doesn’t feel well, and hoping you get a little more sleep so you can do it all over again tomorrow. We love it. There is absolutely nothing so rewarding!

Or the life of the wrangler: “Yeah everyone wants to be a wrangler.” Every day you wake up with the sun, ride over a mile to get to the saddle horses, get them in and saddle twenty horses by breakfast. Then on a hot day in July take another group of riders out for an hour and a half, then another, then another, making sure the saddle fits the kid and the horse, and making sure that the kid that is scared and crying can overcome that when they get to the top of the breaks and see the view and a smile spreads across their face. You told them to trust you. They did. They cried. They made it. They loved it. Now they love you. Cutting up one more cactus and dividing it 10 ways, getting everyone home safely, unsaddling at the end of the day, doing some ranch work, and going to play capture the flag when you’re not sure if your bones can handle it. :) But you run anyway, because you remember being that kid at camp watching the wranglers...
We love it. There is absolutely nothing so rewarding!

The All around crew? Cleaning, washing dishes, cleaning, washing dishes, cleaning, washing dishes, going to help run the zipline, going to lifeguard the swimming hole, cleaning, washing dishes……..

I don’t tell you this to brag about the staff….well, yes, actually I do. They deserve to be bragged about. Camp is hard! It wears you out! Would you stay in that dorm and be there with thirty-five 8-12 year olds getting ready for the banquet? Or how about sleeping outside on the ground so that the kids get the chance to sleep under the stars, sleeping lightly so when it starts to rain you can get everyone up and inside and it’s 3:29 in the morning.
Most of you wouldn’t want to do it! ….BECAUSE IT’S A JOB. IT IS HARD WORK.

If you worked at Rainbow you will leave with a very diverse resume!
You do what needs done when it needs done. You can clean toilets, you can saddle 5 horses in 15 minutes. You can wash hundreds of dishes and put them away, and then go give 100 underdogs to the 6 year olds.
Camp is not easy! I promise it’s the hardest summer you’ll ever be a part of! You don’t go out with friends on the weekend because you are wore out and you know you need to be ready for the next week starting Monday!
It is the most fulfilling job you’ll ever have. I can also promise that, and you won’t want to do anything else.
But when someone says that it’s time to get a real job, or your friend who works at McDonalds asks you why you do camp and don’t have a real job….it kinda cuts right to the core. If they only knew…
If only you knew.

A good staff is VITAL to the continuing ministry of Rainbow Bible Ranch. And to be honest, it has been getting harder and harder to get staff who will commit to the summer. Why? I’m not really sure. I mean, yeah, it’s hard. But “real jobs” are work.

Maybe that’s why… because they keep getting told working at camp isn’t a “Real Job”…

RACHEL'S TESTIMONY OF SALVATION

The day after Thanksgiving in November of 1993, I was brought home to the Reinhold Family ranch. The first child to my parents and the 4th generation to call this Home! Raised in the same house that my Dad and Grandpa were both raised in, I developed a deep love for some rolling hills with a few special trees in Meade County, South Dakota from my very first year of life! Growing up like any other farm or ranch kid I had chores from a young age. From rabbits to chickens and washing and selling eggs to milking the cow. I absolutely loved the life I was living!

But aside from my parents teaching us responsibility and the value of hard work, honesty and integrity... they told us about Jesus.

When I was 3 years old I became very aware of the fact that I was indeed a sinner! And because my parents did a good job of telling me about Heaven. And Hell. I realized even at the age of 3 that I was a sinner, destined for hell with no hope of ever being good enough to be accepted by a Perfect God.

So on January 7, 1997 I had been doing much thinking and went to my mom who was busy in the kitchen and told her that I was scared, that if I died I knew I would go to hell, and I wanted Jesus to forgive my sin and make a way for me to go to heaven. January 7, 1997 I recognized my need for a Savior.

What does it mean to be saved? It means giving up our pride. Realizing that we can't do it on our own. Believing that we were born sinners and did not deserve an eternal home with a Perfect God, the Creator of the Universe. It means accepting the fact that even though we don't deserve it, God loved us so much that He decided to send down His One and only perfect Son to die for us and literally be the Sacrifice for any one of us who will accept it! It means giving up ourselves and turning our lives over to a God Who loves us. No matter what we've done.

One could argue that as a 3 year old I was too young to understand what I was doing that day, but let me tell you that I remember that day as though I was watching it replay on a screen before me. You can also ask my Grandma and she would tell you of the literal life changing, day-night difference that she saw in me after that day!

My Mom dropped what she was doing and we went into Dad's office where Mom and Dad prayed with me as I accepted my Savior, confessed my sins and asked Jesus to become the Lord of my life. And that day my life was changed forever.

Life didn't become easy after that day. In fact there has been some really hard things since then. And some people may ask why would I put so much faith and trust into a God that we can't even see? Well my answer is simple. I can't imagine going though life without Him!!

So today I had a lot on my mind... I was flipping through my bible and ended up in Proverbs. On the bottom of one of the pages I had written - "What will you do with Jesus?"

It was a challenge to me today and one I leave with you.

He's not just a story to me. He changed my life. He's not just a person from history. He died for my sins. He didn't just die, He rose from the dead.

He lives and all He asks for is your heart.

If I do nothing in this life I pray that others saw Jesus in me. He is everything to me and I pray that you come to know Him as I have.

"What will you do with Jesus?"

Happy Sunday

THE HARVEST MOON BY RACHEL REINHOLD

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Did you ever watch a Harvest Moon
As it rose above the prairie?
Did you sit and listen to the evening sounds
And the song of the wide open country?

Did you ever drive through a little prairie town
And grab a bite at their little cafe?
Did you shake hands with the farmers there
Visiting bout life or’ a cup of black coffee?

Did you ever go fishing when it started to rain
In an old stock dam where the cows come to water?
Or hunted that big ol’ whitetail buck
In a corn field where you watch him grow big through the summer?

Have you ever been to the ranchers table
Where all they were eating there they grew?
Did you hold hands with them there for dinner at noon
As the prayed and thanked God for the food?

Did you ever watch as neighbors and strangers
Came together for a common cause?
Be it a flood or a fire or other natural disaster
Or the friend who’s dying of cancer.

Did you ever go to a football game
Where the school’s so small they play 6 man
Did you watch as the water boy ran to the Center.
His brother, his hero, his best friend.

Have you ever witnessed that Grandpa
As he held his newborn grand baby?
Did you watch as your dad cried
When his old horse had died and he buried him out South of the barn

Did your mom ever help you build a fort
In the trees back behind the house
And give you an old pan or blanket
Then called Grandma to come see your new haunt?

Where you there in that town for the Centennial Celebration Parade?
Where they still throw candy and we wave our flags.
Because this is America, and we’re still proud to say, "God Bless the USA”.

Did you ever show up for branding day in May?
Where the sound of bawling calves and the smell of burning hair is something you’ve been dreaming of all winter?

Have you ever been there for harvest?
Where the meals are eaten in the field.
Where Faith is lived out in everyday life
When it’s a drought or a flood that defines it?

Have you ever been to South Dakota
Where neighbors might be 100 miles away
Where if you don’t know them, you know their cousin and you might be related anyway!

Did you listen to the coyotes call to each other?
Or chase that skunk you’ve been waiting for through the dark?
Are your best friends your brothers and sisters?
And you teased and you loved all the same?

Have you ever seen a Harvest Moon,
On a beautiful September night?
Did you ever question if there is a God?
Well I'm hoping by now that you don’t.

Have you ever seen the Harvest Moon...
As it rose above the Prairie?

-Rachel Reinhold
September 15, 2019

THE COOLEST PARENTS AROUND

LARRY AND ROBIN REINHOLD AND THE GOOD HORSE “TRIGGER”

SWEET MEMORIES

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This afternoon I ran out to look at the mares and check for any new colts. I always think of Grandpa when I do that. That was his thing. He always drove his 4 wheeler out (in later years) to check mares and come back with a report each morning. Sometimes when I was little, I got to go along if I was awake when he left and we would do a Little Rock hunting while we were out. 
Well today while I was out I stopped on top and walked around a little. And there it was. A rock with a perfect hole. I’ve been looking for one of those. Grandpa always picked up those kind and put them on his key for the 4 wheeler. “That way no one takes it!” 
Well. I found one today, Grandpa. Although I think I’m gonna keep this one special... 
Oh yes guess what I also found?! Two really pretty agates. You definitely would have put them on your deck! They are good ones! 
There was also 2 new colts! No palominos yet! I got to pet the one colt a bit! It’s always cool to be the first person to touch a new colt! And yes they both had sucked...I made sure they were doing good. 😊
I sure wish you would have been with me today. Shucks, I even cried missing you. It’s selfish, I know. Heaven can’t compare. But I sure would have loved to have you here for a little bit longer. 
Thanks for everything you gave me. I wish, right now for one of your hugs and handshake... but I’ll keep cherishing the ones I had until I see you again!