Hey Ya... Fist Pumps for Jesus... If they don't go to the Dentist HabiJax 2004 Spring Break Trip
I don't know if i can write this without crying...
So this week has been amazing. I had no expectations going into the trip because i had just signed up for the trip. So we leave on saturday morning and i have to drive a van at some point.. so Virginia it was. I didn't wanna drive the van but i got used to it and enjoyed it after the trip was over. The drive down on Saturday ended at an Episcopal Church in Beaufort South Carolina. At this point we and the other team from Eastern were together and we stayed at the church overnight. I got little sleep because Joel was snoring right in my ear.
Sunday- We woke up and it was gorgeous outside. We went to this Episcopal church that was very traditional and it freaked me out. They were very strict about prayer and discipline in their service. I really didn't like it. But I did take communion and felt like it meant something. Even though it was an alcoholic drink. So after church the two teams split up our group to Jacksonville Beach the other to Valdosta Georgia. That was the last we saw of the Georgia group. Our group was super hungry after church so we stopped at a small all you can eat Chinese buffet on the way out of town. It was "Delicious!" to quote Matt. Then i drove all the way from there to the Florida Welcome center where we partook in some wonderful Florida orange juice. We then arrived at our church we were staying at like at 5. It was a beautiful church in the suburbs of Jacksonville. We def had it great they had a big kitchen and several huge rooms for us to stay. The guys chose the baby nursery and the girls got the Sun Room. Our floor had extra padding so it was awesome. We all hit the sack pretty early that night knowing we had to wake up and get to work the next day.
Monday- We woke up and drove I’d say all of 10 minutes to the Beaches Habitat. It was in a descent neighborhood and was right next to a beautiful park for kids to play in. So we had a meeting with the leaders of the group then we all trekked down a block towards the job site. Us and the other group of people from Sienna Heights a group from Michigan. So they were asking people where they wanted to go and work that day and I ended up with a guy named Tommy who was an Americorps worker. That day we helped saw stuff for the rafters and put fascia on the outside of the house. The houses we all were working on were in this subdivision in which habitat had a cul-de-sac of what will be eight homes. the first one was done outside and was getting ready to start being done inside. The second one was almost done completely. Next one on the left was just being framed and such. And the final one was right next to the lake and it was just getting the roof started when we got there. I worked with Tommy putting the fascia on all day and at lunch we were introduced to "Rafiki Tom" the leader from the other group. We then continued work on the fascia after lunch till around quitting time when we were putting together the tops of doors so they could be framed. We all piled in the vans and went back to the church we were staying at. We all showered up and then got ready to go out to eat. We found out that Chick-Fil-A had an all you can eat nugget special and so we hit that up. I was the champ of that night downing 40 chicken nuggets, a slice of cheesecake and a half of a brownie. We came back to the church and had our first nightly meeting. We talked about the funny stuff about our day and then wrote it on a sheet, which we will all get a piece of later. Then we had worship and devotions. The devotions all had something to do with service or staying the course. We then ended the session by talking about the spiritual aspects of the day. It was really cool to think about how what we were doing was an act of worship. Someone brought that up not that day but another day. After the meeting we all sat in a circle in the nursery and talked about high school and college and the falls we've had over the years. Good stuff...
Tuesday- We woke up to "If they don't go to the Dentist and they steal all of our stuff like drunk B---ch Friday." on our alarm clock. So the day was started by a huge joke. We eat breakfast and had devotions then we headed to the worksite again. Today since we had finished our fascia and the tops to the doorframe our group was done so it freed me up to do something new for the day. They were asking for volunteers from the previous days to do the same thing they were doing but I’d finished so I volunteered for what they called a dirt dam. The Americorps person said you’d be working with Paul. So, two girls, Sarah and Bethany, from our group, and Ruzena from the other group and myself decided to build a dirt dam. Paul came over and told us what we were going to be doing but said this is your project you’ll be doing it all by yourself. Contact him with any problems. So we had to draw the plans up for a dirt dam with the measurements and amount of wood we would need. So we began to do this. We came up with a design that looked like waves at the top because we were by the ocean. We started digging the trench that would eventually be a wall to hold a tree up in a hurricane. We dug the hole out the rest of the day. The girls dug while I would pull out all the roots of the tree in which were in the way for them. It was tough to get all the roots out of the way but I did it. After the hole was dug to about 2 feet deep it was around 3 o’clock that day. We cut the wood that we did have and then decided we could not do anymore for that day and we’d get the wood and start on the rest tomorrow. We checked with Paul and he said that was alright and we went on. So we went and put OSB on the third house that was being framed. Bethany, Sarah, and I worked together and put up the OSB. You had to put nails in every 6 inches around the out side and on the studs every 8 inches. That was a lot of nails to have to put in. We got three sheets up then it was time to leave. We got back to the church and then Transformed Eastern’s traveling drama ministry came and ate with us. They stayed the night before with us at the church but they got in really late so they slept in a different room. So we all ate spaghetti together then we watched their presentation that they had been doing throughout Florida for spring break. It was ok but I’d seen some of the skits before. We watched their skits then we got in our circle and talked about the day after they had left. It’s amazing to see how God uses different people to do different things. If we hadn’t all been doing this work none of it would have got done. The devotion was another one about how service for our Lord is important and that when we serve God the reward is great. This is what I got out of the devotion. We did the sheet and we talked about “Creepy Girl” and “Rafiki Tom.” Joked around and then talked about our days. We talked about how when things got frustrating that we needed to step back and realize what we are doing this for. The homeowners yes but for our Lord, he would give us the strength not to get frustrated or tired and each swing of the hammer or dig of the shovel we would gain strength from God to finish our task. After all of this we sat around in a circle all 16 of us and talked about different things. It was fun once again. We went to bed and Cesar was complaining about how I use the “secret door” he was furious. It was a good time. We fell asleep preparing for the half day on Wednesday.
Wednesday- Half-day working Half Day in St. Augustine. We got up had devotions which I lead. I talked from Habakkuk and how God will make your feet like a deer. Meaning that he will be there no matter how tired you are or how much you question him. So, eat then head to the worksite to continue on the dirt dam. It was only a half-day but it went really really slow. The dirt dam was in full swing. We were cutting the pieces for the wall. There was a lot of wood we had to cut. So, we pieced them together and started in on the wall. By the end of the workday we had all the pieces cut but it wasn’t finished. We needed more wood to complete the project so we worked out a plan to add another wave then finish the wall by tapering the rest of the pieces. So, by the time we were done figuring out all the new pieces and such it was time to get going back to the church. It was getting frustrating not to have the wall done but it was a longer process than we thought. We got back and took showers and then headed to St. Augustine. I decided to drive and it was a lovely drive down A1A. I got to talk to Jess Sanger the way down there and we talked about moving around all the time and family. She’s a great gal and she did a great job putting the trip together. Once we got to St. Augustine the group split up some of us went to the town the other to the beach. It was a quaint little town that had a bunch of history in it. We walked around the fort there and it was amazing. The classic star shape fort from that time was huge and the height was awesome. It was five bucks to get in so we didn’t walk around the inside, just the outside. Then we hit up the shops. We went into this awesome sword and knife store but Zack, Joel, and I all being history majors thought it was cool but knew what the real stuff would have been like so it was sort of a disappointment. Andy Horvath and His Wife Peg and Nicole were with us as well. We stopped in this awesome store that sold hats and other beach paraphernalia and I tried on a “beach cowboy” hat and liked it. But I didn’t want to buy it then. We walked a little ways down then I decided I wanted to get it and I haven’t taken the “beach cowboy” off unless to sleep or to work on the dirt dam. After going to that shop we went down to the bay and sat under this beautiful covering thing and watched the dolphins in the bay. We sat there for a long time and just talked and did nothing but relax it was awesome. We met up with the rest of the people from in town and then with the group from the beach. We then headed to the Murray Brothers’ Caddy shack restaurant in the PGA tour village. Our group and Sienna Heights the other group from Michigan ate together and got to know each other a little better. It was cool except for the food was ok just not exciting and the girl who hated the Amish for no apparent reason at all. We ate the food then came back to the Church and did the whole circle thing again. It was cool. Don’t remember much from that nights worship or devotion. We did the circle thing again and talked until bedtime. The nursery floor was comfortable once again as we passed out from exhaustion.
Thursday- We ate and headed to the worksite as usual. The dirt dam continued with the new wave to be installed. We cut the wood and dry fitted it in place. It looked awesome. Then we had to put hurricane rod through all the pieces of wood so that they would move together not separately in a hurricane. To do this task was awesome because I got to use a drill as long as my leg. Its name was the Hole Hawg. It was truly amazing. We got our system of drilling and putting the hurricane rods in and lunchtime came around as we finished drilling the holes. Then we put the hurricane rods through the rest of the day and it looked like we were going to have the wall done by the time we were going to leave. After drilling the holes and putting the hurricane rods in, we had to put anchors in ground using 2x4s and a hurricane rod. We did that and started to back fill the hole. Just as we were starting to back fill the hole it was about time to leave. People from other jobs on the site were helping us by filling the wheelbarrows up and bringing dirt. It was 10 minutes past the time we were to leave and the wall was up we just had to finish backfilling then put mulch on top. We were getting frustrate all day because we wanted this project to be done. But God taught us patience because we didn’t finish that day. The workday finished and we all went back to the church and showered up and such. It was my turn to help cook dinner for the night. It was taco night. But I offered to make quesodillas for them as well. So all dirty from the dirt dam, Cesar and I hit up Publix for more stuff to make quesodillas. We then got back as the taco meat was done, we walked in with the special surprise of Dr. Publix, the fascination of the whole trip for some people. I then made quesodillas for everyone on the trip. They were so easy to make from my experience (Sodexho). We ate then sat around and then had our meeting. I remember the devotion being about service again. But the worship that night sparked something in me. I began to think about the grace that God gives even though we screw up so many times. I almost cried right then and there but my pride got the best of me. I feel sometimes that my pride does that. I feel that men should not cry and so I don’t. Anyways, we did the sheet and everything. I just remember sitting in the chair thinking about God’s Grace. It amazes me to think about it. A lot of people played cranium while I got my shower. I came back and they were still playing so I played with the play dough they have in the game. I made three roses that looked like real roses. (Picture maybe coming later.) We all sit around and talked some more then went to bed.
Friday- Partial Work day again. We worked until 1 pm this day then we were going to the beach after that. The dirt dam finally got all the dirt behind it and then we put mulch on the top of it. It looked amazing. I’ll probably put some pictures of that on here as well. So you can see our handiwork. That was done so we helped put up some walls on a house then bang them in with Concrete nails. Boy are those hard to get in. Some take like 4 or 5 nails to get in. As soon as they hit the concrete they bend like nobody’s business. So that was a challenge of my patience. I worked with Eric doing that who was another Americorps person who answered all my questions about the program. It was neat to hear about how he got involved and such. Molly also answered my questions throughout the week. After putting up the two exterior walls. Sarah, Bethany, and I went inside for a change and painted baseboards for the nearly completed house. The neat thing about that was that we were working alongside the future homeowner, Gail. Gail proceeded to tell us that she hoped her house would hurry up and be done because her kids live in a bad neighborhood with drugs and gangs all around. It made me want to do the work even more for her and her family, to know that all of my work for that week was for a reason. Not only for me but also for other people. She was grateful for what we were doing and she took pictures of all of us painting her baseboards. It was a neat experience. By the time we got done painting all the baseboards in her house it was time to pack up all the stuff. Clean up was a bit longer than normal because we had to take all the scraps of stuff and put them in the dumpster and put away all the sawhorses and stuff. But, talking with Jess and Joel who have worked with the habitat here in Philly said that when we were throwing this stuff away they felt wasteful, because in this area there is not enough stuff to actually do anything. Its too bad we couldn’t bring the dumpster to Philly with us so they would have supplies. So we ate lunch and took pictures with all the staff there. All of us with our bright yellow habitat beaches shirts on. My favorite picture of us will be the one of us in front of the sign that says “Habitat Beaches, God’s Love in Action.” That is a truly amazing sign. After we had our pictures taken and our celebration ceremony of thanking everyone for everything we headed to the church then the beach. Wow, the beach was amazing. The water not so much though, it was “refreshing” is what some people said. I just thought it was cold. But I still walked along the side of the water. At one point I just sat at the waters edge and admired God’s creation. It was truly amazing, just sitting and gawking at the beautiful surroundings. I must have sat there for a good half an hour until the tide came in and I got really wet. Then I headed back to the blankets and tossed around the ball with Little Bird and with Nicole and Sarah. It was fun. Most random thing after some people went to the shops, some woman comes up and asks if we want to be in a commercial for Krystal. I decided no but everyone else went to get free food and a possibility of 100 bucks mailed to you if you get in the spot. So myself and Peg and Bethany were the only ones from our group on the beach. We began to talk about marriage and it evolved into talking about relationships and eventually our entire life stories. We both were near tears, she about my story and mine about hers. It was awesome to hear the story of how a man and a woman found each other after so long. It was an amazing conversation I’ll probably not soon forget. We came back to the church and got all showered up and then hit up Chili’s for dinner. Ahh, the Mushroom Jack, Jacked up Bama. We had a great time of food and fellowship there and then came back to have our last meeting and devotional time. Joel had devotions and he talked about how Paul used the analogy of building a foundation for our lives and how its neat how we were helping build houses for Habitat. Worship was incredible again. I felt the same Grace of God throughout. Saying its ok, I know you’ve screwed up. Its ok. We all went around the circle and told one thing we like about the trip. When it came to me I talked about how I like the free reign they gave us to build “the wall” or dirt dam. Then I talked about how I needed to be on the trip to find out about Americorps. I had no idea what I was going to do with my life after graduation and now I have some sort of idea. God is calling me to do some sort of service whether it be through missions in the United states or through Americorps. All I know is that what he is calling me to do. I listened to everyone else’s favorite things and I was so blessed to hear everything everyone said. We packed up the vans and soon went to bed.
Saturday- The Final Hours. We piled in the vans at 7 am to come home from our wonderful week. I drove the first leg and talked to Matt about all our football experiences and a little about high school. Then Jess Sanger woke up and we talked a little about moving from place to place again before I put in the Beach Boys and the whole van sang along. We switched drivers and I finished Stupid White Men. I tried to sleep but as soon as I got to sleep we stopped for lunch and it was my turn to drive again. I was tired and I was cranky but I forgave myself. So I got some coffee and went into the other van. Sarah was my shotgun and she asked me what she should do to keep me awake. I said why don’t we all share our life stories. We got on 95 and I proceeded to tell her and Katie my life story. Then Sarah told her life story. Then Katie. By then Bethany had woken up and then she shared her life story. The more and more people. At the end of my shift three people had shared their life stories. The next driver got in and then Andy and Peg shared their individual journeys and then Zack and Stacie. By then we were through Virginia and DC and in Maryland where we stopped at Cracker Barrel for some food. Nicole jumped in the van to drive and we heard her life story till Delaware. I was so blessed to be in that van. I heard the story of Andy and Peg’s dating till they were married and it blessed me so much. Andy was 30 when he got married. They talked about sex and relationships. It was what I needed to hear. They offered their home for us to have a reunion sometime before the end of school. So we’re all getting together sometime again. Andy opened his office up to the guys who want to talk about the things he talked about and I said I’d take him up on the offer. I plan on it. It’s neat to hear everyone’s spiritual journey that way you don’t feel like the only one with problems. We got into the Eastern parking lot and I was very sad to be done with the trip. I got in my room and tears started to roll down my cheek.
I was so blessed to be on the trip. I truly feel the love of Jesus permeating my body and God’s grace fill’s me with Joy. The people I got to know helped me to realize what my passion was, for social justice in the United States. I found my calling, I’ve been struggling for that for the past year and the burden has been lifted off my shoulders. This morning I woke up and applied for Americorps NCCC for the winter of 2005. So I’m on my way to knowing what my life is about. I’m also going to look into mission opportunities in the United States. I was truly blessed to be on the trip. I thank all of you who were on it and I will be praying for you as you I hope will be for me. Thank you so much. You guys are great.
In the Grip of Grace,
BAMA
So this week has been amazing. I had no expectations going into the trip because i had just signed up for the trip. So we leave on saturday morning and i have to drive a van at some point.. so Virginia it was. I didn't wanna drive the van but i got used to it and enjoyed it after the trip was over. The drive down on Saturday ended at an Episcopal Church in Beaufort South Carolina. At this point we and the other team from Eastern were together and we stayed at the church overnight. I got little sleep because Joel was snoring right in my ear.
Sunday- We woke up and it was gorgeous outside. We went to this Episcopal church that was very traditional and it freaked me out. They were very strict about prayer and discipline in their service. I really didn't like it. But I did take communion and felt like it meant something. Even though it was an alcoholic drink. So after church the two teams split up our group to Jacksonville Beach the other to Valdosta Georgia. That was the last we saw of the Georgia group. Our group was super hungry after church so we stopped at a small all you can eat Chinese buffet on the way out of town. It was "Delicious!" to quote Matt. Then i drove all the way from there to the Florida Welcome center where we partook in some wonderful Florida orange juice. We then arrived at our church we were staying at like at 5. It was a beautiful church in the suburbs of Jacksonville. We def had it great they had a big kitchen and several huge rooms for us to stay. The guys chose the baby nursery and the girls got the Sun Room. Our floor had extra padding so it was awesome. We all hit the sack pretty early that night knowing we had to wake up and get to work the next day.
Monday- We woke up and drove I’d say all of 10 minutes to the Beaches Habitat. It was in a descent neighborhood and was right next to a beautiful park for kids to play in. So we had a meeting with the leaders of the group then we all trekked down a block towards the job site. Us and the other group of people from Sienna Heights a group from Michigan. So they were asking people where they wanted to go and work that day and I ended up with a guy named Tommy who was an Americorps worker. That day we helped saw stuff for the rafters and put fascia on the outside of the house. The houses we all were working on were in this subdivision in which habitat had a cul-de-sac of what will be eight homes. the first one was done outside and was getting ready to start being done inside. The second one was almost done completely. Next one on the left was just being framed and such. And the final one was right next to the lake and it was just getting the roof started when we got there. I worked with Tommy putting the fascia on all day and at lunch we were introduced to "Rafiki Tom" the leader from the other group. We then continued work on the fascia after lunch till around quitting time when we were putting together the tops of doors so they could be framed. We all piled in the vans and went back to the church we were staying at. We all showered up and then got ready to go out to eat. We found out that Chick-Fil-A had an all you can eat nugget special and so we hit that up. I was the champ of that night downing 40 chicken nuggets, a slice of cheesecake and a half of a brownie. We came back to the church and had our first nightly meeting. We talked about the funny stuff about our day and then wrote it on a sheet, which we will all get a piece of later. Then we had worship and devotions. The devotions all had something to do with service or staying the course. We then ended the session by talking about the spiritual aspects of the day. It was really cool to think about how what we were doing was an act of worship. Someone brought that up not that day but another day. After the meeting we all sat in a circle in the nursery and talked about high school and college and the falls we've had over the years. Good stuff...
Tuesday- We woke up to "If they don't go to the Dentist and they steal all of our stuff like drunk B---ch Friday." on our alarm clock. So the day was started by a huge joke. We eat breakfast and had devotions then we headed to the worksite again. Today since we had finished our fascia and the tops to the doorframe our group was done so it freed me up to do something new for the day. They were asking for volunteers from the previous days to do the same thing they were doing but I’d finished so I volunteered for what they called a dirt dam. The Americorps person said you’d be working with Paul. So, two girls, Sarah and Bethany, from our group, and Ruzena from the other group and myself decided to build a dirt dam. Paul came over and told us what we were going to be doing but said this is your project you’ll be doing it all by yourself. Contact him with any problems. So we had to draw the plans up for a dirt dam with the measurements and amount of wood we would need. So we began to do this. We came up with a design that looked like waves at the top because we were by the ocean. We started digging the trench that would eventually be a wall to hold a tree up in a hurricane. We dug the hole out the rest of the day. The girls dug while I would pull out all the roots of the tree in which were in the way for them. It was tough to get all the roots out of the way but I did it. After the hole was dug to about 2 feet deep it was around 3 o’clock that day. We cut the wood that we did have and then decided we could not do anymore for that day and we’d get the wood and start on the rest tomorrow. We checked with Paul and he said that was alright and we went on. So we went and put OSB on the third house that was being framed. Bethany, Sarah, and I worked together and put up the OSB. You had to put nails in every 6 inches around the out side and on the studs every 8 inches. That was a lot of nails to have to put in. We got three sheets up then it was time to leave. We got back to the church and then Transformed Eastern’s traveling drama ministry came and ate with us. They stayed the night before with us at the church but they got in really late so they slept in a different room. So we all ate spaghetti together then we watched their presentation that they had been doing throughout Florida for spring break. It was ok but I’d seen some of the skits before. We watched their skits then we got in our circle and talked about the day after they had left. It’s amazing to see how God uses different people to do different things. If we hadn’t all been doing this work none of it would have got done. The devotion was another one about how service for our Lord is important and that when we serve God the reward is great. This is what I got out of the devotion. We did the sheet and we talked about “Creepy Girl” and “Rafiki Tom.” Joked around and then talked about our days. We talked about how when things got frustrating that we needed to step back and realize what we are doing this for. The homeowners yes but for our Lord, he would give us the strength not to get frustrated or tired and each swing of the hammer or dig of the shovel we would gain strength from God to finish our task. After all of this we sat around in a circle all 16 of us and talked about different things. It was fun once again. We went to bed and Cesar was complaining about how I use the “secret door” he was furious. It was a good time. We fell asleep preparing for the half day on Wednesday.
Wednesday- Half-day working Half Day in St. Augustine. We got up had devotions which I lead. I talked from Habakkuk and how God will make your feet like a deer. Meaning that he will be there no matter how tired you are or how much you question him. So, eat then head to the worksite to continue on the dirt dam. It was only a half-day but it went really really slow. The dirt dam was in full swing. We were cutting the pieces for the wall. There was a lot of wood we had to cut. So, we pieced them together and started in on the wall. By the end of the workday we had all the pieces cut but it wasn’t finished. We needed more wood to complete the project so we worked out a plan to add another wave then finish the wall by tapering the rest of the pieces. So, by the time we were done figuring out all the new pieces and such it was time to get going back to the church. It was getting frustrating not to have the wall done but it was a longer process than we thought. We got back and took showers and then headed to St. Augustine. I decided to drive and it was a lovely drive down A1A. I got to talk to Jess Sanger the way down there and we talked about moving around all the time and family. She’s a great gal and she did a great job putting the trip together. Once we got to St. Augustine the group split up some of us went to the town the other to the beach. It was a quaint little town that had a bunch of history in it. We walked around the fort there and it was amazing. The classic star shape fort from that time was huge and the height was awesome. It was five bucks to get in so we didn’t walk around the inside, just the outside. Then we hit up the shops. We went into this awesome sword and knife store but Zack, Joel, and I all being history majors thought it was cool but knew what the real stuff would have been like so it was sort of a disappointment. Andy Horvath and His Wife Peg and Nicole were with us as well. We stopped in this awesome store that sold hats and other beach paraphernalia and I tried on a “beach cowboy” hat and liked it. But I didn’t want to buy it then. We walked a little ways down then I decided I wanted to get it and I haven’t taken the “beach cowboy” off unless to sleep or to work on the dirt dam. After going to that shop we went down to the bay and sat under this beautiful covering thing and watched the dolphins in the bay. We sat there for a long time and just talked and did nothing but relax it was awesome. We met up with the rest of the people from in town and then with the group from the beach. We then headed to the Murray Brothers’ Caddy shack restaurant in the PGA tour village. Our group and Sienna Heights the other group from Michigan ate together and got to know each other a little better. It was cool except for the food was ok just not exciting and the girl who hated the Amish for no apparent reason at all. We ate the food then came back to the Church and did the whole circle thing again. It was cool. Don’t remember much from that nights worship or devotion. We did the circle thing again and talked until bedtime. The nursery floor was comfortable once again as we passed out from exhaustion.
Thursday- We ate and headed to the worksite as usual. The dirt dam continued with the new wave to be installed. We cut the wood and dry fitted it in place. It looked awesome. Then we had to put hurricane rod through all the pieces of wood so that they would move together not separately in a hurricane. To do this task was awesome because I got to use a drill as long as my leg. Its name was the Hole Hawg. It was truly amazing. We got our system of drilling and putting the hurricane rods in and lunchtime came around as we finished drilling the holes. Then we put the hurricane rods through the rest of the day and it looked like we were going to have the wall done by the time we were going to leave. After drilling the holes and putting the hurricane rods in, we had to put anchors in ground using 2x4s and a hurricane rod. We did that and started to back fill the hole. Just as we were starting to back fill the hole it was about time to leave. People from other jobs on the site were helping us by filling the wheelbarrows up and bringing dirt. It was 10 minutes past the time we were to leave and the wall was up we just had to finish backfilling then put mulch on top. We were getting frustrate all day because we wanted this project to be done. But God taught us patience because we didn’t finish that day. The workday finished and we all went back to the church and showered up and such. It was my turn to help cook dinner for the night. It was taco night. But I offered to make quesodillas for them as well. So all dirty from the dirt dam, Cesar and I hit up Publix for more stuff to make quesodillas. We then got back as the taco meat was done, we walked in with the special surprise of Dr. Publix, the fascination of the whole trip for some people. I then made quesodillas for everyone on the trip. They were so easy to make from my experience (Sodexho). We ate then sat around and then had our meeting. I remember the devotion being about service again. But the worship that night sparked something in me. I began to think about the grace that God gives even though we screw up so many times. I almost cried right then and there but my pride got the best of me. I feel sometimes that my pride does that. I feel that men should not cry and so I don’t. Anyways, we did the sheet and everything. I just remember sitting in the chair thinking about God’s Grace. It amazes me to think about it. A lot of people played cranium while I got my shower. I came back and they were still playing so I played with the play dough they have in the game. I made three roses that looked like real roses. (Picture maybe coming later.) We all sit around and talked some more then went to bed.
Friday- Partial Work day again. We worked until 1 pm this day then we were going to the beach after that. The dirt dam finally got all the dirt behind it and then we put mulch on the top of it. It looked amazing. I’ll probably put some pictures of that on here as well. So you can see our handiwork. That was done so we helped put up some walls on a house then bang them in with Concrete nails. Boy are those hard to get in. Some take like 4 or 5 nails to get in. As soon as they hit the concrete they bend like nobody’s business. So that was a challenge of my patience. I worked with Eric doing that who was another Americorps person who answered all my questions about the program. It was neat to hear about how he got involved and such. Molly also answered my questions throughout the week. After putting up the two exterior walls. Sarah, Bethany, and I went inside for a change and painted baseboards for the nearly completed house. The neat thing about that was that we were working alongside the future homeowner, Gail. Gail proceeded to tell us that she hoped her house would hurry up and be done because her kids live in a bad neighborhood with drugs and gangs all around. It made me want to do the work even more for her and her family, to know that all of my work for that week was for a reason. Not only for me but also for other people. She was grateful for what we were doing and she took pictures of all of us painting her baseboards. It was a neat experience. By the time we got done painting all the baseboards in her house it was time to pack up all the stuff. Clean up was a bit longer than normal because we had to take all the scraps of stuff and put them in the dumpster and put away all the sawhorses and stuff. But, talking with Jess and Joel who have worked with the habitat here in Philly said that when we were throwing this stuff away they felt wasteful, because in this area there is not enough stuff to actually do anything. Its too bad we couldn’t bring the dumpster to Philly with us so they would have supplies. So we ate lunch and took pictures with all the staff there. All of us with our bright yellow habitat beaches shirts on. My favorite picture of us will be the one of us in front of the sign that says “Habitat Beaches, God’s Love in Action.” That is a truly amazing sign. After we had our pictures taken and our celebration ceremony of thanking everyone for everything we headed to the church then the beach. Wow, the beach was amazing. The water not so much though, it was “refreshing” is what some people said. I just thought it was cold. But I still walked along the side of the water. At one point I just sat at the waters edge and admired God’s creation. It was truly amazing, just sitting and gawking at the beautiful surroundings. I must have sat there for a good half an hour until the tide came in and I got really wet. Then I headed back to the blankets and tossed around the ball with Little Bird and with Nicole and Sarah. It was fun. Most random thing after some people went to the shops, some woman comes up and asks if we want to be in a commercial for Krystal. I decided no but everyone else went to get free food and a possibility of 100 bucks mailed to you if you get in the spot. So myself and Peg and Bethany were the only ones from our group on the beach. We began to talk about marriage and it evolved into talking about relationships and eventually our entire life stories. We both were near tears, she about my story and mine about hers. It was awesome to hear the story of how a man and a woman found each other after so long. It was an amazing conversation I’ll probably not soon forget. We came back to the church and got all showered up and then hit up Chili’s for dinner. Ahh, the Mushroom Jack, Jacked up Bama. We had a great time of food and fellowship there and then came back to have our last meeting and devotional time. Joel had devotions and he talked about how Paul used the analogy of building a foundation for our lives and how its neat how we were helping build houses for Habitat. Worship was incredible again. I felt the same Grace of God throughout. Saying its ok, I know you’ve screwed up. Its ok. We all went around the circle and told one thing we like about the trip. When it came to me I talked about how I like the free reign they gave us to build “the wall” or dirt dam. Then I talked about how I needed to be on the trip to find out about Americorps. I had no idea what I was going to do with my life after graduation and now I have some sort of idea. God is calling me to do some sort of service whether it be through missions in the United states or through Americorps. All I know is that what he is calling me to do. I listened to everyone else’s favorite things and I was so blessed to hear everything everyone said. We packed up the vans and soon went to bed.
Saturday- The Final Hours. We piled in the vans at 7 am to come home from our wonderful week. I drove the first leg and talked to Matt about all our football experiences and a little about high school. Then Jess Sanger woke up and we talked a little about moving from place to place again before I put in the Beach Boys and the whole van sang along. We switched drivers and I finished Stupid White Men. I tried to sleep but as soon as I got to sleep we stopped for lunch and it was my turn to drive again. I was tired and I was cranky but I forgave myself. So I got some coffee and went into the other van. Sarah was my shotgun and she asked me what she should do to keep me awake. I said why don’t we all share our life stories. We got on 95 and I proceeded to tell her and Katie my life story. Then Sarah told her life story. Then Katie. By then Bethany had woken up and then she shared her life story. The more and more people. At the end of my shift three people had shared their life stories. The next driver got in and then Andy and Peg shared their individual journeys and then Zack and Stacie. By then we were through Virginia and DC and in Maryland where we stopped at Cracker Barrel for some food. Nicole jumped in the van to drive and we heard her life story till Delaware. I was so blessed to be in that van. I heard the story of Andy and Peg’s dating till they were married and it blessed me so much. Andy was 30 when he got married. They talked about sex and relationships. It was what I needed to hear. They offered their home for us to have a reunion sometime before the end of school. So we’re all getting together sometime again. Andy opened his office up to the guys who want to talk about the things he talked about and I said I’d take him up on the offer. I plan on it. It’s neat to hear everyone’s spiritual journey that way you don’t feel like the only one with problems. We got into the Eastern parking lot and I was very sad to be done with the trip. I got in my room and tears started to roll down my cheek.
I was so blessed to be on the trip. I truly feel the love of Jesus permeating my body and God’s grace fill’s me with Joy. The people I got to know helped me to realize what my passion was, for social justice in the United States. I found my calling, I’ve been struggling for that for the past year and the burden has been lifted off my shoulders. This morning I woke up and applied for Americorps NCCC for the winter of 2005. So I’m on my way to knowing what my life is about. I’m also going to look into mission opportunities in the United States. I was truly blessed to be on the trip. I thank all of you who were on it and I will be praying for you as you I hope will be for me. Thank you so much. You guys are great.
In the Grip of Grace,
BAMA