This is my attempt to catch up on blogging once again. This
time I’m setting a more reasonable goal: a post a week. I hope you enjoy. :)
INSTALMENT UNO: Spring
Break.
What a fantastic trip. Going into
it, I was nervous that our group, comprised of many new and not very plugged in
students, wouldn’t mesh at all. Or worse yet, that they would bug each other to
death. You really couldn’t get a more robust mixture of USF students: a silent
freshmen, a hyper-enthusiastic sophomore, a non-student bus driver, a brand new
transfer student, an affluent junior, and a sassy freshmen, to name a few.
Throw in a (sick) 24 year-old intern and you’ve got quite the combination.
I was also nervous that we wouldn’t
be very useful and would spend lots of time wondering what to do next, since we
were the first group HOPE South Florida has ever hosted overnight. And admit
it: we’ve all been to those service events that are so poorly organized that
you feel like you’re just adding to the chaos by being another directionless
person in the way.
Lastly, I was nervous that our
students wouldn’t actually want to
work, and would make us look very un-willing.
“You were a bit too nervous,
Katie,” you might be thinking. Yes, yes maybe I was. However, if you were me, you
would probably understand the motivation of all of my nerves. So what happened?
Everything I was nervous about simply didn’t go wrong. Even better, my
expectations were BLOWN OUT OF THE WATER.
Our group, diverse as they were,
bonded like none other. They were sending around adorable facebook messages for
two weeks afterwards about how they were missing the group and the week of
service. Add to this some excellent organization
by HOPE South Florida. We worked till we were tired to the bones almost every day.
(In a good way.) And as to my last concern, we got several emails from HOPE and
various people we helped commending our dedication to our work. WOW. God never
ceases to amaze me.
Another wonderfully encouraging
element I wasn’t expecting was seeing the students growing right before my eyes
during the week. I encouraged the students to spend time in the Bible every
day, and to ask me if they had any questions or concerns, and they did.
Students that I didn’t even know owned a Bible were reading it during our spare
moments. Students were also chewing on the problem of homelessness and how to
compassionately help, and many good conversations were had in that area.
It was such a fun, encouraging,
blessing of a week. I am so thankful. Without further ado: some pictorial
evidence.
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| Here's our group before our "scrub a daycare/ meal serving facility until 3 a.m." night. P.S. Like the t-shirts? I think they turned out well! |
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| A panorama of work in action, around 1 a.m. |
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| Painting transitional housing for folks in HOPE's program |
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| Our group is so TOUGH. Notice Gypsy, on the far right, who was literally a snake hunter in the everglades for years before coming to work as a facilities manager for HOPE South Florida. Gypsy has some crazy stories. |
