What a Perfect Day!

So it's the third real day of the trip, not including the very long day of driving to Indiana. Already I have met and bonded with the people on the trip SO much as we have shared and experienced a lot together. Today, as the title of this post blatantly says, was an exponentially good day--as I told the group, I have not felt this jacked up and excited about life since I studied abroad. Just being with a group of people who share most of the same values as me and have a passion for helping others is so inspiring and awesome!

This morning was fun--we fixed up a backyard in a low-income neighborhood. We got sweaty right away from spreading mulch. Then the day got better as we worked with and got to know Antonio, the leader of an organization called Rebuiliding the Wall. I really did not know what to expect before going to help this organization, and let me tell you, it was not what I expected at all. The people working with Rebuilding the Wall get to live for free for a week at a community house in the neighborhood as long as they put in at least one 12-hour day of work. They had crazy, sad stories of where they came from--mostly horrible lives of drugs, train-hopping for years at a time with no permanent address, and tragedy. Talking and working with them was so awesome because they were willing to share their stories and were very thankful for our work. I was especially excited when I got to use a drill and screw down a bathroom floor. I also took apart a bunk bed, only to put it back together after moving it upstairs to a children's bedroom. Another highlight of the day was when we were walking to the van after we were done at Rebuilding the Wall. There were 2 kids throwing a basketball across the street, back and forth to each other. I smiled at one of them and said, "You've got a good arm on ya!" He didn't say anything back but his eyes lit up as he smiled shyly at me and it was adorable.

Tonight, we had a great experience with the President and Chief Servant of the Estridge Company--a company that builds houses. He was a great man who took time out of his night to talk to us about servant leadership and our lives. He had memorized all of our majors, which was sweet. Then, we talked and talked for about three hours about what servant leadership means in our lives. The thing I took out of this talk was that when I am in the element of helping people, I am completely focused on what more I can do to help and lift people up, because when I lift people up, I am the most alive--I simply love it. I hope to continue this journey of helping people whenever I can to fulfill my purpose in life!

Well, that's all for now! There is a lot to take in on this trip and I am so happy that I am here experiencing all of it.
~Anna