HEY BETCHES! DID YOU MISS ME?! I really missed all of you! writing every night makes me feel so open and at peace. BUT don't you worry because I did write...every single night while I was away! as you may now, I was in West Virginia on a building trip through Habitat for Humanity. while I was there, I kept a journal, and each night I wrote a journal entry about everything that we did that day as well as my prayers and thoughts and just a bible verse that I related to that day. so tonight's blog entry will be solely dedicated to my WV trip. the week after WV, I went to a wonderful place called Camp Courageous....but I will write an entirely separate post about camp tomorrow. but now it is time to west virginia....and from now on I think I'll just refer to it as WV because it is way easier to write and you get the point. anyways...I am on a random tangent because I just don't know where to start. I guess I'll begin by giving you a synopsis of the week and then add a little insight here and there where I feel like its necessary. alright so going on this trip was nerve racking because I really only knew two of the girls really well that were going. my bestest friends Bridget and Erin. I was super excited to spend the week with them because I never see Erin anymore and Bridget just makes me so incredibly happy. but I didn't know what to expect. I never expected to love the other people that went with me on the trip as much as I did either. it was a totally random group of people that were gonna be juniors, seniors, and freshmen in college. I was so mad that I hadn't become friends with the graduated peeps while they were still in high school because a few of them were just awesome. one of the guys made me smile and laugh more than I had in soooo long. and to make it even better....his little brother was on the trip too. and his brother, Jack, is gonna be a junior so I can spend time with him still!!! Jack told me how he has never gone on a first date even though he is adorable and so so so funny. so I just asked him out so I will go on a date with him soon. yay for first dates! haha the only problem is that jack is teeny tiny and skinny and whatever. but its fine....atleast he's a friend. and his brother Tommy is now too. and besides them, I also became super close with Erin and Bridget too. talking ton Erin was awesome because I hadn't seen her in so long and she is usually super quiet, but she actually opened up to me while we were there, and we had some wonderful heart to hearts. life is literally just SO SIMPLE there. (wait I just realized that this is not a play by play of the week but more just random thoughts...oh well) but anyways....there is no pollution, no noise, no poison of any kind. the only poison that exists is the poverty. in the small town on Pendleton county, the nearest hospital, McDonalds, and grocery store are all AN HOUR away. ONE WHOLE HOUR! we are talking about a freaking McDonalds....I could get to like 4 of those in 10 minutes. and a hospital? wow. that is just crazy that you have to drive an hour if you get hurt or sick. one of the chaperones had to get stiches after an intense game of ultimate frisbee, and he had to make that long drive. we take so many things for granted....well atleast I do, and while I was in WV, I just realized how I am so foolish for taking something as simple as a Mickey D's for granted. I don't even like that place, but if I was truly craving a McFlurry, I could get there. but for a child living in WV, taking a trip to McDonalds is like a vacation. and I'm not saying that that's necessarily a bad thing....because the simplicity of life there was fantastic. the fact that we drove past huge meadows and fields with mountains and trees galore every single day made me feel at peace. but the fact that so many people live in shitty trailers without plumbing and sanitation is awful. and no one in the nation even knows or seems to care. when we were on the worksite, there were a lot of young children that lived nearby that would come to say hi and play around us. some of these kids were just so sheltered and new such a different reality than I did when I was young. they had such small vocabularys and they rode old, broken bikes on a dirt road to pass the time. one 6 year old girl didn't have a hand because of a working accident when she was younger. you simply don't see those things in my town. BUT the craziest thing is that these kids were happy. sincerely, truly, whole heartedly happy. and they wanted to give us SO much. they had so little to offer, but what they did have, they were so readily satisfied with giving it to us. the little girl constanly wanted to help us build, and she would follow us around, trying to grab our hand to hold or give us a hug. I found myself shuddering the first day as her stump of a hand reached for mine, but I stopped myself. this little girl was God's angel, teaching me to be nonjudgmental and caring. to her, we were blessings and were coming to save her and her family and her town. so I sucked it up and took her hand. and it felt amazing. another woman named Saprina also hung around the work site all week because two years ago, our school's Habitat built her and her family a house. at the time, she had a husband and three beautiful children. but when we saw her this year, she was a single mom because her husband had recently left her. but you would never had known that because she wore a huge smile and would rave about how thankful she is to have met our habitiat group and how she will forever be grateful for what we built. her sweet little angels (children) ran around the site, and like the other girl, they just had so much fun. I found out later that week that the family used to live in New Hampshire by the ocean, but after Saprina's mom got diagnosed wtih cancer, they had to move to WV to take care of her and they lost everything. it just seemed so unfair to me. why did these smiley babies have to grow up in poverty? why? sure, it's awesome that we built them a house and that they're doing well, but it just made me realize how life takes so many unexpected turns, and my life is so ridiculously simple in comparison to so many more lives. and these people were just so gracious and you could tell that they thought that they were the truely foruntate ones. they must think about thsoe who have even less than they do, and they pity them. but one of the most valuable lessons I learned was that you shouldn't pity those who are les forunate than you. instead, take action and HELP! if you do something, you can help out in a big way. I learned not to pity the people that I met in WV, but instead, I cherished them and praised them and asked God to protect them. but I'd be missing a huge chunk of the week if I didn't mention the largest part of the mission....Phyllis and Johnnie, the adorable couple that we built a house for. when we got to the worksite on day one, there was literally a foundation and nothing else. but Phyllis and Johnnie has so much faith in us. as we all held hands and circled around that foundation that day, we prayed for our safety for the week and for us to be able to give back as much as we possibly could. and in a mere 5 days of working, we built an entire house. it was unreal. I knew NOTHING about building prior to this trip, but once I got there, we all just jumped in and were forced to learn quickly. and we did. I used a power saw, screw driver, hammer (a LOT), caulk gun, climbed on a roof, installed siding, busted out and put in windows and doors, and did so much more. I put up freaking walls!!! WOW! it was just so cool to feel so empowered and amazing after seeing this entire hosue magically appear and know that you and your peers built it. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?! well, with a LOT of patience, love, sweat, and laughter, and power from the big man upstairs of course! wow I haven't even started talking about how each day worked. well we stayed at a volunteer center with this amazing couple that lives there year round and they open up their giant home to volunteers. the land that they lived on was beautiful. acres of land with willow trees and grazing cows and mountains towereing over their land. SO COOL! so we stayed at the volunteer house and each day we would wake up at 6:20am and then eat some breakfast and drive 30 minutes to the worksite. we'd work till noon, then eat lunch (which was the yummiest lunch ever becasue it was ridiculously rewarding after working for it. BEST PB&J EVAAA!) and then work again until 4pm. then we'd go back home, shower (only 5 minutes TOPS though) and then go outside and just take in the natural beauty. we would play ultimae frisbee, learn new card games, listen to music, dance, talk, play games. etc. then at night we would bond over giving back massage trains and cuddle and it was awesome. oh and we ate....A LOT. and I may or may not have taught everyone, including the teachers, how to wobble. I could go on and on and on about every little thing that we did there, but no one cares at all because it would just bore you. all I know is that I am SO LUCKY to have gotten the experience. I went back and forth on what song to choose for the entire week because it's very tough....but I guess I'm gonna choose "The Heart of Life" by John Mayer.....so here we go....
"The Heart Of Life"
I hate to see you cry
Lying there in that position
There's things you need to hear
So turn off your tears
And listen
Pain throws your heart to the ground
Love turns the whole thing around
No it won't all go the way it should
But I know the heart of life is good
You know, it's nothing new
Bad news never had good timing
Then, circle of your friends
Will defend the silver lining
Pain throws your heart to the ground
Love turns the whole thing around
No it won't all go the way it should
But I know the heart of life is good
Pain throws your heart to the ground
Love turns the whole thing around
Fear is a friend who's misunderstood
But I know the heart of life is good
I know it's good
ok so I just think this is the perfect song because I learned in WV that the heart of life is good and pure and beautiful. life is in no way perfect and people aren't perfect, but no one should care. instead, we have to remember to spread the love that we find and be selfless. it can be extremely hard to do when things get tough, but God gives us pain because he knows that we can handle it. he only gives the strongest people things that they can manage. I am sure that the people that I met in WV have thought about what their lives would be like if they had less brokenness and maybe had a little bit more money or had a McDonald's within a 10 minute radius. but what I realized is that sometimes those things just don't matter because love really can turn the whole thing around. all it takes is a little bit of hope to recall the true heart of life. gahhhh I don't know what I am saying because I am so so so tired and loopy but I hope that I somehow inspired you. I guess that my moral would just be to try to remember that every person has a story, even if they seem like someone that you would never connect with. and I realized that being selfless is one of the most amazing qualities. Julie is so selfless and is someone who always puts others first. I am working on being more like this because after going to WV, I just felt so fulfilled since I was solely focusing on others. I feel incredibly blessed to have had such a wonderful experience, and I hope that I can return next year to help again. I am so proud of our whole group, and I am so happy to say that I know how that the heart of life is good.
<3 <3 <3
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