This blog was written three weeks ago but due to no connection now is the first time I am able to post.
Ten weeks ago my dad was dropping me off at The Porch where there were a bunch of people my age wearing really cheap sunglasses. I believe Disney music was playing and I knew absolutely no one.
Going back further six months ago I was attending a weekend long interview to decide whether or not I would get a job.
Even further to one year ago I was in Ecuador building a home for Eduardo and his family.
And now I am sitting in a Starbucks thinking about my experience.
When I consider the places I have gone and the people I have seen there are too many people to thank and not enough time in the world to explain the gratitude I have to ASP, Sunbright, Morgan county, my staff, family, and God.
However there are certain people who I will never forget. These people have changed me forever and the direction of my life has certainly been impacted by the way we have interacted.
Wanda, you are the most amazing person. You work hard and you make amazing cornbread. You remind me of my grandmother and you helped me get through this summer. You also helped me enjoy the job I absolutely didn't want. You know how to help people and your love for others is incredible. I would wake up in the morning and be excited to go into the kitchen because I knew your smiling face would be there. Your easy going laughter was infectious and the way you interacted with the volunteers removed so much stress from me. You have no idea of much thankful I am for being able to work with you this summer.
Julie, seeing your knowledge with ASP grow was incredible. It seemed like every day you worked this summer you were more and more excited to be there. You gave of your time and I do know about the money you spent for our food that you didn't let me know about. Thank you so much, you taught me about the joy that comes from helping others this summer. I thank you for having us in your house and letting us enjoy life with you. Your passion to help in anyway you could was truly an inspiration to me. You helped me feel like I was doing a good job even though I didn't know what I was doing. Thank you.
Rachel, you fooled me. I thought you were quiet and reserved. However the mornings we spent waiting for the order to come proved that wrong. I never would have gotten through this summer without you. Your leadership and solid planning helped me so much to stay on budget and move forward. I feel like I owe you more than anyone else this summer because you let me lead even though you knew exactly what needed to happen. For this I thank you. Without you, Wanda, and Julie this summer would have been completely different.
There was a boy at a family that we worked for all summer. He was shy at first. I thought he wouldn't like me because I was only there for like thirty minutes every other day. This boy changed the way I view things. His desire to help was unimaginable. He would run outside screaming everyday to help the volunteers as they started their work. He had no fear. He wanted to do everything. I realized he was special when he came up to me at the picnic and said, "TAG!" Jason had the most joy I have ever seen in anyone. He wanted to work hard and play hard. He lives in a rat, mold, and roach infested house with his mother and grandmother. We tried all summer to make his home a livable place for a boy his age. Jason you showed me what it means to be happy. Not just contend with your position in life but what it truly means to be happy. Thank you for that, I will never forget it for as long as I live. I hope that our paths will cross in the future. Be safe in life my friend.
Angie, I use your name because I know that you would prefer it. Angie has cancer and has been given five years to live and she is possibly the happiest person I have ever known. She said to me one day that she was happy because she knew her family was now going to be taken care of after she was no longer with them.
This almost brings me to tears. How can a woman who has numbered days be so happy that we would be able to help them in such a small way. It made me feel really small in all honesty. I think about things like if the next work crew is going to feed me or when am I going to get paid next and she thinks about how is her family going to be after she can't be there for them anymore. I also relate to her, my mom had cancer and I have never been so scared in m entire life. It is the most terrifying thing a person can go through. But every day I would walk into Angie's house and she would be smiling and joking around. Angie you showed me what it means to have joy in the midst of trouble. You taught me about happiness in the moment and being grateful for what God has given you. I feel so blessed to have gotten to know you and I want you to know that you deserve so much more than we were able to give you. Something i never told you is that you really reminded me of my mom back home. Thank you for your love and support throughout the summer you blessed me far more than I was able to bless you.
Mikah, you started as the CD I didn't know and you ended up being the CD who I came to love. Your organization and ability to juggle a thousand things at once made my summer incredibly easy. Your kind words came at exactly the right time and your understanding when I screwed up made working for you incredibly easy. So thank you. You made me laugh more than you know and every time you would turn up the heat in Snowbird made me chuckle inside. It also made me sweat like no other but that is neither here nor there. Thank you for being the level headed person who would stay up late and work so that we as your staff could get things done. Your encouragement throughout the summer helped me to truly realize what it means to work for ASP. So thank you and when you come to Chicago I will take you to the coolest places ever.... maybe. Talk to you soon Mike-Mike
Penny Pope, I was going to try and use only p words for this but it is kind of impossible. Your attitude towards everything made working with you so easy. Thank you so much for helping me learn to like country music i appreciate it. I love how you would crack up about things that normally aren't funny but in to you are extremely funny which in turn makes all of us laugh. You helped me this summer keep a smile on my face. Especially that day when you were freaking out because you were CD for a week and we had to drive all over the place. Sorry I couldn't cheer you up very well but hey I tried. Also thank you for shotgunning monsters with me. Overall Penny your desire to help others is obvious, I feel like you more than anyone else on our staff was there to help the people. You liked the volunteers and you loved our homeowners. Thank you so much for being the worlds best returner. That's right it is written down you are the WORLDS best returner.
Jolean. What can be said about Jolean. We started out the summer disagreeing about a lot of things.... and we ended up the summer the same way kinda. You rock because you did things on the computer that I really didn't want to do. Thank you for being my fellow first year. I had such a great time annoying you and making you angry this summer ; ) You were kind of like my twin brother for the summer. Something I always tell him is that my annoying him is my way of showing that I love him. You were the reason I would be smiling a lot of the time because you are sooo funny. Thank you so much for helping make this summer a great first year at ASP. See you on the porch next year fellow returner.
There are so many people I want to thank still but it would just take too long. So here is my list of people that really impacted me in my first experience with ASP. Mom, Dad. Ethan, Luke, Priscilla, The Z's, Mildrid, Craig, Rachel, Steven, Collin, JJ, Joe, Jen, and most importantly God.
God did so much in me this last summer and looking back at the past blogs and my last year God has answered a prayer. I have found a passion for loving the poor. Thank you God truly you are the only one I long to serve for as long as I live. I love you.
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