A week of HOPE(well)

Whew! I survived my first ever mission trip in the good ol' U.S. of A. I didn't have to board any planes, I spoke the native language, I didn't have to take anti-malaria meds, I was able to flush my toilet paper, and I didn't have to exchange currency to make purchases. It was a blessing to help right here in Virginia! I truly enjoyed getting to know the ladies I roomed with and the crews I served with!
So Sunday morning another adult and a youth and myself loaded up a truck and trailer and hit the road. (We missed those who had last minute situations arise that kept them from joining us!!) After about two hours on the road (and a lunch stop) we arrived at the newly renovated high school in Hopewell, Virginia that became our home for a week. I was roomed with some awesome ladies from NJ. They kept me laughing all week. (Not the "tee hee" type of laughing- the kind of laughing where you have to run to the bathroom to pee while wiping the tears from your eyes. Laughter is awesome medicine!)
Sunday evening we met our work crews. I was on crew 25 and we were paired with crew 26- I considered us one big crew- it was hard to tell where 25 stopped and 26 started!! We did our devotions together at our site all week, we ate lunch together, we worked together, we made messes together, and we served God together!
My crew worked at a home near the school. Our jobs included building a wooden deck over a brick deck, building a ramp off the new deck, moving the tomato garden, weeding, coating the top of the carport for more protection, scraping and repainting the supports of the carport, painting the bathroom, and repairing a section of the house near the roof. Whew!
During the week we met our "resident's" neighbor who asked us to pray for her 32 year old grandson who was dying of cancer. Sadly, he passed away the next day. I spent time talking to her and getting to know her. She was a light in my week for sure!
During the week we had a different question to ponder for the day that tied in to our devotions and times of Worship. On Weds our question was "Why do you doubt?" I shared with my group about a time I doubted and that out of that time rainbows became special signs from God. (We'd be here all day if I tried to write them all down- hope to do that some day though.) Well Thurs it was raining while we were working and the youth started saying that it would be cool to see a rainbow in the sky and kept looking up and around for one. I prayed to God that God would show them a rainbow- but if not- it was okay. So we left without seeing a rainbow. HOWEVER, that evening I was talking on the phone out front of the school and saw a huge rainbow across the sky. Not only did I see it, everyone on our crews, some at the school, some at other places around town, saw it too. God's awesomeness never ceases to amaze me!!!!
By the end of the week I was mentally, physically and emotionally spent- but spiritually shining bright! I'm STILL getting caught up on sleep and will probably have to run to the doctor- I was fighting a sinus infection when we left and all the sawdust, mold, etc we encountered seems to have not helped me get over it. However, it was an awesome week! I met so many amazing sisters and brothers in Christ and made some awesome friends!
Please feel free to check out photos of our week here. (The site is password protected. The password is: rachelmiller) Please feel free to save any photos you like, they're for all to enjoy! If you have some awesome additional photos please feel free to send to me so that I can add them.

God's Peace!