I have been extremely blessed to have met a lot of amazing people this year such far that have been very nurturing. I have written about my hardware store owners, The Cline's, in past blog posts. A recent example of how nurturing they are is that, this morning, I told Melvin that I'd help him deliver materials to a few mobile homes since I knew where they were. He came and picked me up at 7:15 this morning and had two new pairs of work gloves in the car. I already had gloves that he had given me a few weeks ago when I forgot mine and tried to load up lumber without them so I didn't need the new ones today. But, as he dropped me off, he gave me the two new pairs of gloves and said, "You might need these today. Go ahead, take them." He also kept his truck running when he came in to pick me up to make sure I stayed warm. Then, when I stopped in at the store after loading up supplies at one of our work sites today, there was a 2x6x16 hanging out of the back of our pick up so, when we went inside to say hello to his wife, we came out only to see that he had put a red flag on the back of the piece of lumber to make sure we were being safe and wouldn't get pulled over. The Cline's have done so many little things to take care of us since we've been here and I feel really lucky to have met them. Not only have The Cline's been great but also the postal workers, my fellow parishioners at church, and other locals have looked out for us since we first moved here. I can't say how much it means to me to have so many people look out for me in an area that I didn't know that well at first and, like any impoverished area, isn't the safest. But, because of all of the contacts I've made here, I feel very at home and safe now.
Meeting and building relationships with locals has been amazing but being able to meet and learn from new volunteers each week or weekend has been a great experience as well. I have learned that, no matter how nice I try to be, it is impossible to get along with everyone. But, most people I've come across have been from all over the county and are all very generous and genuine people. It has been a very enriching experience to meet so many people from different walks of life who are all here for the same goal-to help others while also improving themselves. This week, we had a group from Orlinda, TN and another from Bound Brooke, NJ. We had to ask them to come a day later than planned due to the snow but, they were all very easygoing and understanding. Upon their arrival, they wanted to get right to work and, I can honestly say I felt respected all week long. Sometimes, when adult volunteers meet me, see my size, learn my age and my degree, they do not always believe I have knowledge about construction. But, this group praised me on my knowledge a lot and didn't give me an ounce of trouble when they were here. It was really nice to have the guys from New Jersey around because I could hear a similar accent to mine and didn't have to keep repeating myself or asking them to repeat themselves and it was as if I had 8 dads around all week. The guy would always ask if the girls and I had eaten enough, would help us if they saw us loading supplies alone, joked around with us, and would leave us little candies and other treats for our nightly meetings. This week was the first I cried when volunteers left. I just felt so comfortable with them and it was really nice to feel taken care of because it's my job to take care of others all of the time.
This year has definitely had its ups and downs but, I feel really lucky to have had this experience that has allowed me to learn so much from others as well as myself. Just thought I'd share my latest thoughts...
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