Mississippi

So... it has been a pretty good while since I blogged. =/ Sorry about that. As finals came around and summer started, things got a bit crazy. Anyhoo, since I blogged last, I finished my fourth semester of college, got accepted into the NGCSU School of Education, got placed at Kilough Elementary in Dawsonville for the upcoming school year, made all A's again to maintain my 4.0 (YAY!), went to Panama City Beach with my school's BCM for a wonderful week of teaching and relaxing with some wonderful people, and went on a ten day mission trip to Lakeshore, Mississippi.
As the title entails, I'm going to be writing mainly about my MS trip. Going on this trip to Mississippi was a very humbling experience, and one that I have grown a lot from. For some background info, I signed up to do summer missions through a program called SendMeNow. This group sends out multiple missions teams to places all over the US and all over the world. From the 8 NGCSU students that went through SendMeNow this summer, one went to East Asia, one to South Korea, one to Maryland, one to Peru, two stayed in Georgia, and two (including myself) went to MS. Although the trips are vastly different, I'm sure they are all fantastic and I know that God is working through all of them.
But back to my MS trip. If two years ago you had told me that I would be going on a ten day mission trip with 11 people I didn't know to help rebuilding efforts in Mississippi, I would have told you that you were crazy. Never in a million years would I have pictured myself in that situation. But I'm glad that God puts us in the situations He knows we need, and not just the ones that we picture for ourselves. If, at that same time two years ago, you had asked me what my biggest fear would have been about that "hypothetical" trip, I would have told said being around people who I didn't know. Honestly, that has always been kind of a struggle for me, simply because I'm not the best conversation starter in the world, and because I'm generally pretty quiet, I don't really make friends very easily. However, in the days approaching our trip, I wasn't really concerned about the fact that I was about to hop into a van with 11 strangers (Well... pretty close to strangers. I had met them all briefly at our orientation weekend). I can only explain that as God working in my life. God put us all on that trip for a reason, and not once did I feel left out or isolated in any way. And, even more amazing to me was the fact that I was able to easily talk to these people, and I now consider them to be my friends.
But anyway, enough about me. The trip was really awesome. It was super hot, there were nasty biting bugs, and I got really sweaty and gross everyday, but besides all that I was able to give my time and energy to a church that has been giving everything they have since the day that Katrina hit. I was able to go and serve the people that have been serving the Lakeshore community for five and a half years. Although the things that I did may not seem super significant if looked at individually, the fact that I was there doing what needed to be done for this church to continue to run at full potential is a big deal. To give you an idea of the types of tasks that our group did, here's a list: painting, cleaning (kitchen, bunk houses, sanctuary, dining area, pantry, grounds, etc.), SORTING TILE (a job we all grew to hate since the church has collected over 5000 pieces in the past five and half years), hanging t-shirts that groups left over the years (stapling them to a 15-20 foot ceiling in the dining area), shoveling dirt, clearing debris, reattaching a 30x30 foot tarp over an outside eating area, loading and unloading tires and wood, and visiting with some of the church members. I will never forget one church member in particular. Our whole group went over to Ms. Redford's house to get rid of some tires and wood that her son had dumped in her yard 3 months prior. While we were there, we got to visit with her some and hear her talk about surviving Katrina. This woman was older and she shook a lot, so sometimes it was hard to understand her, but if you listened closely you could make out enough to follow along. She talked about how she had stayed at her home when the hurricane came in, and how when the waters started rising, she and her pet chihuahua left her house and swam through the streets in multiple feet of water. I have no idea how this woman and her dog were able to make it through the hurricane. Actually, I know that God got her through that hurricane, because nothing else could have. Ms. Redford got a FEMA trailer and a plot of land after the hurricane came through, but she said, "It was just a rinky-dinky trailer that wasn't fit to live in." So, the church came out and built her a house. It was the first one they built after Katrina. You could tell that Ms. Redford loved her house and that she was forever indebted to the church for taking it upon themselves to build it for her. She talked about how God gave her everything she had and how it was He who sustained her and kept her here on this earth. I truly believe that not a day goes by that Ms. Redford doesn't thank God for her life and everything she has. Just thinking about how much she appreciated us makes me get a little teary-eyed. lol. =)
We visited Ms. Redford on the last day of our trip, and it really brought things into perspective for me. I'll admit that sometimes when I was there working in the 100 degree heat, I didn't really think about what I was doing or who I was doing it for, but after talking with this woman it was clear that I was there for a reason, and what I was doing was important. It's easy to get comfortable in our lives and not really relate to what's going on in the world around us. Actually going to MS and seeing shopping centers and houses that are still completely deserted and in disrepair after 5 years really starts puts things more into perspective for me. I still can't imagine what it would be like to lose everything that I owned, to lose friends, to be completely dependent on other people to survive because I didn't have any belongings at all, but I can begin to see the pain and trials that these people suffered. It makes me really thankful for the things that God has blessed me with, and it makes me more aware of the hurt in our world.
I would really like to go back to Lakeshore one day and continue helping that church that has given so much. If you ever have the opportunity to go to Mississippi or Louisiana, or anywhere else that has suffered a natural disaster (Haiti, Japan, etc), go. I promise it will change your life, even if that natural disaster happened 5 years ago.
Think about it. Pray about it. Go where God sends you and be open to letting Him use you because He has a purpose for you and He won't let you down. =)

God Bless,
Taylor