This week...

Well, our week is nearly over; at this time tomorrow, we'll be on a plane back to Oregon. This part of any trip is always happy and sad- I'm very ready to get back to the non-humidity of Oregon, but as we finish our job sites and reflect on the experience, I realize how much I've loved this week.

When we first got here, I was worried. I've been on so many mission trips, and my last trip (I spent a month in Afghanistan in June of 2011) took a piece of my heart and kept it. As I flew to New Orleans this week, I wondered: would I find a place to care for this trip as much as the last? Or would I build with no feeling, attend because it was paid for, act happy but wish to be elsewhere? Did I have enough heart to care about another cause, another people?

I see now that I should't have worried. This week, I:

met students from across the nation, from sea to shining sea.

made friends from across the nation, friends who built with me and painted with me and sanded with me and gardened with me.

tasted alligator sausage, fried alligator, grilled alligator. Loved them all!

SAW not one but four live alligators.

learned new styles of praising God.

heard amazing testimonials from residents of New Orleans and from the other members of my groups, stories of flood and abuse and destruction and loss followed by stories of love and trust and mercy.

remembered again how lucky I am.

painted on a ladder for HOURS; almost fell off the ladder more than once.

stood in line for the shower for 20 minutes.

rode in a metal boat in the middle of a lightning storm.

played Spoons, Taboo, Double Solitare.

made friends from Puerto Rico, and heard about mountains and beaches I didn't know existed.

heard Amazing music downtown, on the job site, in the bathroom, during devotions.

stayed up until 2 am during one very dramatic night in the dorm.

ripped out a billion bamboo roots.

marveled at new friends I made, and their abilities and knowledge- trivia, languages, first aid, history, music, basketball, placing sheet rock, so much more.

saw waterlines near the roof, shopped in a WalMart that was once completely under water.

met a man who lost everything and still has faith in God.

played the piano and almost couldn't see the music through my tears.

saw the levee that was once broken, the homes that were once destroyed, the smiles on faces that had once forgotten how to smile.

witnessed transformations that only have come from God.

had an experience I'll never forget.

This week, I discovered that my heart still had room. Maybe I won't live here or buy a house here (sorry Warrenetta!), but I think I'll be back. I may have found another mission that kept my heart, but that doesn't mean New Orleans doesn't get to have a part of it forever.