[FaithS]

DD19 just completed approximately 6 months of volunteering with a service organization that repairs homes for people who have experienced natural disasters. She spent some of her time in New Orleans, doing a variety of construction work, and some of it in TX, roofing 5 days a week.

She called from OK City yesterday evening, after driving approximately 11 hours, and said that she had arrived at her motel (as she had planned), and would be home around noon today (also, as planned).

At 10:45 pm, the front doorbell rang, and there she was. There was no camera, but if pictures had been taken, this is what my face would have looked like:

:-? ...............:-0............... :-close to tears............... :-)

~ Faith

[SallyC]

Soooo happy for you, Faith.. How was her adventure?

[FaithS]

Originally Posted by SallyC

Soooo happy for you, Faith.. How was her adventure?

Thanks for asking, Sally.

Mostly good. She felt good about the connections she made with clients, especially in New Orleans, where they worked on homes longer-term, and were able to build relationships. (In TX, they were often finished a roof after 2 days.) She'd felt very passionate about going, prior to beginning. She has a real heart for people in need, and, working with people who had been affected by disasters particularly struck her heart.

I think, though, that she misjudged how physically hard the labor would be. Roofing, especially, was very hard on her knees. She is strong, and in very good physical shape, but, she is just 100 lbs., and often had to lift 50 lb. bundles of shingles, as well as do the other hard labor associated with roofing. She was always physically exhausted, and sore and achy.

In spite of that, though, she says that she does not regret her decision to serve with Mennonite Disaster Service, rather than a different service agency, doing a different type of job. She believes that God put her there for a reason, and that she has grown greatly. She has had opportunities to perform tasks that she did not know she would be able to do. She spent at least half of her 6 months being a crew leader, as she was one of the longer-term volunteers, and telling the short-term (often male, and older) volunteers what to do.

An additional perk for her was that she may have met the love of her life, another volunteer who was in New Orleans with her during her first month there. She has changed her previous college plans for this fall, and plans to attend college in Canada, where he is from, so that they can be geographically closer this next year. They seem very serious, very fast. He is 24, and done college, except for an internship that he needs to complete.

It will be interesting to see what it is like to live with her this summer. She is very independent, and, as such, was somewhat of a difficult 18 y.o. to live with during her senior year in high school. Now that she is a year older, we will be able to give her more freedoms (although she already had many), and, hopefully, she will respect that she still lives in our home, and needs to make some consideration for that.

~ Faith

[karousel]

What a nice surprise!

[Friend2U]

You must be very proud of your dd. Even though those upper teen years can be challenging, she is in the process of making a happy, rewarding life for herself.

Hang in there, mom!!! One of my favorite sayings is:
"What a mother puts in the heart of her daughter, the world can never erase"!

Have a great summer with your family! It will be a summer to remember!

[ewizabeth]

What great news! I'm very happy for you Faith. You should be so proud and your daughter should be very proud for herself too. After they live away from home and come back they can be easier to deal with as far as following the house rules. That's been my experience at least.

Enjoy your time together!

[Friend2U]

When my oldest daughter came home in her mid-twenties, after being out of state for a few years, the first thing she did was apologize for how she treated me when she was around 17-18. Now she is critical of her younger sister for the same types of things she did and ways she acted. It's kinda funny... if you can survive!!!