Campus has been extremely quiet this week.The only sign of life in the evenings is 7p.m. worship in the J and a little bit of hustle and bustle in one of the dorms before we all go to sleep (exhausted!). A group of about 30 students stayed on campus this week to help build houses in Marion. The project was through Judson's Faith-Based Serivce Learning program and was called "Restoration." The project we are working on reminds me of Habitat for Humanity housing projects. Each family (or volunteers) must work a certain amount of hours on the house to be able to buy the house at a reduced price.
This week has been a great learning experience- and very challenging. My muscles (and everyone else here) are a testament to how hard we have been working. It is amazing how much work 30 girls can get done in one day! Today some of us painted while others put up dry wall.
I think my favorite learning experience was when I put insulation underneath a house yesterday. We were in a tiny space with itchy fiberglass and dust EVERYWHERE. I'm told it wasn't nearly as bad as the people who put it in a different house the day before when it was cold and rainy, but it was still tough! I liked the challenge of having to work quickly in a very small space. It was a project that one person could not complete alone. We had to depend on each other to complete the task. There were people outside the house to feed us insulation. We had to communicate with them to say how much we needed of what sizes. The four of us under the house had to communicate with each other to know the plan.
I learned a lot from the experience. We all worked together to complete the task. Each of us did something different. If we were all functioning in the same way, the task would have never been completed. If we did not communicate with one another, it would have been a huge jumbled mess! Life is the same way. We need each other. Our differences will be complementary if we discuss how we can use them to create something great.
One day I will build a house myself... and it will be empowering!!!
Happy Insulating!
