Habitat for Humanity

I have always been an advocate for Habitat for Humanity. I think that it is worthy cause and I enjoy the type of work that you do when you work on a Habitat House. However, when I agreed to help out this past Saturday, I was a little less than thrilled at the thought of getting up early and working all morning in the hot sun. But, I got up and set out to a part of town that I rarely frequent. And I got lost. Very lost. And then I was late. Not very late, just late. I was not a happy camper.

My whole attitude changed once I arrived, though. There were highschool students, young adults, older adults, and uh...much older adults. There were even one or two younger kiddies there. After a bit of instruction from Diez, the man in charge, we hit the yard and started raking. We were laying sod that day and the ground has to be as free from large and medium sized rocks as possible. After a bit, I stood up straight to take a small breather and as I did, I took a moment to look around a bit. Everyone was working and laughing. There were people raking and people shoveling. There were already people laying the grass down. There were groups coming in with snacks and drinks. It was a refreshing view of my fellow man. No one was complaining and everyone was working towards a common cause and goal. I smiled a bit and got back to work.

As we came closer and closer to finishing, my next observation was not just the age range of the folks present, but the type of people present. There were kids there. This always strikes me because kids don't often think of this type of thing on their own. Most were there because of service projects for school, but there were a few who were truly there to serve and that struck a chord with me. There were only two or three others there that were close to my age. There were people from AFLAC, there were attorneys, doctors, accountants, moms, church members, real estate agents, and others.

I love feeling like I am a part of something that is bigger than me. Something that will affect others. Something that really has nothing to do with me, but I helped.

The only down part of the day was when I realized that a) I forgot my camera and b) I left my car lights on. Yeah. Perrin Trotter is my car jump-er off-er hero.