Habitat for Humanity-Halloween Weekend (10/28-10/31)

I took a road trip to help for a couple of days (because I was short on time) for Habitat's Gulf Coast recovery effort. I would love to go back again soon. I plan to go again next year.

While I was up there, I found it very satisfying to help in completing the work on this house. It was a cute little house in a very quiet neighborhood with lots of trees away from the city life. Unfortunately, I only worked with them for 2 days but I wanted to stay longer and I wanted to get their sooner but was unable to do so! I stayed in Mobile, Alabama and drove over to another area (I'll fill the name in later). I was equipped with my work boots and a smile and ready to learn. I spent most of the time caulking the exterior siding, interior around the electrical outlets and re-doing the vinyl siding on the front porch ceiling with another volunteer. The people there were all very nice. There were only 10 of us working and I was the only female, of course.. Construction.. Lol. I'm use to it, I work in the construction industry. The supervisors who work for Habitat were very nice. It was such a pleasant place to do work on my vacation. Yes, I chose to work on my vacation and I would do it again. Next time I would like to go for a week but at least I was there longer than the local volunteers. Lol!

I'll be honest, Mobile is not very pretty but Downtown Mobile was gorgeous! That area has homes that look they could get up and walk away at any moment. Such personality showing in these well thought out huge homes. Such love and care was put into building them and no one does that anymore! I left Saturday morning and drove up through Montgomery, Al over to Atlanta, Ga and then down to Savannah, Ga where I spent time walking around on their Riverfront. Cute little area. It had restaurants, shops and nice architectural buildings. I plan to go back to Savannah Georgia to stay a few days, maybe next year around the same time.
Then I left on Saturday night and went back home to Florida since I had a 2 hour drive from my home to pick up my son and then drive 2 hours back!

I highly recommend semi-planned road trips with purpose!

Giving

Everyday I think about what I can do to better my life and the lives of others. I recently volunteered with Habitat for Humanity in Mobile, Alabama and it was an awesome experience. I would love to make the experience even better so I recently signed up to volunteer locally. I am currently awaiting a call that they are in need of assistance. I’m not part of a group and they have a huge group of volunteers but there are many ways I can help them according to the information they requested and the skills I had for each one. I look forward to working with my local Habitat for Humanity groups.

Ever since I was a child, I always had a spark deep inside me that may have been embedded by my mother but still lives and grows within me. When I help others, it makes me feel like a real person. I want to hear their stories and it reminds me of how lucky I am and how grateful I should be. I should help those who have harder times than I could ever imagine and help give them the hope they need to restore their lives.

I attend Church regularly and I give when I can and sometimes I may give too much of my money to others. Overall, I always find a way to make it through and I want to do the same for others.

Quotes:
"What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?"
- George Eliot (a.k.a. Mary Ann Evans-Victorian Writer)

"Service to others is the rent you pay for living on this planet."
- Marian Wright Edelman

"Never reach out your hand unless you're willing to extend an arm."
- Elizabeth Fuller

Life

We take a journey that we think is the right one to take but as we walk this road we begin to wonder where it’s really going. Most of us are not as strong and cannot see the signs to show us that we are taking the wrong paths. Or maybe we just choose to ignore them. So with this, we continue to go down the paths that lead us to continue questioning whether or not we are making the right decisions. Then we begin to wonder if it’s just us. Is it because we are incapable of being loved and happy? Yet, we continue walking this path until we reach a destination for which there are no other options. We have to turn and as we stand there and look down the path we think to ourselves, where will this path lead me to? Will I find the happiness I so ever lastingly seek? Can I finally find the love and happiness in my life for which I have searched so long? Then, the fear settles in. Will I spend the rest of my life alone? Have I done something wrong for which I can never make up for in this life? Why wasn’t I loved the way I hoped to be by this person who has now closed the door in my face? The end of this path holds no answers, only a door way to a new path. We must continue to travel though we know not what is in store for us. We hope that this new path will give us all the love and happiness for which we continue to search.

We continue to question ourselves. Have I been a person without compassion? Have I not loved enough? Was I selfish and lost in my own needs? What would the outcome have been had I done so? I know that I don’t want to know what the outcome would have been. What of those who have hurt us and of those who we have hurt? What of that person for whom left me in so much pain? Do they still...? Did they ever...? Inevitably, the feelings of that individual no longer matter or at least, should not matter because this person has taken themselves off our path.

So we carry on, traveling down a new road, in hopes of finding ourselves. Traveling, in hopes of finding the happiness we have been seeking. Our hearts hold discontent from a heart that has been broken. We walk alone and carry these burdens on our shoulders. Then we imagine that one day, one beautiful amazing day, we shall awaken from this nightmare! Then, in our hearts, will be the happiness we have been forever seeking and the burdens of love lost will be lifted.