Post Work Crew

Hey guys!! So I was just reading after not looking at anything having to do with my blog for the past six weeks, and in my last one I said that I would post something after we were done at Work Crew to let everyone know how it went. Well me being my forgetful self, I forgot to do it until now, but here goes nothing.

Work Crew was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. It was also one of the hardest things that I have ever done. We were supposed to wake up at 6:40 every morning, but on some mornings we didn't because the alarm got unplugged somehow. Anyways, usually up by 6:40 every morning, because we had devotional at 7:00. After that we had breakfast at 8:00, then we had to do everything to get ready for camper breakfast which was at 9:00. Their breakfast was usually over around 9:30, so then we started bussing our tables and resetting. By the time we got done it was 11:00 and we only had 30 minutes until we ate our lunch. Then we did it all over again until about 2:30. Usually we had a couple of hours of freetime between getting done setting up for dinner and our dinner which was at 5:00. Then we did it all over again and usually got done around 9:15-9:30. Some nights we had Work Crew meeting which would last until about 10:30, then we stayed up goofing off until about midnight and did it all over again. It was really hard doing that every day, but it was worth it.

Our Work Crew had 22 people, and since we lived together for a month we all got to know each other pretty well. One of the many things that I learned while I was at Southwind was that everyone's story is a story of God's grace and redemption. All of us had been redeemed, or made a new creation and you could see that through our stories. Another thing was that some people had been in way worse situations than others, but they all show God's grace. For the people that were in very dark places in life, it is by God's grace that they had gotten out of those places. And for the people that didn't go through as rough of a time as others did, it is by God's grace that they haven't experienced any of that.

On this trip, I learned what hard work was. I've never had a real job, and doing this was a job. But not only that, it was a job that required everything you had to give for 30 days and not get paid for it. One verse that kept coming up was Mark 8:34-35: "Then he called the crowd to him along with the disciples and said: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.'" That verse has been one of my favorites ever since the first time I heard it, but we lived out that verse during that month at Southwind and it was absolutely amazing to see.

The most important thing that I left Southwind knowing was that I am a son of the Living God. Our work crew boss read a verse to us every opportunity he could and it was Mark 1:10-11: "As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: 'You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.'" One morning for devo, we read the parable of the Prodigal Son. That is one of my favorite stories that Jesus tells. After hearing the verse from Mark read over us so many times and then reading the parable of the Prodigal Son, it finally hit me. I am a son of God.

One of my favorite things about spending a month at Southwind was making friends that will last a lifetime. We spent every waking moment together every day for a month, and we all became great friends. It was just amazing to me to see how quickly God brought us so close to each other, and to see how hard it was for us to leave each other. I love every single person that spent that month with us at Southwind and I wouldn't trade any of them for the world.

That time at Southwind was one of the best months of my life. I loved every second of being there and I wouldn't trade it for the world. It was absolutely amazing.