During the second month in Georgia my squad partnered with Samaritans Purse in both Lake Charles and Deridder, Louisiana. Lake Charles got hit by 2 devastating hurricanes within 2 months. The work we did looked like tearing down lots of walls that had water damage and mold. We had to tear down the walls and ceilings in order to make it safe for the people to live in and then eventually be able to rebuild. Sometimes it’s hard to leave the house looking more like a skeleton than the home you Initially walked into, but we had to learn and remember that it wouldn’t have been possible or healthy for them to stay in a house in that condition. In DeRidder the work looked like clearing out trees that had fallen either on or by the house. Not only did we serve the people but we also got to talk with them and share the gospel. We learned their stories and got to grow through them. Here is a story of something I learned in Lake Charles.
On the way to one of the houses we were going to work on that day, we played the song, Man of Your Word by Maverick City. I sang the only line I knew which was “If you said it, we believe it”. I didn’t think much of it in the moment other than it was a fun and hype song to sing. Later that day when a couple of my closest friends and I were ripping out the flooring that was damaged because of the flooding, we started yelling out affirmations about ourselves that we have been surrendering to the Lord and trying to believe about ourselves. Like “I am beautiful” “I am worthy” “God created me in His image.” Later on that same day I was bringing wet, moldy carpet to the side of the street to get picked up by a garbage truck and all the sudden the Lord hit me with a realization. I sang “if he says it all believe it” that morning even when I was struggling to trust everything he says about me. He says I am beautiful and he says my story matters and I am worthy of His love and that he created me in his own image and I know deep down that everything he says is true – I just don’t always decide to believe it.
I am home for thanksgiving for the next week. I came home early to get healthy after having some, what the doctors are calling, non-epileptic seizures. I am doing great now and am looking forward to hopefully going back next Monday.
My next blog post will be a photo dump from Louisiana!!
Below is a link to a video that shows more of what we did in Louisiana!
