SOS Trip 2017 // pt. two

After the unanimous decision was reached that part one was indeed not too lengthy or too much of a photodump, may I present part two. xD If you missed part one, be sure to check it out here!

Wednesday...

Yahoo! We'd reached the middle of the week without anyone a) falling off the roof, b) passing out from heat stroke, or c) dying from an over-abundance of laughter. 

Being the middle of the week, Wednesday is 'half day' or 'free day', meaning we only work until lunch and then get to do something fun with our youth groups. That morning, we began work on the back side of the house we were roofing. One-third of the roof (maybe a little more) was ripped up and re-shingled by lunch. With time to spare. And the old shingles were removed in about an hour. Did I mention we won best crew award? (Ha, kidding. But that should have totally been a thing.) 

Remember the trucks-stuck-in-the-mud dilemma I mentioned in part one? Yeah, well, the conclusion to that saga came about on Wednesday morning. While we teens were slaving away on the rooftop, a big green tractor (get it?! xD) pulls in, rounds the house, and moves the trailer from where the forklift driver was forced to leave it to the gravel strip behind the backyard. Simple enough, right? 

Yup. Except for one thing. As the tractor drove past a tree (two pictures down) which had some kind of metal-something-another laying at the base of it...which popped up and hit the tractor cab door when it drove across it. You guessed it – shattered the door. (Maybe all this is why we didn't get best crew award?) Needless to say, we also spent awhile picking up glass shards. :P 

All the people...waiting on lunch to arrive. 

After lunch, playing with a pulley someone found and killing time until we could return to the school. (Ye, there is a person up there. We're not all just staring up into leaves.) 

All the crews returned to the school after lunch, then we showered and set out to explore the town. Okay, so, we kinda knew our way around anyway because of all the Walmart trips, but it was still fun. The guys on our crew went to do whatever, and us gals went shopping – since Mom was allowed to drive the van her crew was using. #perks 

'Trying on clothes', by just hooking the hanger over your head. xD Between Belks, Shoe Dept., Bath & Body Works, Burkes, and Dollar Tree (yes, the $1 place) we had an epic time shopping. Some of us spent all our trip money, while others *raises hand* spent a whopping $1.07 on a notebook. 

Basically, our opinion by thus far into the week, haha. XP 

After shopping, we ate supper (#CrackerBarrelFTW) and met the guys at an arcade place. We also chanced being able to find it and drove out to my and Tonya's (girl in above picture) jobsite. And arrived back at the school just in time to witness another lovely sunset. <3 

Wednesday night was the first night we really interacted that much with other teens around the school. Since we were one of the first groups back, we changed clothes and sat out in the hallway in view of the doors and watched other groups come in. (Legit stalker mode, y'all.) 

Until much later that night (like minutes until curfew), people mingled between the main entrance and the mailboxes – envelopes taped to the window where you could 'mail' each other encouraging notes (sorry, no picture. *sad face*) – talking and laughing. Fabulous memories though, friends. ^_^ 

Thursday...

On Thursday we finished our roofing project!! :D We already knew we were going to be able to finish a day earlier (with time to spare), so after working all morning and eating lunch, about half of the crew (including myself) went to evangelize in a cul-de-sac neighborhood across the road. We got to pray with several people, including one whole family. One lady, who just happened to have stopped by one of the houses, got out of her car and came over to join us! 

We also mat a doormat-thingy for our homeowners. We each chose a Bible verse to put/have put on it with out names and nicknames. :) 

After working, it was the usual routine. Go back to the schooled shower, talk about how everyone's day went on the van ride to the church for supper and worship. Loved it. <3 Like Wednesday night, there was hangout-spots all through the halls that night as well. 

Friday...

Friday was a good day...but also bittersweet knowing it was the last day. We'd already finished the roof, but we still went back to the same house to clean up and give the doormat and a Bible to the sweet lady we got to work for. 

The only 'planned' group picture I have of the week XD

After cleaning up and all that, we drove to another house, where a different crew had been supposed to go, but they were behind schedule. So we built a wheelchair ramp. ;) 

And met a super sweet dog! Unfortunately, I can't remember this sweet girl's name, but that's okay...because she was legit deaf and couldn't hear thunder. :P (Sidenote – look how dirty my arm is.) 

Also, it was SO HOT on Friday. We were all seriously just like dying and no one wanted to do anything other than lie on the ground under a tree and die. The heat must have been getting to my brain too, because I forgot to get a picture of the finished ramp...but it looked really nice. :) 

The street we were working on the last day. 

After we finished, Mr. Mike (our van driver) took us all to Chick-Fil-A for ice cream or milkshakes. Which was...amazing after all that heat. ;D We returned to the school, showered, and got ready to head to the church. In a little bit of free time, I started writing mailbox-notes to everyone on my crew, which I ended up finishing after supper and church. 

Worship Friday night was absolutely incredible. Just...I can even describe it. It was an amazing and fitting ending to one of the (if not the) best week of my life. <3 

A random (really bad) panorama of the gym. 

Since worship was longer than usual on Friday night, since they showed the final slideshow of pictures from the week and recognized a lot of people, curfew was backed up until 11:30 – which gave us time to say out goodbyes to everyone. Some groups that didn't live very far away left after worship, but others (including us ;)) stayed with plans to leave Saturday morning. So yes, after lots of hugs and smiles and goodbyes, and with a happy heart, I crashed into bed Friday night for a few hours sleep...

Saturday...

...annddd got up at 5:30 again the next morning to head home. :P The good news? We were home by lunch time. XD 

Instagram post from Saturday morning: Can't believe we're already headed home. This week with #servantsonsite has changed my life, and I don't say that lightly. I've grown closer to God than I've ever been before and met some amazing people – teens and adults alike who I'll never forget. ❤️ #scandalousgrace2017

All in all, it was an amazing week. I grew closer to God than I ever have before, I met new friends and got to better know friends I already had. I learned who I am in Christ, and I was able to reach out to those around me with His love. It was truly a God-blessed week, brought about by His hand and filled with His goodness. <3 

~*~ 

Did you enjoy part-2? Should I do more posts like this whenever I go on other trips?