Up until yesterday I hadn't really done much to help out with those who were seriously affected by Hurricane Ike. I guess I had the mindset that since I was affected by the hurricane then I was somehow exempt from serving others. This weekend marked one month since the hurricane hit and for the most part, Houston has returned back to normal. Everyone has power, majority of the street lights are back on, roofs are being repaired, debris is being picked up, etc. But I went on a service project to Galveston with Element, a young adults group at Lakewood church yesterday and I realized how much I had been the one missing out.
Galveston is still in shambles and it was very reminiscent of driving into New Orleans 2 years ago after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city. We met up at a local church and divided into work groups. My group went to a Galveston resident/member of the church's trailer to clean up the outside. She was right on the beach so her RV had so much debris piled and piled around it that she could barely get to it! We spent about 4-5 hours clearing the ground, picking up trash and making her trailer a much better sight.
By the end of the day, I was tired but felt energized by the fact that we were the hands and feet of Jesus to Ms. Victoria. She couldn't stop thanking us for our help and telling us that we did so much that she would have taken days to do. I'm glad we were able to help her but I think we really reap the benefits of selflessness. Plus doing hurricane relief work is a tangible, easy way to see how much we can do when we just take time out of our own lives to serve those in need.
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