Mississippi Memories

I had to write this as a descriptive paragraph for English, but it sums up one of the best trips of my life.

As I stood on the hill looking out at the water, I had the most satisfied feeling. My week in Mississippi had come to an end. My work repairing houses was finished. I had spent the past week serving Hurricane Katrina’s victims. I had listened as they shared every devastating detail of how not only their homes, but their lives had been destroyed by the hurricane. As I stood looking out at the Mississippi river, I thought about how I had scorched my fingers on hot screws and got itchy insulation fibers all over my skin. I thought about the incredible sunburn I had gotten as I ripped up a rotten deck, and painted the whole exterior of a house in a matter of hours. I thought about all the shards of wood that had gotten imbedded in my skin, and all the paint and sawdust I had inhaled, and I really had nothing to complain about. It all seemed insignificant as I considered that my house had not been flooded and destroyed. I had not lost everything dear to me. As I looked out on the river, I took a final mental picture, saddened that I would be leaving early the next morning. Not only had I become more content during this week, but I had also developed deeper relationships with the other team members.