kitchen cabinets

This past week, all W and X squad girls went to Fort Myers, Florida to do ministry! We served families around the area whose homes suffered damage from Hurricane Ian last year. My team and I were divided into two groups and while it was difficult being split apart, it made us grow closer and it gave us peace of mind to know that we were getting to serve the Lord in two places at once.

My group did kitchen cabinet installation. In complete honesty, at the beginning of the week, our work felt very menial. We hadn’t met the homeowner, so it just felt like we were doing physical labor with no fruit to come from it. But towards the end of the week, we got to meet Ethel. Ethel is a widow, her husband passed away shortly before Hurricane Ian hit and this will be the first time that she will come home without her husband. Seeing how happy the new kitchen cabinets made her was both encouraging and convicting. To know that our labor, which initially seemed fruitless, lifted a burden off of her made me so incredibly happy. It was encouraging to know that we were able to help someone other than ourselves and to show the love of Jesus to Ethel through our work.

However, it was also convicting for me to realize how much I take for granted my kitchen cabinets. At home, they’re always full of nourishing foods and awesome snacks. I’ve never been without my kitchen cabinets for more than a couple of weeks and they’ve never been completely empty. My heart broke for Ethel and all of the homeowners our squads were helping because they’ve been without their kitchen cabinets, or even without their entire homes, for over a year. The feelings of selfishness and merely living in excess were overwhelming, but it also made me even more full of gratitude for what the Lord has blessed me with and a greater desire to bless others.

The Lord made it very clear that even if we don’t get to see the fruit of our labor on this side of heaven, we’re still serving Him. Even if I had never met Ethel, I can look back and see that we were still helping others and being obedient to Christ.

Fort Myers was an incredible blessing of an experience and I can’t wait to do ministry with this squad for the next 8 months. SIX DAYS UNTIL GUATEMALA!!