things i love about my husband {11} volunteer service
When we were dating, my husband and I spent an afternoon pouring over a map. He loves to travel and spent his single years working all over the Eastern United States (and one amazing trip to the South Pacific) with Mennonite Disaster Services.
He tells stories about Mississippi after a hurricane, Alabama after tornadoes, West Virginia after a flood…
And the trip to Truk after a typhoon, to rebuild houses on the hillside. He came home with new friends, a better understanding of history (the Japanese were stationed in Truk when they attacked Pearl Harbor, and the United States retaliated there.) a few life threatening experiences under his belt (the time they were in a six foot skiff with 8 foot waves. Yeah. That time.) and eleven new houses built.
The defining moment was the time, after the flood in West Virginia, when he cleaned out the crawl space under a house. He said he stepped out into the light, covered in slime, his back aching, longing to deactivate his sense of smell, and the owner said, “I wish I could pay you something for this.” My husband looked right at the man and responded, “Sir, you couldn’t pay me enough to do this job. But I’m not doing it because of me. I’m doing it because Jesus says to be His hands and feet. So, really, He’s doing it.”
The year after we were married, he talked me into a trip to Louisiana. Hurricane Katrina had devastated the coastline and we spent a week in Diamond, a tiny town in the bayou below New Orleans. We met and worked with some extremely delightful and interesting people (the writer in me kept thinking I should be keeping notes rather than handing my husband nails, but you know…) and helped put the finishing touches on two houses.
I love the fact that my husband serves and invites me to serve alongside him.
The Challenge:
In what way does your husband serve others?
p.s. we’ll be leaving on another work trip next week. Staten Island sustained extreme flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and MDS is preparing to help clean up and remodel homes. We will be spending the next two weeks there and possibly more time in the months to come. Keep us in your prayers? Specifically that we will be able to help and bless the many people who have lost their homes and belongings.
Will be praying for you, Natasha, as you become God’s hands & feet…
Awesome. I love you both more and more. I have some Mennonite friends who are being sent to your region to start a church. Well..in New York State SOMEWHERE! Blessings on you Natasha. Have I said it enough that I can’t wait to meet you? 😉
🙂 New York State *is* quite big. It is a 5-6 hour drive for us to go to Staten Island (7-8 in bad weather/traffic).
We’re one of those crazies who live up near Canada. 🙂
Canadian “wannaBees” 😀 Yeah, you crazy! I’m from Jersey…..the Appalachian part of the tri-state region. LOOOOOOoonnng time ago. I’ve been in the South so long that my “Yankee” blood has run thin and I freeze upon contact with the state line in wintertime!
Have a great time serving with your husband, you have done great things for my marriage girl. There’s a blog in there. <3
Syracuse..that’s where they might be headed.
Oh, fun! That’s about an hour south of us. 🙂
That’s great that you’ll be helping out in Statin Island. I live on Long Island, right nearby. My family goes to a church in Brooklyn, you guys should stop in if you’ll be nearby on Sunday. We go to Ridgewood Pentocoastal church, Brooklyn. Thanks for the help you’ve given other people in need, it means a lot.
I hope I marry a guy that has a big heart like that!
If we are there over a weekend, I’ll be sure to look up your church! 🙂
This is so neat! We’ll definitely be remembering you in our prayers! Serving others can be so exciting, hard, boring, and fulfilling. Sometimes all at the same time! 😀
My hubby has a servant’s heart. He gets called for help a lot.
My personal favorite way he serves others is through his work though. He’s a garage door man. So oftentimes he’ll called late in the evening by little old ladies. They’ll say that their garage door is stuck, and that they need to go to a doctor’s appointment (or church, or etc) in the morning. So he’ll pull on his shoes and drive to their house and pick up their heavy door for them. Then he’ll ask to see their door remote. Usually it’s a simple problem. He’ll merely change the batteries and hand it back to them.
Voila! The door goes up now!
Then he’ll tell them goodnight and come home without charging them anything.
Yes…. he’s my sweetie. I love him.
That’s so cute. 🙂 I can just picture the whole thing…