Spencer M., Incarnation Catholic School
World Full of Smiles
Everyone has situations in their life where they have the opportunity to lend a hand to help someone else out. It might be something small like picking up a pencil in the hall or going on a week long mission trip. As for me though, I was fortunate enough to be selected to go on this mission trip. As I packed my bags for Cincinnati I knew that it was going to be filled with many of life changing experiences and I was going to have an excellent time on the trip.
We got to the place we were staying late Sunday night and settled in. Then we prepared for the next day’s activities. I was going to an organization called NLF (New Life Furniture), which helps homeless people in downtown Cincinnati get furniture for the first time because they were just able to get a house. As we pulled up in front of the old, graffiti covered building, an elderly man came out to greet us. He led us inside and explained how all of the furniture they had there had been donated by people all over Ohio. We filled the requests for furniture as best as we could because they don’t have enough to give everyone what they want. Then, we loaded the furniture into a truck, then set off to our first person’s home. After all four of our deliveries, we finished our day back at their workshop and made some “Welcome Home” boxes filled with dishes and towels. Everyone we had helped today had a big smile on their face and it made everyone in my group have the best feeling inside.
The feelings that I got and the smiles that we put on people’s faces are something that I will cherish for the rest for my life. At our second stop we delivered a new mattress and two recliners for an older couple. The wife almost broke into tears because she had never had something so nice before. The husband was also so pleased by saying it was a miracle from God for us to bring such nice furniture and that we were truly a blessing from God. This made me think about something that I had never thought about before, and that was; every night I go to sleep in my bed, but for these people they just have to sleep on a blanket on the floor. This made me so thankful for the small stuff that I normally overlook.
I hope that the people I helped will remember me just as I will remember them for the rest of my life. We must always remember to be thankful for everything that we have not just the big stuff like a house and car, but the small stuff like kitchen utensils. The people that I helped taught me that we must trust in God because He will reward you. This service changed the lives’ of the people we helped, and changed my life too.