Being my first year at Salkahatchie, I decided it was in my best
interest to pick a house that didn't require a lot of work and skill.  But
one by one all the houses I had in mind were being filled and when DiAnna
Spangler was called out to choose a sight - I looked around and saw a site
that a friend of mine had already signed up for.  Not thinking about what the
house looked like or what repairs needed to be done - I choose site 10.
Little did I know what I would be up against that following week.
       Site 10 was the house that did, in fact, require a lot of work and
skill.  We had 5 days to take off at least 4 layers of shingles, put on a new
layer of shingles on the roof, put vents on top of the house and shingle
those, paint the house, and build on a bathroom.  As days went by things were
taking longer than we expected.  On Friday, our last day for working,
everything was complete - except the bathroom.  Union (where the camp was
located) has a program called Neighbor Helping Neighbor that would finish up
any extras we couldn't get to - but we had to get water running in Ms. Angie
Hunter's bathroom.  So on Saturday morning (instead of sleeping in, packing,
and leaving) we woke up at 5:30 and went over to work on the bathroom.  We
were only expecting to stay a couple hours but ended up staying until 3 that
afternoon.  We eventually got all the water lines hooked up, then 11 of us
crammed into the 10 x 6 bathroom and looked on as 76 year old Angie first
turned on the sink and then the shower.  We worked our way over to the
toilet.  Keep in mind that for 76 years this woman has had to use the
bathroom in a jar, take it out to the woods and toss it.  To think that she
(and the rest of her family) never had the luxury of just pushing down the
handle on a comode is far beyond my understanding.  So Ms. Angie reached
down, pushed the handle, and watched the water go round and round.  She then
stood back up and started jumping up and down, raising her hands, praising
the Lord, and repeatedly saying thank you and God bless you!  Then, all of a
sudden she stopped, took out her hanky, and cried more joyous tears than
anybody I have ever seen.
       Now, some of you are probably asking, "What did DiAnna get out of
this?"  On Friday night we had a symbol ceremony - where everyone brings a
symbol from their site that had meant something to them that week.  Then you
have the opportunity to say something about your symbol and what it means.
My symbol was a shingle and this is what it meant to me:  My life was kind of
like a shingle at the beginning of the week.  Still in its package just
waiting and anticipating all the things it could be used for.  Now, when you
just have one shingle - it doesn't do you a lot of good, just like only one
person making all the repairs on a house.  For four days we were up on the
roof and when all the shingles were laid down and fit together like a puzzle
- I stepped back and looked down at the roof we had built and thought, "How
beautiful and professional looking!"  Then I thought, " How beautiful is that
relationship that we have with Angie and her family!"  We thought we were
doing so much for them but it ended up heading in the opposite direction.  It
was obvious that the money they had needed to be spent on them - not on us;
but everyday we would find that they had gotten something for us - whether it
was bandanas, candy or ice cream.  So my shingle not only symbolized the
completion of an awesome roof that we put together with our own hands, but
also the new friendships we had established.