Venturing outside the comfort zone.
by Heather Brenneman
This summer, I will be embarking on the journey of a lifetime. Come June 22, I will be departing to New Orleans, a broken and hurt home of many, where the 2005 category five Hurricane Katrina left millions without homes.
I feel the need to explain that I have lead a relatively sheltered life. The term “sheltered” is not always a negative connotation though, especially in my case. The fact is that I was born and raised in Denver, and the farthest I’ve ever been from home is Illinois, when the family took a road trip there to get my big sister settled in to her new college life. That was four years ago. In that one trip, I went through Iowa and Nebraska. While my mom stayed in Illinois at the Holiday Inn, my step dad and I roughed it in the car for a few days, trekking through Ohio. This past fall, I went on a plane to Illinois, and the farthest I got away from home was a layover in Atlanta. In my seventeen years, that is the extent of my travels.
The longest time I have ever been away from my own bed would be the week every summer I spend at summer camp, fifty miles south of Denver. If necessary, I could go home without trouble. I guess I just prefer to be at home. Just last summer, I was supposed to go to a camp in California for summer camp, but I couldn’t bear being so far away from home for so long.
This summer, in 32 days and counting, I will be stepping out of my own personal boundaries to the new world beyond my comfort zone.
Hurricane Katrina destroyed thousands of homes, killed at least 1,836 people, and yet the storm could not damage the spirit of the people who lived in this town full of hope. On the coasts of Louisiana, the federal flood protection system failed in more than fifty places, flooding 80% of the city for an extended period of time. Even now, two years later, the city is not yet rebuilt, and thousands are still without homes. With a death toll of at least 1, 836, Katrina ranks as the deadliest natural disaster since 1928. With $81.2 billion in damage, Katrina was also the costliest natural disaster in recorded history. When the levees of New Orleans broke, I didn’t realize that one day that storm would change even my own sheltered life.
When I was younger, I always thought I would have opportunities to go on mission trips, but by the time I was in high school, and it was finally my turn, my church had apparently given up on the young people and discontinued all mission opportunities. The November before I turned sixteen, my church led an adult mission trip to the Gulf Coast to help with the wreckage. As it turned out, I had to be sixteen to go, and I was two months too young. TWO MONTHS. Now, I finally have my chance to make a difference.
Our youth group has been raising money for a few months now to go on this mission of a lifetime. We’ve held car washes, book sales, pancake breakfasts, and sent mailers to family members. All together, there will be twenty of us going to New Orleans. Once there, we will be staying at a church in the city, and we will be rebuilding houses in the worse-for-wear and poverty stricken areas. This one week of my life will be an amazing opportunity to step out of my crab shell and to make a difference, not only in my own community, but someone else’s, as well. By stepping beyond my own boundaries, I am reaching out to the less fortunate people who may not be able to speak for themselves. If I make a difference in one life, and that one person makes a difference in one more person’s life, then I’ll know that I’ve done what I can to make my difference in the world.
Moreover, by reaching out to you, my community, I hope to inspire you to make a difference in your own extended communities, and to spread the hope to people who need it. I’ve started it, feel free to join me.
