Our first day on the sight went extremely well today and we were immediately recognized as an energetic and spirited group. As we got acquainted with our builder we also received a bit of background and instructional information before getting to work. Though it was a long brisk morning of nothing but hammering nails into the sides of what seemed to be never ending big green walls, everyone stayed hard at work. We met Tabitha as she participated in the exhausting hammer and nail task and she shared a little bit about herself and two kids with us.

Exciting things came after lunch, the nail gun was brought out and trusted in our hands, we had people up on the roof preparing for the shingles, they gave Tim a sharp power tool that cuts out windows (scary thing) and lucky ducks like myself continued to nail the notorious big green wall!

However, the progress doesn't stop when you leave the site at 3pm. After dinner we had a group reflection that really touched everyone. We embraced the comforting feeling that comes with our personal meaning of the word "home." Was home a place that wasn't even a house? A set of memories that you have from growing up in a specific home? The feeling you get when you pull into your parents driveway after not being there for weeks? The realization of how important family is when you can't have them at your side. Or is home where your heart is? To each person, it has a different meaning.

As we shared these and reflected it was brought to our attention that we weren't just building a house. We were building for an extraordinary individual. Someone who wants to provide a house for her two kids. Those memories and meanings that we discussed are exactly what we so fortunately have a hand in providing for a mother and two of her children. We aren't just building as house, we are piecing together their future definition of "home."