Last week, I went on a mission trip to Georgia with my church’s youth group. While I was there, my group spent the week rebuilding a deck for an elderly couple.

Richard, the man we were rebuilding the deck for, was in hospice. He recently tripped over a nail that had risen from the wood and injured himself further. The deck was in need of repair, and so were Richard’s spirits.

While we were there, we did indeed repair the deck. However, we did so much more than repair a deck.

While we worked on fixing the deck, our group became very close to the family we were repairing the deck for. They truly touched our hearts in so many ways.

Barbara, Richard’s husband, was so kind to me. While we were talking about my life, I told her I was going to school for graphic design. She told me that many years ago, her son had wanted to go to school for graphic design before he had passed away. She then insisted on taking me inside to show me some of her son’s work.

While we were in there, Barbara actually insisted on giving me her son’s old art supplies. I think that throughout my whole experience, that was one of the most touching moments. She told me she wanted his old supplies to go to someone that deserved it and would take care of them. Barbara only knew me for a few days, but she trusted me with that. I felt like after that, we were connected on a new level.

Here is a photo of my youth group with our new friends on the finished deck!

To me, it is amazing that I was able to connect with someone in such a short amount of time (we were only in Georgia for less than a week.) I am just so thankful that I have art to thank for that. Even when I was focused on rebuilding a deck, art was still present in my life. Art still managed to help me connect with other people.