Canton, Mississippi. For the 25 students who traveled in the vans and Tahoe this past week it is more an experience than a place on a map. For those who went on the trip, you will understand when I say I am struggling reflecting on Canton, but don’t worry I will attempt for everyone else.

I will start by saying Canton is a place where I could truly be myself. I never had to think what should I do because there was so MUCH to do. I couldn’t stand to leave and I am counting the days until I can go back.

The first project that I worked on was building a ramp for a handicapped woman to leave her house. For a five-foot girl who knows nothing about carpentry it was an overwhelming task, but my group members surprised me. I was put with three other males (two high-schoolers and a supervisor named Gary) who were so patient with me that I started to feel that this ramp was my ramp too! I used a saw and mallet and made Gary laugh when I sang, “I’ve been working on the railroad” after pounding in my tenth spike.

The four of us finished the ramp in two days and I couldn’t believe it! WE DID THAT! I have to give the boys most of the credit for handling the heavy lifting, but by the end of the project we were a team. We had all formed out teams like the “window group,” the “plumbers,” or the “group in the room in the back.”

Simplicity. It is so easy to be me when I do not have to think about my plans for tomorrow, or Friday night because I know who I will be with, and I realized after one historic tour of Canton that it was up to me to entertain myself for the rest of the week.

I found myself surprised at the transformation of every single person in our group after a day in Canton. It was like meeting all of these people I thought I knew for the very first time. Trust me, it’s impossible to not know a person for real when you sit in the middle of the bench seat in the back of a Tahoe for eight hours. It seemed like the first day we sat there timid and unsure of how this week was going to work, but the last night we could not stop talking! We had all shared this amazing experience, whether it be personal, emotional or spiritual that will bond us for a lifetime.

It is hard to imagine being responsible for 25 high-schoolers. I know I would never want to do it, but our five amazing chaperones not only kept us safe, but they also laughed, cried, worked, cooked and snored right along with us. Like the rest of us, all our chaperones were taken out of their comfort zones and embraced it. I could not have had such an experience without them.

I could write for pages about Canton. There is no other place like it, and it is hard to come to grips with the fact that it was even real. All I can say is that sometimes you see God where you least expect Him, even in the face of the 25 people I saw everyday until we left the state together.