Wood Chip Water | Teen Ink

Wood Chip Water

March 9, 2013
By Cody Copeland BRONZE, Phoenix, Arizona
Cody Copeland BRONZE, Phoenix, Arizona
4 articles 0 photos 0 comments

The sweat dripped off my face as I scraped bark off a log. The sun was beating down on us through the leaves of the trees. Days had gone by and it looked as if no progress was made. My muscles were screaming and I desperately wanted to leave this project behind. When I signed up to be on Work Crew, a group of High School teens from my church who volunteer to work at a summer camp located around Payson, I was expecting to have the same experience as last summer. I had the same mindset as last year to have fun and do some service projects to the side. Little did I know, my state of mind was going to go through a dramatic change. I had heard rumors that we were going to build a bridge for the camp to go across the creek. In thought this would be an easy feat and the project would get done pronto. I just wanted our big service project out of the way, so there was more room for us to have fun. Instead of buying the supplies to build a bridge, we cut down two trees and laid them across the creek. The fight began. The blades slashed and the bark peeled off the tree into the creek. It started off as a simple process until it became quite and impossible task. The bark seemed to grow back just like hair there was so much. Days went by and the job was still not yet completed. I was ready to be done even though the bridge building process had not even begun. The most enjoyable part of the job was talking to my friends. I came to realize that i could have fun and work on this project at the same time. This group of teen would live with each other for two weeks at this camp. The point of Work crew was to build relationships with people, God and overall serve the people who use the camp. Plunk! the last piece of bark had finally just fallen into the creek. The wind started to whisper a cool breeze and my body felt rejuvenated. We then started to put wood across the trees, so people could walk across. Rails were then made, so the many children that would be attending this camp could go across without infliction. Standing on the bridge with all my friends made we feel like we had all just won the World Series. Making this bridge may have been a pain and at times I may have wanted to give up, but I felt accomplished after making it. Seeing kids run across the bridge playing games, laughing and smiling. Made me feel amazing. This bridge may have been complicated to build, but it would serve a greater purpose then just being a bridge. This camp is made for kids to come and be free. Doing Work Crew has made me look differently about doing service projects. Never worry about how hard or why you have to do this project, but think of the joy it brings people by serving them.



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