Having volunteered at Noah’s Ark last year I thought I knew completely what I was going into when I came to work this year. I was wrong; but in an awesome way. There were so many different aspects to the ark that I didn’t even realize were there.
I have never done so much cleaning, mission work, playing music, or being around people in general. And yet at the same time, I’ve never been so happy doing it.
       These past 10 weeks have taught the meaning of hard work, which is very big for me coming from never having a job before. I was assigned jobs that pushed me, and often did them running on only a few hours of sleep. Keeping up 4 facilities is a big job, and requires a lot of scrubbing. It took me a week or two to get a hang of it but after getting into the swing of things cleaning those facilities wasn’t so bad.
        I also learned the importance of living with other people. I have never had to share a room or have a roommate, which was a huge eye opener for me. I had to break habits (which was harder than I thought.) It taught me that to make our job and living smooth, we each had to do our own part. When we all worked together it made our moods and interactions with each other better. I will be starting my freshman year of college this year, and this experience really helped prepare me for living with roommates.
       This summer I have made so many new friendships and relationships with the people from all across the US. But most importantly the ark helped me strengthen the greatest relationship of all; my relationship with God. The experience was awesome. I was given so many opportunities to shine God’s love. Whether it was serving lunch at the Rescue mission, playing our nightly concerts, or doing something as simple as walking down the beach, I learned that through anything we can always do it for God’s glory. Big or small, God wants us to give our all for him. I loved every minute of the summer and am so glad I got to be a part of God’s plan at Noah’s Ark.

       Ashley Allen