Beef Ambassador

For my friends who are confused by the title of this post, it is how the natives of New Orleans pronounce their city name.  I am currently serving hurricane victims down here, and am learning a lot about myself, and the people around me.  We are repairing a house for a citrus farmer, and doing some community work.  On a fun note, some team members mentioned that they actually saw cows in the city limits today.  After telling me they were red, we laughed about how hard it must be to raise cattle in the city.  It has been quite the experience.

Today we heard from a hurricane survivor who is running a mission in the lower 9th ward.  “Big Mac” as we called him shared his story with us.  The thing that stuck with me the most was his message about “find our purpose.”  He said there are some signs to knowing that you are on the right track to finding your purpose.  The first he said, is that it helps others and the second is that you are excited to get up to accomplish your purpose every day.  This reminded me of many ranchers I have met.  They have truly found their purpose.  They are feeding others, and excited to see the calves every morning.  They have found what takes others years (and maybe a natural disaster) to learn.

Serving others has been a great way to spend my spring break, and the week still has many adventures in store.  I would encourage everyone to search for their purpose, and then use their purpose to help others in the world around them.  Even if it means raising a herd in the city!

The team of Nebraska Students working in New Orleans during Spring Break

’till the cows come home

Ellie