Live to Give!

Part 1 ... In 2001, I attended my first Catholic HEART Workcamp in St. Louis, MO and in that week of service, praise & worship, and prayer, God placed its mission on my heart. Many of my dearest friends are in some roundabout way connected to me because of CHWC and I believe so strongly in its empowerment of youth and its ability to bring teens closer to Christ. Since 2001 I've attended, worked, and managed many camps but I just finished the most special week to me yet. Last fall Steve Walker, one of the founders of CHWC, called me to ask if I'd consider managing a camp in Farmington. Without much hesitation I agreed. I knew I'd been trained by the best, Ms. Maggie McGowan, and with my mom at my side (she agreed immediately to help - bless her), it was truly an answered prayer to have CHWC on my home turf. My parents took Pat and I downtown to do service from the time we were very little and it allowed me to see Detroit as a place in need of care, time and energy instead of the scary place others from the suburbs believed it to be. The teens who attended camp last week brought their joyful and servant hearts to the D in such a beautiful way. From the get-go it was important to me that the campers serve a variety and multitude of agencies and individuals so they saw the vast range of ways people are committed to the revitalization of Detroit. They spanned from Pontiac to Southfield, Clawson to Detroit and a whole bunch of places in between. They served at soup kitchens, painted the halls of the oldest Catholic schools in the city, planted in urban gardens, sorted excess medical supplies for global distribution, danced with disabled adults, spoke in halting Spanish to day-care kids, built fences from Home Depot cast-offs and sledgehammered old buildings in the Brightmoor area ... to list just a few. Watching the slideshow each night and on Thursday night hearing the agency reps, incredibly committed Detroit folks, share their experiences with these teens brought joyful tears to my eyes --- God is GOOD. Camp blessedly went off without a hitch thanks to my dad's tireless efforts perfecting directions, my mom's puzzle-solving mind, adults with common sense, and the staff of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic School and Parish. CHWC's theme this year is ZERO IN, asking us to figure out on what God wants us to focus and ultimately, it's about living our lives as Jesus wants us to .. unfortunately that mentality gets lost in the shuffle of my every day life a little too often but the refocus as summer actually begins will hopefully stay with me as I slide into the relaxation and rejuvenation these short weeks allow me. The character this year at camp (which changes each year and serves to get the kids excited about their service) is a hippie chick, enacted with hula-hooping, peace-sign giving, and flower-throwing encouraged the teens to chant with her, "peace. love. live to give". In a time when hipsters are all the rage but the hearts of the true hippies aren't necessary modeled, the chant resonated with the notion of zeroing in. The 255 camper who left Detroit on Friday leave with renewed hippie hearts and the motivation to LIVE TO GIVE. Amen - for real.

"Where you invest your love,
you invest your life" 

-Mumford and Sons

 

Part 2 ... I'd be remiss if I didn't share a few of my favorite pics from the start of summer 2012. The best way I know how to invest my love is by spending time with my friends and family who make me live my life to the fullest. Enjoy these snapshots of smiles among the people I love most in the world.

My two besties at Amici's .. perfect evening!

Nance and Dad at CHWC Farmington .. how blessed am I?!? 

IA picnic with one of our favorite little men, Booker Hedges

When my love Adam opened the show with my favorite CC song, I knew it was going to be a good night .. 

"And Anna begins to change my mind.
And every time she sneezes I believe it's love and,
Oh lord, I'm not ready for this sort of thing."

.. and despite the fact that we were the only Michiganders in the crowd, we know how to party. Or was it BECAUSE we were the Michiganders?

Kate & Cate .. lucky for me, they appreciate my dorkiness and we shared a glorious night rocking out the Beach Boys. And yes, those 'boys' still got it after 50 years. Highlight? KOKOMO as the encore!