Plans for 2010 have begun. For now, enjoy the new logo and preview of the color scheme we will be seeing more of as we prepare for next summer.

Also, in case your interest is peaked, the following are the planned Mission Trip weeks:

HS 1: Sunday, June 20 - Friday, June 25

HS 2: Sunday, June 27 - Friday, July 2

MS: Tuesday, July 6 - Friday, July 9

HS 3: Sunday, July 11 - Friday, July 16

We remain in prayer, united with all of those who participated in LBH 2009 and supported its mission! Please keep us in your prayers as well.

Peace,

Lindsay

Just Smile...

Hello Love Begins Here friends!

I hope you are all well! I had a funny little thing happen today that I thought I should share…

After morning mass and the pick-up of a cutie (reasonably priced!) dress from Kohl’s for Alison and Phil’s Wedding this weekend (YEAH marriage!) I made my way to the Catholic Family Bookstore in Kenosha (I’m spending some time with my family there) to pick up a breviary – Love Begins Here inspired me to finally get one (I’ve been meaning to for a while), so I can pray morning and evening prayer.

Anyhoo…I strolled in rockin my paprika flavored Love Begins Here t-shirt. After taking a few steps in the door, I caught the teary eye of a stranger who was talking with the owner. Visibly, she was struggling with something, so I flashed her the Missionary-of-Charity-encouraged smile…

To my surprise, she smiled in return, caught a look at my t-shirt, said, “well, if love begins here, then I need to be a part of it” and ran at me for a what turned out to be a good…L…O…N…G…15-20 second bear hug.

By the end of the hug, all three of us (the woman, the owner and I) were laughing and the woman said she felt “a lot better.” I’m still not sure who she was or what she was struggling with, but I do know that a paprika shirt and a smile opened the door for Love to begin in Kenosha today.

Stay near the Lord this week and “begin” His Love wherever you are!
Peace,
Gina

Two weeks later.

Hello LBH Blog Readers,

The LBH Core Team of 2009 wishes you all well, two weeks after the final week of LBH 2009 ended. We welcome our newer readers to the blog, who may be joining us after our recent publicity in the Madison Catholic Herald. A special thanks to Mary and Kat who did a fantastic job helping us out with coverage this past year. I will get to posting the link when it is available on the Herald's website tomorrow.

Please know that we will be updating our lovely blog every week or two during the "off-season" so as to keep you up to date on the lasest and greatest. Initial discussions have been taking place regarding plans for next summer. We will reveal the plans as they become finalized.

For now, I'm going to leave you with a few words of Blessed Mother Teresa to reflect on for the day...

We have been created to love and be loved, and then he has become man to make it possible for us to love as he loved us. He makes himself the hungry one - the naked one - the homeless one - the sick one - the one in prison - the lonely one - the unwanted one - and he says: You did it to me. Hungry for our love, and this is the hunger of our poor people. This is the hunger that you and I must find, it may be in our own home.

Begin love in your home today. We're praying for you as you go about it.

Peace,
Lindsay

Look out!

It’s true, LBH Week 3 is coming to a close and we must look out to the road ahead. Before doing so, however, let’s mosey back to our last couple days...and as we do, may I suggest you keep a look out for slug bugs, talking gnomes, small signs exchanged in circles, and water gun donning stealth shooting high schoolers…

Surprising enough with all this looking out, Wednesday morning began (as do all mornings of LBH) with a time of looking in…at our ability to see Christ in others and to serve Him by serving them. After a healthy helping of our Lord’s grace in prayer – and Gina and Dave’s flapjacks in the kitchen – we were off to do just that…serve Christ through our service to others. A number of crew members headed into Madison to continue work on the classrooms at St. James School. Second coats of paint and a few kosher donuts later, the team made their way to the Bishop O’Connor Center (BOCC). There, they met up with the other members of the LBH crew who spent their day delivering meals (and smiles) to the homebound and chattin it up with the seniors at the Mt. Horeb Senior Center.

BOCC pool time is always a blast, especially when you’re on the lookout for airborne inner tubes, flying footballs worth points, and Olympic-esque races between worthy opponents (Better luck next time, Blaine! Love, Gina). Pita pizzas provided a tasty dinner follow-up, but not nearly as scrumptious as what followed…

Confession time with Fr. Rick…man, it feels great to look out on life with a new pair of eyes and a clean soul. Thank you Jesus for forgiveness and grace…and the gift of strawberries – in shortcake form – it’s only appropriate to celebrate feelin’ good after the Sacrament, right!?! The ladies tasted some additional sweetness later when they found a way to get four on a couch before heading to bed.

Good morning blog readers, it’s Thursday on our journey back in time and the LBH crew is up for a last day of prayer and action. After some time of prayer and Toaster Strudel, we scattered one last time to finish beginning love (in the formal sense) in the Madison area. One crew did final touch-ups at St. James School. Look out SJS middle schoolers - Mother Theresa’s inspiration is etched in your walls (literally)! A second crew delivered meals to homebound and finished up some yard work that was begun earlier in the week and a final crew did yard work and window cleaning at another home (Upon completion, they were serenaded with ice cream bars and brownies as a thank you – it was debatable who was more thankful when all was said and done…Dorothy, your brownies are to die for!). All teams rendezvoused at the Senior Center for a final card playing hurrah with our new senior friends.

With our work complete, we headed for the Mt. Horeb community pool where elbows were flying in what could possibly have been the most epic game of water basketball this town has ever seen. For those that didn’t get enough competition in the pool, Cherry Cherry commenced on the playground…but all that fruit talk made us hungry, so we headed back home for the most delightful leftover / made-to-order-bar dinner of all time. Speaking of that which nourishes us, Christ’s presence in the Eucharist was our source of reflection for the close of the night. How very blessed we are to have this gift. May it continue to strengthen us as we leave from this place…

Look out world, here we come!

So much to do; such minimal internet access.

The past few days have kept us pretty busy, and we are thankful for all of the good times and hard work we have been able to do to keep us busy. Such busyness combined with a lack of available Internet in our home has limited our blog updating; however, we hope to provide some good reading for you and a satisfying update.

Let's go ahead and jump right in. Monday morning we woke up bright and early, ready to start the day praying it up. After reflecting on our lives in solitude and action, we got to breakfast and to work. One car group went over to the Senior Center, met some new friends, and spent the afternoon delivering meals and exploring Mount Horeb. The other three quarters of the group drove into Madison to St. James School and revamped two of the classrooms by giving them a new paint job.

After all of the hard work for the day, we were able to get back together for a quick dip in the pool at the Bishop O'Connor Center before we hit the showers and got ready for Mass. With only a couple minor detours, we all arrived safely in the bustling town of Paoli, WI. The St. William community was looking pretty proud of their newly cleaned Church, and Mass with Fr. Vernon was the highlight of the day. And, it was really great to have Greg Ihm around for Mass, too. We love our seminarians and Fr. Vernon's advice and tips on discerning vocations.

Monday evening came and passed with some discussion of the dignity of the human person, an intense scavenger hunt (and two mile sprint), stop at the local ice cream shop, a couple rounds of the sign game, and laughter long into the night.

We woke up even earlier on Tuesday ready for a journey back to Verona to see Fr. Vernon and celebrate Mass with the community of St. Andrew's. After Mass we were not only treated to a "second homily" further encouraging us to embrace the grace and accept the invitation to salvation, but also a delightful breakfast at McDonald's by Father! We were happy to have the time to enjoy each other's company and the sustenance to get us started for the day.

During the working hours of the day, the crew split into two. One group hung out around to deliver meals and eat with some folks at the Senior Center before heading off to a mobile food pantry. (Check out the coverage they got on the news last night: http://www.nbc15.com/news/headlines/50167382.html. Watch for Dave Carrano's face in the midst of the story.) The other group spent the afternoon using their extreme makeover skills on a local gentleman's backyard.

After gathering together competitions of all kinds continued on, including gnome searching, sliding at lightning speeds on the Mount Horeb pool's slide, nerf gun wars, and more than a few games of Cherry, Cherry. After taking a quick trip through the history of the Church's social teaching, we headed off to bed.

Once again, we are expecting the best today and are excited for what Jesus has in store for us. We hope to get one more post out to all of you before the end of the week - keep checking back in. Happy New Encyclical Week!

Week Three Begins: Mount Horeb Style

We are thrilled that week three has begun, and it is off to a fantastic start. Here's a quick top 5 list as to the reasons why we know that it's going to be a good one.

5. We have three great adults that joined us for the week - two of which are seminarians for our own Diocese. Praise the Lord for the gift that Greg, Dave, and Blaine have been and will continue to be to us.
4. Laughter was in no short supply.
3. Fr. Rick, the pastor here in Mount Horeb, delivered one solid homily this morning. It totally fired up the whole LBH Core Team and friends for the week.
2. The youth who showed up today are rock stars. Not only are they prayerful and ready to serve, but they are one competitive bunch. The intensity is building, and we are excited to see how good it gets this week.
1. The Holy Trinity is giving us our direction for the week, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother, Bl. Mother Teresa, and the whole company of angels and saints in Heaven. Way to go universal Church!

We will post a more full description of what we've been up to... with photos. Look forward to it by Tuesday morning.

Don't blend in.
- Fr. Rick

June LBH Highlights

First off, we have a few comments from the end of the week evaluations/reflections to share with you...

I didn't think all of this would mean so much to me. I never would have thought that by the end of the week I'd be crying or care about the group/family as much as I do. My outlook on Church and the Mass reversed - I can't wait to go.

I think now that love doesn't only begin here in Madison, but it begins in the here that is in our hearts... and the only way to connect with that love is through God.

I understand now that you don't have to go around the world searching for the poorest of the poor. You can serve God the way Mother Teresa did by helping people in your own community.

I understand now that Mother Teresa wasn't just talking about needing money, food, and clothing, she was talking about being spiritually poor.

And a few photographs to share...

The results of the LBH Week One Competition are posted above. It's pretty clear that this winning team was proud of their prizes and the big V. They hustled in the mornings and made us laugh long into the night. Way to go James, Matt, Hillary, Jessica and Gina!!


Lindsay was pooped on by a bird. This picture... and much laughter and help followed. Perhaps Gina or Jeff will jump on here soon to tell the story.


A definite highlight of Week Two was getting to explore the Glen of Durward's Glen. Here is the gang before we got to our exploring.


During nightly check-ins, limited to 11 or so pretzels, Gina Pignotti used her sentence structuring skills to come up with this beauty. If anyone (who wasn't present on Week Two) comments with the correct answer, there will be a prize in store for you.

Give me Your eyes.

This Tuesday has brought some pretty good times this far, and during this siesta, we figure that the youth (and us adults) are gearing up for much goodness to come.

During the afternoon yesterday, we finished up our work on a couple trails and began some new ones. As we have continued that work today, two groups are currently working towards each other to complete the trail that has both the highest elevation on this property, as well as some of the most beautiful views. We have been taking plenty of stops to smell the roses, as well as hydrate ourselves.

Wow, we're really getting ahead of ourselves this morning. You may like to know that there were a few tired and sore bodies waking up here at Durward's Glen this morning, but it's definitely worth it, because it lets us know that we've been working hard. Mass was beautiful, as always, followed by an adventurous breakfast of cereal eating, and a reflection on Jesus' command to see His face in those we interact with every day. Choruses of "give me your eyes for just one second" rang out throughout the rest of the day.

Later on, we are looking forward to continued games of sardines, a bit of a bonfire, and a cookout. But first, the gang is currently stirring and making their way out to the Mission Field to clean trails and do some exploring. We are looking forward to the last of our time here together this week and coming back to the "real world" renewed tomorrow.

Wheelbarrows, glens and woodchips, oh my!

Hey avid LBH readers,

We are glad that you have joined us back here again. We're sorry that we did not give you the update over the weekend - there are some funny stories that we would like to share with you from this past weekend, but those will have to wait, at least for now. In the midst of such waiting and patience building, we would love to share with you how stellar of a week we have gotten off to.

Yesterday evening, 14 middle school kids from around the Diocese of Madison covered at Durward's Glen Retreat Center. Throughout the evening we ate some good food, in the form of individually made pita pizzas and salad, played a number of games to get to know one another and took a walking tour around DG. Following all of that goodness, we gathered together for Collatio, which is Latin for to come together or assemble. During Collatio, we chatted about our restless hearts with Gina, St. Augustine and some golf balls. This gave us a lot of good things to proces through in the Parish Time that followed and good sleep in excitement for the events of today.

After morning Mass and some additional reflection and prayer time, we enjoyed a hot breakfast of pancakes and sausage before heading out to work. The morning hours passed away quickly, as we got to work repairing and creating new trails. This took the form of destruction and clearing, as well as much hauling of woodchips with handy wheelbarrows all pushed by hnad. Who knew serving God's creation and those who enjoy it could be so much fun and hard work at the same time?

This newly tired group rolled into lunch hungry and a bit tired. After regaining sustinance, the troops took a bit of a siesta. During this past hour, they hit the trails again.

There's a whole lot of fun in the works for tonight, so look forward to reading more from us tomorrow! And, if you woulnd't mind, as long as it's the Lord's will, we would not mind a few prayers being thrown up for the holding off of the impending rain. We have a lot of exciting work to accomplish in the great outdoors.

Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us!!

Sorry this one is coming out a bit later than usual.  Enjoy.  It's another unique read today.  More pictures and a wrap up later today.

We are here live from the upstairs typing this wonderful message just for you. (And yes you should feel special) This day has brought fun adventures, strengthened friendships, and continuing competitiveness with the morning routine.  The race for points continued this morning with a mad dash to the Maria Goretti Center… unfortunately our team still hasn’t figured this out! We began our morning prayer by reflecting on the Eucharist and what it means to receive it. (It took a little bit cause being outta the house in 30 seconds doesn’t help) Alison gave a wonderful talk on how to hug a bear… well figuratively. She explained to us how receiving the Eucharist is similar to hugging Christ. (Between early morning yawns, that is) we left Maria gritty and trekked back to our home sweet home for some breakfast, a tad slower than we came.

We had a nice breakfast… cereal, bagels, and toast, YUM! This morning routine also included a morning dance party to get our blood flowing and pumping through our veins. After this fun jolly time we got ourselves packed and ready for the day and crammed into the cars. We enjoyed some more team bonding, including the sharing of several new talents. (Dylan’s parents should be proud) Our group bonded really well today, and so did all the others, as we learned later.  We headed downtown to the campus church of St. Paul.

There we were given the wonderful opportunity to confess our lovely sins that we keep near and dear. Thanks to the priests we won’t feel guilty for not telling out parents the whole truth... Just kidding we love you very much and would not even dare to do a dumb foolish thing like that. The experience was really touching for several people.  Mass began at 12 o’clock.  It was a special mass because one of special people in our special group got to read quite possibly the longest reading in the entire Bible.  After mass we once again loaded up the cars for the trip to the Schlueter’s house to finish our special missions. 

We had to even sacrifice our precious lunch time to arrive a little earlier by eating in the cars… too bad for speed limits. We split up into three posses when we got there: The manly men worked on flooring the dining room, a clothes-putting-away crew, and an outdoor flowering team. Flowers were planted, dressers were organized, and plans were plotted. Oh… and by some miracle Matt Williams was actually able to cut a piece of flooring in under five whole minutes.

Soon the outdoor team became the grilling team…and let me say, the hotdogs were excellent because they had some good looking grill marks. By the end of the day the house was looking like Extreme Home Makeover actually did come.  The new hardwood floors were shining, newly painted walls were gleaming, and the furniture was spicing up the place like oregano on a pizza. Wow, punny.  Although a lot was accomplished, we were all feeling a little sad.  I don’t think anyone could believe the last full day was here already.

This afternoon we were visited by the family’s priest from St. Dennis. He played an important role in helping Bart and the entire family make it through the toughest times during Clare’s illness.  Bart sang and played the guitar for us and Father prayed over the home and for us, blessing us for the hard work we had done.  We were also concerned for Clare, who had to leave earlier in the day because she had a fever.  (Because of her cancer, this could be dangerous to her health, so she needed to go to the hospital.)  So the end of our day was filled with prayers for Clare along with the satisfaction of a job well done.

We left the home around 8, bound for swimming! After a quick stop at the house, Jeff forgot a shirt… and another quick stop… for Gina’s swimsuit…we finally managed to arrive at the pool.  After a long, sweaty, and thus far shower less day, we were all excited for a long luxurious cool deserving swim in the pool. It felt good to feel refreshed. Frisbee, cannonballs, and swan diving (lessons courtesy of Slade, James, Dylan, and Matt) soon were on their way.  We also shared the ways we saw God in our day…in da pool!

After swimming was over, we adjourned to the gym for Collatio. Gina spoke to us about the meaning of the Eucharist and we had another round of sharing time. It was amazing to hear all of the ways our group was touched by this trip. Our faiths were strengthened, just as much as the bonds of friendship we made in this short…oh, and we had a TON of fun in the sun!  Who knew all of this could come from making other people happy and helping a deserving family?

Phil played the guitar and we sang, reflecting on the day.  I have to say, a few tears were shed…but the number of smiles greatly surpassed the tears. We packed up once more for home, but our car got a got a little sidetracked.  (we really shouldn’t mention this)  The stop may or may not have involved Frosties, though…. just sayin’.  It was a late night (it’s 2:43 AM after all) but well worth it.  As we sit here and think back on the day, we can’t help but wonder when we’ll all be together again.  Surely, this trip will be forgotten by none for a very long time.

Signing off to the lovely serenade of Abby’s snoring,

Matt and Liz =)     

We’ve made it to mid-week and the enthusiasm hasn’t waned in the slightest!  Many of us have actually started to settle in to the routine and are finding the days easier and easier as we go - both in work and in our relationships  with each other. :) This morning at prayer we challenged ourselves in a reflection on how we are to see Christ in everyone, and so to serve Christ through everyone we meet; the rest of the day seemed to be the fruit of that mediation.

But before we get to the service and to the labor of the day, how can we forget the fun.  Our pool games are getting more complicated and surprisingly more fun.  Today we raced.  It began with my personal favorite: the butterfly... my favorite not because I’m particularly  good at it, but because the truth is actually the exact opposite of that case... it’s my worse... and it seems to be the worst for most people... which makes the racing quite the entertainment for both the swimmers and the spectators.

After Mass, we were back down to business.  Today we split up into two groups: one went to the laundromat, the other stayed at the house to paint and finish the flooring.  The four and a half hours leading up to dinner flew by, and by the time we knew it, almost an entire bedroom was cleaned and painted, most of the living room floor was in place, and the laundry crew did many, many, many loads.  (Ask any LBH participant what that means...)

It’s a good thing that Papa John’s on the East Side of Madison gave us a sweet deal on the pizza for dinner, because we were all grateful for the sustenance and time to chat with each other about the good times that had been had thus far.  Post-dinner was the daily rosary, asking for some Marian help in the work we were still going to be up to.  Leaving the house close to nine, one car made a quick stop at the grocery store, so we could celebrate John the Baptist’s birthday with locusts and wild honey... or, ice cream sundaes.

Collatio brought us deeper into knowledge of each other, the humor of the day, and God’s infinite mercy as the night revolved around preparing for Confession tomorrow.  As we wound down the night, the kids simultaneously wound up... perhaps to be expected?  After night prayer, there was much bonding to be had, minor theft of LBH mascots, and more jocularity.

All in all, we would have to say it was our best day yet.  Please keep the prayers coming as we finish the work on this family’s house.  We will be praying for all of you - our readers.  (We were glad to break into the 70’s on our daily number of visitors.  Keep spreading the word about our blog!!)

St. John the Baptist, pray for us!

Our inspiration.

Hey! 

It's has been a hectic day with well over 90 degree weather and an intense day of work. Started out the day with our brand new spiffy state-of-the-art kiwi green tee-shirts that stuck out like a light on a pitch black night with the wolves howling and the wind blowing through the dark, tall trees. We took a group picture with these tee-shirts on, taking both a goofy picture and a normal picture. After we had our "family picture" we went and had some bagels. We had blueberry (my favorite) and many other varieties, donated Panera Bread, and much much more... To wash this down we had some chocolate milk as a treat. It was delicious.

Once we got our stuff ready and packed our lunches for the new day ahead with swimming and cleaning and putting in flooring. We got to the Bishop O' Conner Center and put our swim suits on and hit the pool, well most of us. The pool included Sharks and Minnows, an intense game of 500 (a football game), and a amazing victory for me over Gina in a 50 yard sprint in the pool. As the chlorine got to us we got out and took showers (hopefully), so we would smell clean for the Daily Mass.

When the priest came out for Daily Mass he looked surprised as he sang the opening song, because there were all of a sudden 30 more people in the church all pumped up to sing and praise the Lord. Mass passed quickly and soon lunch was upon us. After lunch, we all piled up in the cars and headed over to the house to do some damage.

When we arrived at the house the kids were at Noah's Ark for "A" day, so the house was empty. We hit the ground running and got working right away. It was an uproar with vacuums and hammers and the normal hubbub trying to compete with the noise. The basement crew worked and worked and worked and cleaned the entire basement so clean that you could eat off of it (well sorta...).  It was a big difference than the basement when we started. It was stuffed so full you couldn't even walk in it.

The flooring in the front room was also competed with help from Tony. It was a big accomplishment today with all the jobs that were completed. Hopefully tomorrow the flooring will be complete and the painting can begin. 

We had a nice supper with the family afterwards of subs and chips which was pretty good with the cookies that came along with it. After supper followed a rosary, which was heart felt from every one of us. As the rosary passed, the dad got up and said some words of thanks that were really kind. We said our goodbyes for that day and headed over to St. Bernard's where we gathered and waited for the flooring group to stay and finish the floor. We played games to help us keep entertained and for the most part it did work. They flooring group eventually came, and then we started our evening prayer and sang a nice song.

Clare and Gina eating dinner together.  I

t is always a joy to have this little one around.  She's a fighter!!

We all packed up after it was done and went home to have our bedtime prayer and get ready for bed. The bathrooms were running full blast for a good 30 minute period but they finally relaxed and lights are now turning out. Well It's time for me to finish my day and go to bed, so have a good night, and I'll talk tomorrow. 

Matthew F.

Love Begins Here 11th Grader

Monday

I think I have a pretty good idea of what it means when someone says they have a "case of the Mondays" but what we experienced today may have helped shift that definition... for the better.  Despite a 7:30 am wake up call, we saw bright, shining faces racing out to St. Maria Goretti to make their way to the top in The LBH Competition.

This lovely threesome happens to currently make up 3/4 of the last place team at the moment, but a comeback is in the works for the coming days.  Anyways, onto Maria Goretti... we had the chance to reflect on solitude and why we need it. Long story (or reflection) short, Jesus did.  And, we try to follow Him.  Our role model Mother Teresa also gets down with prayer in the mornings. "Without prayer, I could not work for even half an hour, I get strength from God through prayer..."

Post prayer, we took our time to relax and play with eachother out at the Bishop O'Connor Center, home of the diocesan offices.  They have a lovely pool, which we took plenty of advantage of after a quick swim test.

Post swim-time, we fulfilled our Sacramental needs by stopping in at Daily Mass, which was followed by a picnic on the lawn in front of the aforementioned BOCC.  After all receiving all of that sustenance, we finally headed off to the destination that really sets the tone for the entire week and is what has brought us together.  On the East side of Madison, our crew of 30 showed up to our worksite.  Though a bit unsure of what we were exactly going to be doing, it was pure joy to find out and spend those hours in service.  Enjoy the following photographs of our crew cleaning, doing yard work, organizing, ripping out carpets, organizing dumpsters and more.

Not only were we hard at work, but we also had the chance to eat a meal and pray a rosary along with the family that we are serving and working alongside.

On our way back home, our cohort from St. Bernard's in Madison welcomed us into their home and we shared about our days, prayed some more, and heard from Jeff on the subject of the dignity of the human person.  Ending our evening with a bit of parish time and night prayer, all of us at Love Begins Here are more than ready to call it a night.  (In fact, all but two of us have.)

Please keep up the prayers for us.  We look forward to our continued service tomorrow, which will include laying some new floors.  Check back Wednesday morning for much more.

Week One Begins!!

Today was a phenomenal first day of Love Begins Here, and we are so thankful to have these beautiful young people and their adult friends hanging out with us this week. Given it's super late and the Core Team just finished their meeting, I will stick to posting a couple pictures today of the highlights. More to come tomorrow.

We are definitely loving the trampoline in the Schiedermayer backyard!

Gina and Jeff were rocking the post dinner clean-up with four eager high school helpers.

Dinner was thoroughly enjoyable.  We loved our all-natural  dinosaur chicken, as well as the homemade mac & cheese and veggies.

Phil and Matt won the most heated game of the night - bird on a perch.  Competition was tough, but they certainly persevered.  It brought a fair amount of joy to this winning duo.

We're praying for those who are at home this week, especially all of our dad's out there.  Please keep lifting up those prayers for us, as well.  Happy Father's Day!

Peace,

Lindsay

Hello from Madison!

Today, the LBH team arrived in Wisconsin's beautiful capital city and are beginning to settle in in preparation for week one of Love Begins Here. Each day of planning gets us that much more excited for the upcoming retreats. We all cannot wait for the moment when everyone will show up and our many activities (work, prayer, and fun) can begin!

Making us even more excited was the fact that this afternoon we got to meet with members of the family whose home we will be working on this coming week. We got to visit, walk around a bit, and visualize some of the projects that we will be starting out with in just a little under a week. And I've got to tell you, the whole time we talked I just wanted to start right in. It is going to be so much fun and so very meaningful! The family is absolutely awesome: so much love and all beautiful smiles. It warms my heart to think that we'll be able to help them in the midst of their needs. Love truly will begin here!

In other news, Gina has continued her Bananagrams victories and is currently holding first place, yet Lindsay is starting to make a move for the top spot. You'll just have to stay tuned to see who'll have the crown at week's end. Finally, us guys got a point just this evening, when Michael proved himself capable with a strong win right before dinner. Yes! I, on the other hand, remain winless, and assume it will remain that way. (I guess, that's what happens when you go to college for engineering and immerse yourself in numbers all day: you somehow forget about words.)

Anyhow, thanks again for the prayers. Keep 'em coming! And keep getting ready for three wonderful weeks of service right here at home in the Diocese of Madison!


Peace & Love!
LBH Core Team

Exciting News!

Hey all!

Exciting things are happening here in Baraboo, WI as details are being finalized and team training is going swimmingly. I'm Michael, here to give you an inside scoop on the goings on.

The locations and general work outline for weeks 1 - 3 have been finalized (Hooray!):
Week 1 -- Madison, WI -- General home repair on one house
Week 2 -- Durward's Glen (near Baraboo, WI) -- Trail repair and other flood damage repair
Week 3 -- Mt. Horeb, WI -- Food pantry and free-meal serving, general home repair

Team training is off to a great start. We are currently in Baraboo, finalizing talks, schedules, and finding some time for fun as well. Two of the more noteworthy events:

• Gina blew us all away with her mad Bananagrams skillz, a word game where everyone races to be the first to use up all the their tiles to form a crossword-like grid. Our current hypothesis is that Gina has 2 left-brains. Even though it was our first time, Jeff and I did nobly well. Lindsay, a veritable word-smithing professional however, was crushed by the defeat. That is, until she was finally able to pull off a victory.
• Last night we all wrote a bunch of questions over beach balls and tossed them to one another, learning an interesting fact or tidbit about each team member. When asked to create an entirely new school subject, Jeff came up with Wonderology--an awe-inspiring, upsidedown and insideout, Chestertonesque style class. If she had to be an astronaut or a firefighter, Gina would choose the former... even though Apollo 13 freaks her out a bit. Lindsay wishes that the moon would be made out cranberry-Chipotle-cheddar cheese. And I... well I wouldn't mind living in Italy.

We are so grateful for your prayers. Please continue to pray for us (especially for our safe traveling as we visit work sites) and everyone that will be attending.

And please drop us an email if you have any questions!

God Bless!
Love Begins Here Team

E-mail Quandary

Hi All,

Please take a moment to ask yourself this question: Have I sent an e-mail to LBH@straphael.org or lovebeginshere@straphael.org in the past month or so?

If your answer was affirmative, we unfortunately have not received it. If you wouldn't mind re-sending the e-mail, that would be great. If you would rather give Lindsay a call (608.290.9004), that would be wonderful, as well.

We're sorry for this technological hiccup. Thanks for cooperating with us! Look for more good news to come in just a little bit.

Peace,
Lindsay

Welcome!

Hey all! Lindsay here, representing the LBH Core Team. We are thrilled that you have stopped by the Love Begins Here Blog. There will be many exciting things to watch for in the coming weeks of preparation, including the introduction of the Core Team this coming week - it will be posted by Tuesday evening. If you ever have any questions, leave us a comment to let us know, and we will do our best to answer you.

As we move closer to the summer, we will offer packing tips, answer common questions, and do whatever we can to get you excited - including announcing the finalized locations! During the summer, we will update our blog a couple times a week so your friends and family at home can keep up-to-date on what is happening out in the Mission Field!

For now, I'll leave you with the words that are going to inspire our Mission this summer, from one of my personal heroes, Mother Teresa. Even though she spoke these words back in 1979, I feel like she is speaking to me personally still today.

And so here I am talking with you - I want you to find the poor here, right in your own home first. And begin love there. Be that good news to your own people. And find out about your next-door neighbor - do you know who they are?

Mother Teresa, 1979
Noble Peace Prize Acceptance Speech

Keep on enjoying this Easter season. May the joy of Christ fill your lives.

Meet the 2009 Core Team

Well, we figure it's about that time to introduce ourselves. Over the coming weeks and months, we will all take turns writing for you and such. Let us know if you have any sort of questions.

Name: Gina Pignotti
HS Graduation Year: 2001
Alma Mater: University of Wisconsin - Madison
Hometown: Kenosha, WI
What she is spending her time on during the 2008-2009 school year: Teaching Middle School at St. James School in Madison, leading Confirmation classes, praying rosaries, and dominating on the basketball court.
Favorite summertime activity: Hiking and camping in the backcountry, occasionally Gina is also seen with a good book out on trail.
Hairstyle she has never attempted but desires to: Dread Locks
Song that would play when she enters the room: U2 - It's A Beautiful Day
Favorite Saint: MARY!!!
What she is most excited about for LBH this summer: Working hard, having fun, learning, and praying with youth from a variety of parishes. "I love the philosophy of LBH - service in your own backyard with our brothers and sisters in our near Catholic community."
And... "I don't have a functioning TV (haven't for nearly 4 years), and I don't have a Facebook account - and I actually live a very happy, fun life."

Name: Jeff Dole

HS Graduation Year: 2003

Alma Mater: Iowa State (2008), Currently attending Loras College, Pre-Theology Seminarian

Hometown: Pella, IA

What he spent his time on during the 2008 - 2009 school year: Studying philosophy and enjoying life as a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Dubuque, acting as the President of the Loras Philosophy Club, catechizing 10th graders, and rotating breviaries.

Favorite Summertime Activity: Swimming

Song he wishes would play every time he enters the room: Sigur Ros - inni mer syngur vitleysingur

Favorite saint: St. John the Beloved

What is he most excited about for LBH this summer: To be immersed in prayerful service, having fun, meeting otehrs, and sharing faith...

And... "I still eat cookie dough when you are not 'supposed' to, I love questions of faith and truth, and who ever said that fairy tales are just for kids?"

Name: Lindsay Becher
HS Graduation Year: 2003
Hometown: Janesville, WI
Alma Mater: University of Wisconsin - Madison (Undergrad) and Ave Maria University (Graduate)
What she is spending her time on during the 2008 - 2009 school year: Coordinating fun and faithful programming for Middle School and High School kids at St. Joe's in Baraboo, becoming acquinted with her mad cupcake baking skills, finishing Grad School and loving Canon Law.
Favorite kind of juice: Pineapple Orange
Song she wishes would play every time she enters the room: Brett Dennen - Blessed
Favorite book of the Bible: The Gospel of John
Favorite Summertime Activity: Reading in Hammocks
What is he most excited about for LBH this summer: Meeting all sorts of new people, bringing kids from my parish, and finding new ways to serve in the Madison Diocese.
And... "I bake when I am feeling stressed, secretly wanted to be a tour guide in the Wisconsin Dells when I was little, and have dreams of being a legit graphic designer."

Name: Michael Peterson
HS Graduation Year: 2006
Hometown: Gays Mills, WI
Alma Mater (soon enough): University of Wisconsin - Madison
What he spent your time on during the 2008-2009 school year: Like Jeff, becoming a top notch philosopher and historian, co-leading a FOCUS Bible study, running like Forest Gump, and praying.
Hairstyle he has never attempted buy secretly would like to: "I don't think I've ever thought of this very important question until now; I've pretty much always had the same old vanilla 'do.' I would love to be a skinhead for a whiel, though I'm not sure if that really counts as a hairstyle (lack of hairstyle)."
Song he wishes would play everytime he enters a room: On a bad day: Star Wars Imperial March. On a good day: Smash Mouth - I'm A Believer.
Favorite Saint: St. Therese of Lisieux
What he is most excited about for LBH this summer: The chance to be of service to our communities, to help others grow in faith, to pray, and to have a blast.
And... "I once accidently shut down an IMAX movie theater."

Phew... that's us. We look forward to meeting you all this summer and learning ridiculous things about you, as well. Happy (almost) Feast of the Assumption!