Week 1: SUMMARY!

Well friends, LBH Week 1 2011 has come to an end, and boy, did we have a phenomenal week. To summarize some of the beautiful lessons learned, I will treat you to a few photos and quotes from evaluations. Thank you to the beautiful young poeple who come and shared their hearts with the poor of the Madison Diocese from Madison, Dodgeville, Watertown, Ripon, Waunakee, Baraboo, Cuba City and more wonderful places!

The force... or the Holy Spirit really guided us through the week! Lots of Star Wars learning was completed, along with some seriously awesome learning about the truth and beauty of our Catholic Church.

Our opportunities to serve were widely varied this week from spending time at the Ronald McDonald House, Second Harvest food bank, the Mount Horeb Senior Center, helping out the Make A Wish Foundation and helping one another out in our community, we encountered the poor in many ways in our own backyards!

Everyone is jumping for joy in honor of evaluations like this:

Love Begins Here has changed my life. This experience has brought me so much closer to God and has helped remind me that everything isn't about me. I would be back to Love Begins Here in a heartbeat.

LBH is the chance to connect more with God and serve others in God's name. It's a chance for personal growth and self examination. It develops great friendships and makes everyone laugh. In short, LBH means I'm going to have the greatest week of my life.

For me, LBH means rejoicing for young people who are getting formation and catechesis that so many never have and might never receive... I am edified that this and future generations will be much more prepared for a world that can be toxic towards faithful Catholics. I look forward to the day when, as a priest, I will be able to support this program financially and spiritually. - Garrett Kau (Third Year Major Seminarian, Diocese of Madison - Pictured below with leftovers from the most incredible dinner of the week.)

And two quotes from a very profound evaluation from a young participant:

People may not be poor, but they may be sad, lonely, depressed or feel hopeless and unloved. We can serve people by just loving them and offering ourselves to them. Also, there is so much you can do to help people nearby; you don't have to go very far to find someone that needs help, everybody needs help in some way, and everybody and give it.

I definitely learned more about the vastness of Love and how I can love people better and more completely. I also find myself yearning for God to fill me up completely, so I can experience His love the same way I see the Core Team experiencing it. This experience this week has really healed part of me that I felt was broken, and I didn't know how to fix it. It may not be perfect, but it has been a start... This week has been amazing.

Well, that about wraps up our Week One reflection, and good thing, because we have 25 young people coming in tonight to experience another week of local, life changing mission trips. Thanks to all of the great people from Week One. The Core Team definitely loves you very much and is keeping you in our prayers.

A special shout out to the stellar adults that joined us this past week: Jenna, Renata, Tess, Garrett and Jared! You guys were all star chaperones and great models of holiness. You're all welcome back anytime.