Celebration

I have been doing lots of celebrating lately. On May 1, North Way reached our official four-year anniversary of partnership with the Helen Faison Arts Academy in Homewood. Many mentors and many children have been impacted by LAMP over the course of those four years, and I am so thankful for the opportunity we have been given to make a difference in the lives of young people in Homewood.

Last Wednesday we had the opportunity to celebrate with this year's school-based mentors and mentees from Faison Primary at the North Way Oakland church building. We all had a great time together, and I would have a hard time describing how powerful it was to see all of the mentors interacting so well with all of their mentees... all in one room at the same time. Our mentors are amazing people, and I am so thankful for the opportunity I've had to get to know each one of them and watch them in action.

On Saturday my oldest daughter, Kyra, sang a Christian pop song by Mandisa in the talent show at Faison Primary. I was so proud of her... she even received a third place prize. She also won an award for being "Caught Being Good" by the school staff. All in all, it was a great morning to celebrate with Kyra on a good year of school at Faison.

Today I have been preparing for tomorrow's celebration with the LAMP mentors and mentees at the Faison Intermediate School. They are another group of incredible people who consistently go to Homewood every week to spend time with their mentees. I can't wait to spend time with them and their mentees. I think I'm running out of things to celebrate, though. I know it can't go on forever, but I do think it is important to stop every once in a while and reflect on everything God has done and continues to do through LAMP. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us in moving forward. Much thanks to everyone who has impacted LAMP in one way or another over the past four years.