So, let's rewind to Monday.... we sad goodbye to the Country Inn and Suites and headed over to Notre Dame for a walking tour of the campus.
We said "Hi" to Touchdown Jesus and spent a moment in quiet reflection at the grotto:
Then, we sang in the Basilica. It'a BEAUTIFUL space and great for singing. Tara delivered her solo in "Bow the Knee" with grace and poise - and I was so glad that her parents were in the audience to hear her.
The chaperones had a huge "Uh-Oh" moment when our sound recorder was placed on what they thought was an empty table midway down the aisle. It might have been empty at the beginning but at some point in time, the sacraments of holy communion were placed there, too. And when the volunteers carried the bread and wine forward to the priest, they carried our sound recorder, too! haha And then they GAVE it to the priest. Thankfully, he didn't panic and the volunteers carried the recorder back to the table.
We had lunch at an Irish pub and then moved off to the Chocolate Factory where the kids got a tour and bought enough sugar to energize a small nation. We have enough photos of kids in hairnets to have our own slideshow.
Then, it was off to Camp Summit, a juvenile detention center for teenage boys. They went through a security screening before entering and as part of the security measures, we had to leave all cameras and recording devices on the bus... so there's no evidence of the amazing experience that we had.
When the 78 boys filed out, they looked pretty tough. I could see VIPs taking in their shaved heads, combat boots, and fatigues and I wanted to quickly re-focus our singers. So, I walked up the line of VIP and quietly reminded them:
Some guy out there loves music.
Some guy sang in his church choir.
Some guy grew up watching his Mama sing.
Some guy misses home.
That's someone's baby brother... son... best friend.
Stay with me.
And they DID.
Within minutes, we had those 78 guys playing instruments, stomping, clapping, cheering and singing (yes, singing) along. And in the interactions between pieces, you got to see a glimpse of the lives of these guys.
As I held a set of bongos in my hand, I said "Any drummers out there?" And a guy stood up, pointed to his friend and said "Him! He was a drummer in the school band." You haven't seen joy until you put a set of drums into the hands of a kid who hasn't played them in months. Pure gratitude. Absolute happiness.
At the end of the song, when I collected the instruments back, I said to him "I hope you find your way back to a band." And that look in his blue eyes as he said, "Ma'm, yes Ma'm, I will." THIS is the reason we do what we do.
Then there was the guy who asked us to sing "Oh Happy Day" - a song that the choir does NOT know. (We're going to have to correct this!) Thank the Lord that Molly and Jeff were there because I think the 3 of us are the only ones who know the song. We got through it, and then a guy in the crowd wanted to sing.
I said to him, "It's fine with me if it's fine with the guards." (These guards are TOUGH.) They said yes! And we were all entertained when this guy stood up and delivered a pretty good version of "Oh Happy Day."
As the concert ended, the whoops and hollers from these guys were just fantastic. Lots of thank yous all around. It's always interesting to me that the first ones to say "Thank you for coming" are the ones that LOOK like they're not enjoying the concert. They sit there with a sort-of sour look and you just think, "This guy is really not thrilled to be here."
But we never know exactly how God works through us and makes his way into the hearts of people. And at the end of the concert, when this man shakes my hand, looks me in the eye and says "Thank you for coming tonight. I really enjoyed this." - I remember that God really can do amazing things, and just
because we don't SEE them, doesn't mean they're not happening.
The VIPs were pretty excited as we made our way to Carlson's for homemade rootbeer and hotdogs. We had a great time at this place and enjoyed the warm hospitality offered to us by the owner! We headed across the street to Bubbles ice cream and had ice cream all around, courtesy of a generous donor from church who pressed some money in my hand told me to treat the kids. Thank you, Jay! We appreciate the treat and your support!!!
As you can imagine - chocolate, root beer and ice cream, plus a very good concert makes for some excited kids. They sang ALL the way from South Bend to Chicago... Ok, the middle schoolers sang and the high schoolers tried to tune them out.
We arrived late in the evening, exhausted, happy, and grateful for a nice hotel.