This has been an awesome week at Chicago Hope Academy. We have enjoyed getting to know the kids one on one. We work during the days, painting, cleaning, gardening, and tutoring the students. At night, we hang out with the kids and get to know their personal stories. It was so much fun to take them to the Museum of Contemporary Art and then out to eat at the Grand Lux Cafe on Michigan Avenue.

One of boys asked me if he could call me "mom" and I said yes. He told me that he loved his mom but she would never be able to afford to take him to a restaurant like that one. It was one of those moments that God was smiling down saying............."these kids are worth the very best". They have risen above adversities in a world that has not always been kind to them. They have found Chicago Hope Academy, been given hope in a hurting world and now will be able to bless others with the light that shines through them. I have never been around a group of kids that love so well. A table next to ours at the restaurant told one of the waiters that they were impressed with the manners of the kids. They didn't even realize that what was impressive is the truth and HOPE that outshines all situations and cirmcumstances!