Hello friends.
As many of you are aware, the Luke Legacy fund was established in September at Luke's request, to help make Young Life camp affordable so that more kids can hear about Jesus. The generosity has been overwhelming. Last week the Luke Legacy Fund board met for the first time. What a privilege. We awarded 100 scholarships for Young Life camp for the summer of 2018, with a total payout of over $30,000. Luke would be thrilled. This year we chose to cap our distribution because we want the Luke Legacy Fund to continue to grow and impact kids for years going forward. Because of this, we were not able to provide a scholarship for every student who applied. Several people have offered to help those kids who applied and did not receive funding. If you would like to provide a scholarship for one of our "wait list" kids, please contact me directly. The scholarship amounts are approximately $400 per kid. We wish the Luke Legacy Fund did not exist, because that would mean Luke was still with us. But, because Luke is with the Lord, it does exist. We are grateful to be part of it. Here's a quote from the mom of one of the girls who received funding: "Thank you for the opportunity and the scholarship for my daughter this year to attend the Young Life camp. She has asked to go to the summer camp for the last 2 years and we have pushed her off either because we had scheduling conflicts or because of money. We have always said she could go in 8th grade. This year came and we planned on sending her, but life got in the way, making finding an extra $500 tough. This scholarship will make that so much easier and takes a huge stress off of us. We are all very grateful for this scholarship and that she now gets to have this experience of a lifetime at Young Life camp. Thank you!!! Here are some thoughts from Chloe (see photo!), an 8th grader from Ann Arbor: "I am so happy that I received the Luke Legacy Fund scholarship! Because of this, I will be able to go to WYldLife camp. Camp is going to be an opportunity to get to know my friends, grow closer to God, and get to know my leaders more. WYLdLife is important to me because it is led by people who can relate, understand, and care about our lives. I am so excited to go to camp! Thank you! We will keep you updated on the amazing things God is doing through the Luke Legacy Fund! God bless, James & Lu, (for Sam, Jay, & Luke)
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Junior year.
Shopping for school clothes. Old friends. New friends. Varsity tennis. Marching band Jersey Giant: The Boss. Pool shark. What's his new thing this year? Element. Young Life club. Bible study with the Holt crew. Taking piano lessons. Designated Survivor w/ dad. Gilmore Girls w/ mom. Minecraft. Ultimate frisbee. College applications. Mochas. The Walking Dead, season 8. Young Life Fall Weekend. The Punisher. Yellow. Teaching piano lessons. Ping Pong w/ dad. Coffee w/ mom. Mercilessly picking on Sam. Toy Story II action game w/ Jay. Star Wars: Episode VIII. Yet another rubix cube. Winterfest. Pep band. Work Crew training. Solo and ensemble. Summer plans. Can't wait for Incredibles II! Can't wait for... Six months ago today, Luke passed away, leaving behind a tremendous legacy and a bunch of broken hearts. We miss him so much. We miss who he was, we miss who he was becoming, we miss the experiences we would have had with him. The picture below is from two years ago in March. Luke was in the midst of inpatient chemo, preparing for six weeks of daily radiation treatments, and his brothers had made a rare trip over to the hospital to see him. He had just completed a flawless performance on the piano in the state solo ensemble competition, receiving the highest possible score. It was one of my proudest moments as a dad, watching Luke bravely enter that school full of kids, exhausted and bald from treatment, everyone staring at his missing leg, and then watching the look of surprised delight on the judge's face when he began playing. When he was finished, the judge stood and clapped, and said to Luke, "I love it!!" We loved it too. We are so proud of who Luke was, so proud of who he was becoming, and, yes, we so deeply miss the experiences we would have had with him. God bless, James & Lu (for Sam, Jay, and Luke) |
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March 2019
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