Praise and continued prayer

The benefit for Matthew was a tremendous success. Over $63,000 was raised! It was so humbling to be part of something that was so huge. The number of volunteers who worked for weeks and weeks was one thing, to see the number of volunteers who showed up to help was even more amazing. Along with the generosity of the volunteers were the number of people who came, bought tickets for the dinners, made donations, bid on auction items...it was incredible to behold. Amazing people rallied to support an amazing family and we were touched and honored to be a part of it. Continue to pray for the family. We still don't know anything about how treatment has gone, just that the family is waiting for results from the first round. We fervently pray for good results. All glory and praise to God!

Tonight at our "Why Catholic" meeting, we talked more about community and the importance and blessing of community. This past weekend was an excellent testimony to what being part of a greater community of believers means. You can pray and communicate with God on your own, and we all should, but it takes tremendous self discipline to maintain that relationship on your own. We know as well as anyone what a difference it makes to be a part of a group of people who share your burdens. I have gone through phases where I wasn't part of a group and thought I was doing fine. In all honesty, I wasn't really. There's comfort in numbers and the connection shouldn't be underestimated. Look at all that can be accomplished!