summer will be over in less than two days…one last memory…for the third summer in a row i’ve traveled to Whitley City, Kentucky…in our nation’s poorest county…McCreary…we’ve done home repair and more for some families who were in need and who have now become our friends…most evenings we venture out to Dairy Bar…a slice of Americana for everything we “need” from root beer floats to fried pickles…our second evening there unfortunately 65 other people had the same idea at the same time…as i waited impatiently for my battered, deep fried vegetable…i began to realize who was ahead of me in line…65 teenagers laughing, flirting and making memories…they too were doing home repair…sleeping on a school floor…they were representing Jesus…they came from the violent west side of our beloved Chicago…to love on total strangers…before i knew it i was back in 1978…at the Sonic in Farmington, NM…i was the teenager in line for food i didn’t need…we’d come to build homes for Navajo orphans…one of the best choices i have ever made…it was life changing…no really…it changed my life…because of that trip i have attempted over 50 times to replicate it for students and adults…and those who need a helping hand…the last few nights at Dairy Bar i gladly waited and took time to get to know some of the beautiful students and their stories…our nation was embroiled in racial tension and hatred this summer…the west side has been torn by senseless killing…and yet these students…well they inspired me…i walked out of Dairy Bar more than one evening with a belly too full…a mist in my eyes…and hope in my heart for our troubled land…