BACK TO WHERE IT ALL BEGAN...
I’m sure that if you’ve been around or involved in Love City in any way, you have most likely heard a little bit about how Love City started and even a little bit about how Shawn and I met. Even though Shawn and I were both living in Louisville we didn’t actually meet each other until we were in Rome Italy, studying abroad with Bellarmine University’s MBA program in May of 2013.
Shawn was in the class of 2013, and I was in the class of 2014. MBA classes at Bellarmine are done on the cohort model, so you take all your classes with the same group of 20-30 people. The entire program is 18 months and includes an international trip. You have the option to go on the international trip at the beginning of your program or at the end of your program. I opted to go on the trip at the beginning of my program, and Shawn opted to go on the trip at the end of his program, so even though we had never taken a class together in Louisville, we ended up on the same trip to Rome.
The trip was organized into classes at t local university in the morning and sightseeing tours in the afternoon. The second day of the trip all the students were to meet in the lobby to wait for the bus to take us to the university for classes. I came down the stairs from my room and surveyed the lobby. On one side were a group of younger students that were getting their MBAs right out of undergrad, loudly talking with one another. Shawn and I were in a different cohort of executive MBAs which was made up of working professionals that had been in the workforce for at least 10 years. As I listened to their excited chatter I looked across to the other side of the lobby and saw Shawn sitting at a table scribbling in a notebook. I decided to walk toward his side of the lobby to wait for the bus. “what are you writing?” I asked him as I walked up to the table. He looked up and then looked down again quickly and mumbled, “nothing, just thinking about starting a non-profit maybe one day.” “oh,” I said, and just stood there awkwardly waiting for the bus.
The bus came and took us across town to the LUISS School of Economics for our classes that morning. When we had a break in class everyone went out to the courtyard for coffee and pastries. Time in Italy is quantified differently than in America. A break in class that would normally be 5 minutes in the US, is 45 minutes of coffee, pastries, and a cigarette in Italy. I went to the ladies room and then ventured out into the courtyard to see what pastries were available and just kill time until class started again. I saw Shawn again, sitting by himself at a table, scribbling away in his notebook.
The Colosseum Subway station on the left. A view of the inside the Colosseum from the top level on the right.
The Colosseum Subway station on the left. A view of the inside the Colosseum from the top level on the right.
“No, really,” I said as I walked up to him, “what’s going on with you?” He looked up quickly from his notebook, sighed a little, leaned back in his seat and said, “well if you must know, about two months ago, I fell in love with Jesus, and I decided to follow him for the rest of my life, what ever he wants me to do, wherever he wants me to go, that’s what I’m going to do.”
He sat back with a little smirk on his face, as if to say, that ought to send you packing.
A little stunned at the straightforwardness of his answer I paused for a second and then said, “Really? Tell me some more about that.” His smirk collapsed off his face and a look of ‘oh crap’ came over him. To be honest, I don’t really remember the content of our conversation after that. It was like we became instantly glued to each other. We talked for the remainder of the break. We went back to class and then when class was over, walked out toward the bus that was waiting to take us to the Colosseum and the Forum for our afternoon sightseeing trip. We sat next to each other on the bus. Our conversation was about anything and everything. We talked about Jesus, about our lives, about our hopes and dreams, you name it, we talked about it. We talked through the Colosseum, and the Forum and all the way back to the hotel. We didn’t hear a word our tour guide said in the forum. We brought up the rear of the group, just talking to each other the whole time.
Later that evening we had our first date, which was magical, like being in a movie. But that is a whole other story for another time. Suffice it to say, toward the end of our 10 day trip to Europe with bellarmine we had made our vows to each other, and six weeks after we came back to America we were married. And our journey together with the Lord was starting.
Nine years later we had the opportunity to return to Rome with a couple of friends to do a kind of research/cultural tour. This time we had plans to visit the Colosseum and the Forum and actually learn about what happened there. A few weeks ago at the end of February Shawn and I landed in Rome for what would be our third visit there. We rented an apartment next to the Trevi fountain and had a full agenda of guided tours, museums, and programs to attend. Our first stop was the colosseum and the forum. I had booked a guide, who is also a PhD in Art History and Roman culture. Sara met us at the Colosseum and took us through the massive stadium, explaining the history and culture of the day. We then moved on to the forum, hearing all about ancient Rome in its heyday. We also got to know Sara. She is also a university professor, a life long Roman, with a husband and an 11 year old daughter. We told her all about Love City and Mighty Oak Academy and asked if she would be willing to do a zoom call with our students to share with them about Rome. She was delighted and we set up the call. The call will take place today at 10:30am with our 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th grade classes. They have been learning about Rome all this week in preparation for the zoom call.
Nine years ago, when Shawn and I met we never could have imagined where we would be today. It was an amazing experience to be able to go back to where it all began, and then bring that into Love City and Mighty Oak Academy. Who knew that a trip to Rome would kick off an adventure that would envelope not only our lives but the lives of so many people in love and light.
Fish Fry season is in full swing, but for those of you that prefer meat to fish, we just added Angus burgers to the menu for a limited time. Burgers are $6 add cheese and dressed for another $1. Stop by and grab some fish or a burger!
2519 St Cecilia St
Monday - Thursday 11am - 2pm
Friday 11am - 7pm
www.porklandbbq.com
This week we welcomed the Big Smiles Mobile Dentist to Mighty Oak Academy. About 40% of our students signed up to be seen by the dentist. Half of those students had cavities filled, we had 2 students that needed urgent dental work that were referred to a pediatric dentist for teeth extraction, abscess teeth, and a root canal. We will continue to work with our families to help make dental care accessible. The mobile dental unit will be back at Mighty Oak Acadmey in October of this year.
PARTNER WITH US
At Love City we believe in time, talent and treasure.
Mighty Oak Academy Amazon Wish List
We've started the new semester and our supplies of snacks and breakfast items are running low. You can find some on our Amazon wish list, but if you make a grocery run or Sam's club/Costco run and can pick up an extra box of any of the following we would appreciate it!
Granola bars
Yogurt cups or GoGurt
cereal
Veggie Straws
Goldfish/CheezIts
If you would like to partner with the school, you can visit our Amazon wish list and purchase items to ship directly to the school. Visit this link to view the list: https://a.co/77dqBIT
If you are interested in volunteering or to find out more information about supplies needed please email: info@lovecityinc.org or call (502) 272-078.
Please consider partnering financially with Love City. We are looking for sponsors for students at Mighty Oak Academy as well as partners to help fund construction of our new preschool. Click the button below to donate today.