Cancer Survivor Hugh Mc Campbell Plays It Forward Through Concert Fundraiser

Tonight we went to a concert, which was actually like a really cool PBS Special.  My very first guest on my radio show, Katie's Community Connection was a man named Hugh "Doc" Mc Campbell.  He's a vet for large animals and has a resume more diverse than the United Nations!  Honestly, I didn't know what to expect tonight!  I know Doc is always full of surprising stories to tickle the funny-bone.  And I know he can play the  piano (he plays at church nearly every Sunday...) And he can play the banjo and sing, (Doc recorded a song that I used for my show's intro theme music!)
Doc went from recognizing veterans, to the pledge, to "God Bless America!" seamlessly.  A favorite funny was the randomly chosen audience/quartet singers who sang a 60's love song, unrehearsed while Doc accompanied on the piano!  A little-known but beautiful piece written by Doc's mom conveyed the close-knit family which Hugh was raised in...
Doc and Marty, his wife of nearly forty-four years have put on this concert annually for the last five years.  It's a community service event in may ways...  First, it's a family friendly, redemptive and entertaining show!  Second, it's a fundraiser for the Mc Campbells' dearly held causes.  Doc is a cancer survivor; some of the money raised goes to cancer research.  A bit of a "pay-it-forward."  The Boy Scouts of America, yes, Hugh was a Cub-Scout AND an Eagle Scout (much like many of the early astronauts), and the third beneficiary of tonight's ticket sales is the Sweetwater Council for the Arts.
After a beautiful reception at the Mc Campbells' home, I finally got my moment with the Star!  "Doc," I said, "This was such a special event...I know you do this and so much more to support the community, you should be Volunteer of the Year!"  After belaboring the point, Hugh walked me back to where there was hung a BIG plaque...  It read:

"Hugh Mc Campbell, Volunteer of The Year 2010".

I was pleased and so was Doc.  Doc went from frame to frame on the walls, sharing stories.  (He must eat a lot of cucumbers or something because his memory is as good as my nine-year-old's!)  My jaw dropped as I read a personal letter from President George W. Bush to Doc!  (It's seems that I am just one-person removed from the Bush family lately.  See my post about "Let it Rain".) Well, then Doc told me they were cousins and I laughed.  Then he showed me the genealogy map and I wasn't laughing anymore!
Doc and Marty have become dear friends to our family.   In the last six months, Marty has been the driving influence behind a new English-As-A-Second-Language school and two Bible Studies for women.  Doc is contacted regularly to appear on TV or radio for his various talents, and still practices veterinary medicine full time.  They have a growing number of grandchildren; many are homeschooled.
Kudos to everyone in Sweetwater who condoned this event.  As we were leaving, I saw the Mayor of Sweetwater usher a disabled man into his car to give him a ride home from the concert.  What mayor does that?  One I want to re-elect, that's for sure!  What a blessed family we are, what a blessed community we have here in East Tennessee.  I'm so thankful for the Mc Campbells and especially that Doc survived cancer!  Here's to another sweet memory and many successful fundraising concerts!
Soli Deo Gloria! ~K. De La Cruz
P.S. If you would like a CD of Doc's music or would like to support Doc and Marty's fundraising efforts,  send me an email at KatieSmithCommunityConnection@gmail.com

Bring on the Rain, Something BIGGER IS HAPPENING!

Drizzle and cold temps today cannot stop the swell of love...  It is pervasive, like the wind, always moving.

Today in Athens, Tennessee, I took a stroll to the Living Heritage Museum where I saw the VERY FIRST IPAD!!!!  It's called a "Sampler" and you may have seen them without even knowing it! Special thanks to Mary, who hosted my visit! Then, my visit with LHM Exec. Director Ashley Rush blew my mind with ideas and strategy to keep audio and video content coming your way!  (Feel the love??)

I needed to get Thank You Notes for Ashley and I wanted THE BEST for her...  So on my way threw downtown, I stopped at Greek's Bearing Gifts, which is just-Aaaaaaah!  A breath of fresh air!  I'm sure I drove the sales clerk crazy, but she didn't let on, answering question after question about paper!  I wanted just the right colors.  "Blush and Bashful."  If you are a Steel Magnolias devotee as I am then I'm sure you will understand!  (I think "Blush and Bashful" are sorority colors too...Someone can fill me in on that...)

Right next door is the Athens Chamber of Commerce, where Chamber President Rob Preston told me three stories...

1.  Meeting First Lady Barbara Bush and the Secret Police!!!
2. Steve Scheibner, American Airlines pilot originally scheduled to pilot the first plane to hit the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.  He's coming to town in honor of all McMinn County service women.  Mark your calendars for Friday, March 9, 2012.  Tickets are $10. Call 423-745-0334
3. Tanya, who was on my radio show back in December...  I knew Tanya served the homeless.  What I didn't know was that after loosing her regular job, she was so burdened to help the homeless that she just started feeding them, taking them food out in the woods!  I hope to speak with Tanya again soon...

Keep our family in your prayers, too!  We're strategizing and partnering to see and hear and SHARE these stories with you here online.  If you have an idea, comment or would like to sponsor the new venture, please let me know! 

 I'll be staying in touch with you!

Soli Deo Gloria! ~K. De La Cruz

Gifted Friends...Annie Rose Robinson Releases Her First Music Video!

I am so excited for Annie-Rose Robinson, (Katie's Community Connection guest) a recording artist with Pretty Woman Music!  Here's her first video!  Congrats to all involved and much love!

Connect with Annie Rose Robinson:

FACEBOOK:

http://www.facebook.com/AnnieRoseMusic

TWITTER:

https://twitter.com/AnnnieRose

YOUTUBE:

http://www.youtube.com/user/AnnieRoseMusicTV

REVERBNATION:

http://www.reverbnation.com/annieroserobinson

MYSPACE:

http://www.myspace.com/annieroserobinson

TUMBLR:

http://annnierose.tumblr.com/

Category:

Music

xoxo,
Katie

A Call to Prayer*Local Event By Christian Covenant Church

prayer 
|pre(ə)r|noun
a solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God

We've been invited to pray for the broken hearted, for our nation.
And we've been invited to have our hearts broken, for our nation.
In the days of the Civil Rights Movement, I'm sure people had their hearts broken.  Millions were treated unjustly because of the color of their skin.  People prayed and, though painful, God answered those prayers. Again, and now, millions of tiny unborn innocents are being hated.  In this event,  JOEL 2 SOLEMN ASSEMBLY by Christian Covenant Church, we are invited to examine on-going habits in society today; habits which hurt us, not help us.

Won't you join us?

When:  Saturday, Jan. 21, at 6 - 9 pmWhere:  Christian Covenant Church is on County Road 616 (New Zion Rd.) off County Road 750 (Piney Grove/Landfill Rd.)
for GPS: 120 C. R. 616  Athens, TN 37303

"Joel 2:14-16  Who knoweth if he (GOD) will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; ... Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children."

For more information, RSVP and invite others, click here.

http://www.christiancovenantchurch.com/



Soli Deo Gloria! ~K. De La Cruz

The Joy of Juicing, The Joy of Doughnuts!

We took the first drink...  My family and I made the Mean Green juice recipe today!  I LOVED the aroma of green apples, lemon, fresh ginger, celery and so on.  I found myself excited at the idea of opening a fresh-juice kitchen or to garden as a lifestyle.  It was that wonderful!  I'm very thankful for a husband who presses me to try life-giving endeavors like this!
We prepared the kids, boys, ages 7 & 9 by watching the documentary Dying to Have Known.  Similar to Fat Sick & Nearly Dead in that it shows the benies of eating "green" as well as all the other colors of the rainbow, but, is different in that the premise is to prove or disprove the Gerson Method for curing cancer.  This had the nine-year-old's attention.  He tried the apple-lemonade and loved it!  Not-so-much for the seven-year-old  "I only eat (fill-in-the-blank-on-any-given-day)" kid.  "To each his own" and "Rome wasn't built in a day!"
Then came the trip to the new Dunkin' Doughnuts.  We live in a very small town, one that just opened a Dunkin Doughnuts.  No Starbucks for 30 miles in any direction.  (Now you know I'm on a mission from God, right?!  I've proven that a citified woman can live without Starbucks.  For heaven's sake, even my language has assimilated to the culture! "Citified!") 
Ahem, feeling so good after my fresh juice, I headed to Dunkin Doughnuts to get some research accomplished.  Dear friends and owners of a national engineering firm have asked me to do some writing for their website!  My mind is aflutter with quippy-quips!  "What goes up, must come down" Naaaahhh.  NOT for a civil-structural engineer's website!  As soon as I sat down I met the nicest older couple and low-and-behold, the husband was a chemist and patent attorney for Dow Chemical, among other nameable companies, in the 60's.  He shared a remarkable story of working conditions in a lab where the scientists had liver problems and were dying.  (Remember the movie Erin Brokovich?!) ...How when he walked outside his place of work, the pollution in the air was so thick it burned his eyes...And how "the men in suits would walk in and out of the lab very quickly."
As we drank our free coffee and yes, even ate doughnuts as we visited I could not help but question what happens to those who cannot choose a different career, those who cannot go back to college?  That makes me thankful to oversee my kids' education.  But ultimately, my hope is not in what I teach, or eat, or not.  My hope, if built on the foundation of my efforts, will be like a ball in the air.  What goes up must come down.  I pray that my hope will be in a sovereign God, in his plans and purposes that exceed my ideals and my life span.  Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End.  Ora et Labora.  Work and Pray!
Or eat wisely and pray?  Love graciously and pray.  Think about the goodness of God all around and in new friends at a coffee shop.  God is calling.  Let us be found listening!

The Book of John, Chapter 1, verses 1 through 4
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men."

Soli Deo Gloria! ~K. De La Cruz

Join Me! Extreme Home Makeover in Knoxville!

UPDATE:

Extreme Makeover Home Edition - Shift Notification for Katie- Day 10, Thursday 1/19 - 8:00 am - 2:00 pm

From a previous post:
I just love Extreme Makeover Home Edition!  And in just a week or so, they will be in Knoxville, needing volunteers!  If you've ever wanted to be involved in the show or in doing something really awesome for someone else, check out this link: 


Click below to volunteer!
http://www.joinextreme.com/tnvolunteer
If you apply, let me know!  We'd love to hear about your experience!

Soli Deo Gloria! ~K. De La Cruz

Labels: 

Link: http://www.joinextreme.com/tnvolunteer

Soli Deo Gloria! ~K. De La Cruz

Rachel Wrote a Song About Joy and I LOVE IT! *Album release today!

One of my favorite authors, Francis Chan, has five kids.  Francis writes about God's crazy outpouring of love for people.  So when his daughter Rachel wrote a song about the unconditional joy through Jesus Christ,   I wanted to hear it!
(For Rachel's song, EVEN HERE, go to 24:00.)

Francis' preaching is full of hope and awe.  Many preach, but few love God.  Francis loves God and I want what he has in his relationship with God!  Rachel's song helps bring it home to my heart...
Rachel's website
Her album just happens to release today, January 10, 2012!  If you download it or pick it up, let me know what you think!  Or read more about Rachel, her family and her music here.
Thanks and Happy New Year :)
Soli Deo Gloria! ~K. De La Cruz

20 Questions and Answers: Why I'm a Blonde

On my personal FB page, many have asked questions about my recent change of style.  ...I was tempted to say, "well, I'm playing the part of a Russian spy," or "yes, my stylist and I frequently brainstorm style ideas and decided PLATINUM,"  which is partially true as I am the stylist...  The following article is, perhaps TMI.  However, this is what I settled on...  (Haircut by Debbie Davis at Walmart in Athens.)


The problem with hair is that it grows really, really fast!  Then, one who has colored or dyed their hair has "roots."  I am tired of thinking about roots.  My hair started going gray when I was eleven.  I've been in a vicious cycle of "to-color-or-not-to color" ever since.
As I drove to the discount store where a shopper never knows which color will be available, I prayed.  I prayed, "please, two boxes of the same hair color  OR hair-color remover."  (Don't judge!  Someone you know, probably you, have done the same thing. Ok, maybe not.)  I was so excited to be free of coloring my hair!  Anyway, with one box of hair-color remover (no two-boxes of the same color dye) and with my husband's support, I committed to the process of removing hair color and started at the front of my hair line.  Only, there wasn't enough color remover in the bottle to cover my entire head!  I had been swept up in the decision of leaving my brunette hair behind and I did not realize I didn't have enough "supplies" on hand to finish the transition.  Saying something indiscernible to my husband and children, I acted to remedy the situation.  I have managed to get my hair to an almost-white color...  (It was various shades of Mountain Dew and Orange Crush for a while...) Thankfully, it is quickly growing back out.  It's not like I think blondes have more fun or that I wanted a new look.  Really, I was just frustrated with roots.  Since then, I have made a point to ask ladies where ever I go, if they too are growing out roots, why they are doing so.  When I see roots, I know there's a story there.  All creation is awaiting the Great Redemption.  All us ladies with roots are no exception.
An idea I struggle with is what if everyone stopped coloring their hair and instead used that money to END world-poverty...  It could happen!  Have you heard of "58?"  It's a movement to end poverty world-wide, in our generation!  Here's a link!  :  http://live58.org/thefilm/  But that's another blog topic!
I am wrestling, too, with why I should spend so much time and money on my hair when it won't last?  It has no eternal value.  Of course, I felt like an idiot when I had an interview for a gig and had to go with this very bright hair do.  I wanted to dye it dark again, but I'm ready for a break from the every-two-weeks tradition of hair-coloring...  
In any case, God cannot love us more than he already does and he will not love us less.  Whatever we do, may it be an act of faith expressing itself in love.  Something as simple as trusting the almighty sovereign God over the natural color of my hair is not natural to me.  But still, he loves me and promises to complete the good work he started in my heart.  Somehow, this hair-coloring adventure is part, however small a part,  of his plan to make my heart more like his heart.  
While doing research for this post, I met a lady who's son-in-law has cancer. Please pray for their family and for his healing.
  Thanks for reading.  I appreciate your time and welcome your responses.  
God cannot love you more and he will not love you less!
 ~K. De La Cruz

Reason #278, Why I Live In The South by Brad Mizer

I fostered a deep thought today. I gave it room to grow and this is what I came up with. The majority of TN residents are from the south. I didn't grow up helping my father put snow chains on the tires of the family car and shovel the driveway in the winter. When I learned to drive it was 85 degrees in October, thus no snow. I have driven in snow all of 10 times in my life. I enjoy a good 3 inches of snow when everything shuts down and no one goes to work. It is ironic to me that people from the north make fun of us southerners for not wanting to strap into a 2000 pound, rear wheel drive, steel car and drive on summer tires through an inch of snow that we obviously have not been taught to drive in. Who are the real dummies? Is it wise for a bunch of unlearned snow drivers to take to the icey streets all at once just because you did it in northern Ohio or Maryland all the time? Take the day off work, eat a frozen pizza with some hot chocolate and watch Lifetime with your wife. I am proud to be a terrible snow driver. I hate cold weather. That is reason #278 that I live in the south.

Thanks, Brad, for the chuckle and for allowing me to share your Facebook post here!  Brad and his family are the owners of East West Media, a billboard advertising company in East Tennessee.  Their office is filled with amazing advertising artwork spanning a multi-decade time period...  My kids and I loved visiting the Mizers at their office!  P.S.  This is not a paid endorsement of East West Media. 

Soli Deo Gloria!
Latin,  "To God Be The Glory."  Jean Kim of The Cambridge School in San Diego taught me this phrase. ~K. De La Cruz