on thursday night, pauly and i were invited to the ‘treehouse gala’. it was amazing on so many levels…..( i think i mentioned going to this in my previous post, under my “i hate my stupid glasses”-rant…) anyway, it was so beautifully done, and the organization is incredible. you can check out the work they do here, but just to give you a peek into their amazingness…their tag line is “loving at risk teens.” how cool is that? it is similar to the work at the union gospel mission does with it’s different programs, but treehouse is completely focused on at risk youth.
during the night, several students got up and shared how treehouse had changed their lives, but before they talked about the good in their lives now, they spoke about what circumstances brought them to treehouse to begin with. it broke.my.heart. drugs, absentee fathers or mothers, abuse of all kinds…etc…was the norm and every day life for most, if not all, of the teens at treehouse. they had no safe place to go, no safe person to talk to, nothing to rely on, no foundation to support them. treehouse gave them all these things and more, and did so through the awesome redemption of Jesus. these kids found family in each other, the mentors and staff, but most importantly, through the unconditional love of the ultimate foundation and forever safe place to land, Jesus.
there was a moment when they had all the current students of treehouse walk though the tables at the gala holding signs of where they had been, or where are they are now. some signs read, “headed to college” or “i have something to live for.” it was a moment i won’t quickly forget, and it was so humbling to be a part of it. to see real kids…to put a face with the struggle i know kids face, but have never really experienced first hand…it reminded me of the union gospel mission gal, in that, it made real to me the reality of others. how humbling.
okay okay…….. so that right there is a pretty great night, no? well. it gets better. how? i’m glad you asked. two words: JOSH. FREAKING. GROBAN. IN. PERSON. okay five words. i DIED. went straight to heaven, and guess what? heaven sounds like josh groban. he was UNREAL. his voice! what?! who?! how?! ugh! amazing. just…..amazing. he ended the night for us at the gala and i recorded every glorious minute of him singing ‘you raise me up.’ yeah. get. jealous.
anyway, thank you treehouse for an amazing night, and for all the work you do in these teens lives. it really is inspiring. and thanks for josh groban. he’s heaven. in a microphone.
ready for the gala!
so we got our tickets through gallup, and these are some of pauly’s coworkers we sat with. they. are. so. fun.
you can’t really see him, but that’s the REAL josh groban. amaze.
the entrance to the gala. the theme was BLOOM and the depot in downtown minneapolis was spectacular.
at the gala.
each spot at the gala was given a ‘swag bag’ courtesy of target. they were adorable and filled with a scarf and josh groban’s new cd. oh and those shoes are from target so i thought i should do a big target shout out photo.
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