I had intended to write this on Saturday, but that didn't quite happen. I survived the week, but was apparently sleep-deprived because I came home and slept for 14 hours. Anyways...
I heard that a group stayed at Lakeshore through Saturday and they were able to pour the concrete, praise the Lord! Last I knew there were some from Clinton who were returning today and tomorrow to wrap things up, so please pray for success and safety in their work.
There was a great turnout at the Friday night evangelistic service, with about 60 people from the community coming to enjoy a jambalaya dinner and hear a message from Pastor Don. Keep these folks in your prayers and ask that the Lord would use this an opportunity to open their hearts to the Gospel.
For all of us at Lakeshore, Friday night was a very happy but also sorrowful evening as we realized that we would be leaving all of our dear friends and returning to our "normal" lives. Many have pointed out that Lakeshore is just a brief foretaste of heaven, where we will never have to say goodbye. And although sad to leave such a wonderful place, I think we were all very encouraged to continue living the Christian life, and the sweet time of fellowship was an opportunity to be reenergized for the struggles of living in the world. It reminds me of the multiple times in The Pilgrim's Progress where Christian finds himself in places of wonderful rest and encouragement before traveling onwards through the trials of his way.
After the closing of an event like Lakeshore I think it is a natural question to ask, was it a success? And we can think about this in a couple ways. We can look at it from the human perspective. We showed up at Lakeshore with a specific list of things we wanted to accomplish by specific times. Did we get that done? Not completely. So did we fail? Most certainly not. From the start we were continually confessing that this was God's work, and that He was sovereign over every moment. Does God let the weather interfere in His plans? Or broken machinery? Hardly. On the contrary, He uses those things to work out His plan. The larger goal of Lakeshore was to glorify the Lord, grow closer to Him, and share the Gospel with the surrounding community. It was used to strengthen each of us, to develop perseverance, faithfulness, and submission in each of us. Because of the trials of the week, I would guess that this goal was more successful than if our plans had worked out perfectly.
In thinking back over the week, there are a few moments that are still very strong in my mind. One of those was on Thursday morning. On Wednesday night that the decision was made to work through the night. So Thursday morning many people were looking exhausted and worn-out. For some reason I had not slept well that night, so I stumbled downstairs to breakfast also very tired. The feeling in the dining hall was definitely subdued. We were discouraged. Our energy reserves had been depleted. The day looked very bleak. People were still slowly filing through the breakfast line. Then someone standing in line, having seen all the bleary-eyed folks trying to keep up their strength, began addressing us all. I can't remember his exact words, but it was such a precious moment as he reminded us of the joy of being alive, that here we were together, serving the Lord, in a glorious world, that every breath we took was gift from God, and that there was so much to praise the Lord for, even on that dreary morning. The tension was suddenly released as he gave us a much-needed perspective on the situation. It was so beautiful to see how God used this person to give everyone the endurance and joy to continue in their work. This simple act of encouragement had a significant impact on my day, it completely changed my perspective on the day. It was a small thing, perhaps some don't even remember it, but the little moments can sometimes be the most profound. It reminded me that there is always an opportunity for me to reach out to those around me and share the joy of the Lord with those who may desperately need it.
There are many other things I could say about the week, which I might do later, but I just wanted to share those thoughts as they are things which stand out in my mind.
While perhaps not successful in human terms, the week at Lakeshore was completely successful in God's perspective because we accomplished what He wanted us to do.
To keep up with Lakeshore Baptist Church, please visit their site here.
I hope to do another post about Lakeshore, more of my own personal perspective, and you'll be able to find that at my own blog, along with all of my other writings.
Our thanks to all of those who read this blog through the week and offered your prayers up along with us. Thank you to those who attended Lakeshore and who gave such dedication and passion to serving the Lord in whatever position needed. Thank you to those who organized the event and who sacrificed so much time to coordinating each aspect of Lakeshore. We pray that Lord willing we'll meet again at Lakeshore in 2014.
Soli Deo Gloria
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