August 31, 2018

As the calendar moves us toward September, I find myself not quite ready to switch gears into a new season. Not only am I not quite recovered from a busy summer, I’m not quite ready to say good-bye to all the meaningful projects so many have worked so hard on and that have provided such rich experiences for the body and soul. I offer these take-a-ways, as a spiritual practice of honoring all our efforts and lifting up all we’ve learned – may the lessons and joys of summer linger, even as the calendar beckons us ever forward.
No one is you – that is your power. At Vacation Bible Camp, we celebrated the ways in which each of us is created by God, built for a purpose. This wasn’t only a great message to teach, it was one we lived, as the uniqueness of each camper, and the unique gifts of each volunteer, were woven together to create an amazing week. May we continue to claim our unique gifts, and share them with others.
Love Your Neighbor: Building Relationships, Bringing Hope. The All Church Retreat kicked off Lakeshore’s theme for the 2017-2018 year. Building off last year’s theme, “Welcome the Stranger,” we delved deeper into what it means to love God, love our neighbors, and love ourselves. It turns out these three are so deeply interconnected that it’s impossible to do one well at the expense of the others.
I’m just an average guy, with above average dreams – Burnell Cotlon. Our New Orleans missionaries were inspired by the people we met and the ways they have been able to serve God and their community. Disaster, devastation and injustice are no strangers to the lower 9th ward, and yet the resilience we witnessed, and the hope we encountered, inspired us to live with such vision for working in our own communities.
I am grateful to so many whose efforts, prayers, verbal and financial support allowed our church to experience such rich experiences and such deep spiritual encounters!
Peace,
Allison