Update from Lakeshore

Several weeks ago I posted about having the opportunity to help wire a house here. I am finally getting to posting some pictures from that adventure! It was so fun and I want you all to see some of the action!

Vic's house, the same house where a group
of us worked on the roof a few months ago

Rob, the actual electrician

Lisa, doing some good stapling!

Mike, unsheathing those wires

That's me on the ladder, and 2 people from
another team putting up the breaker box.

I like this picture because Bro. Don's face is so fun!
That's Doug working in the background.

We had a few slow weeks around here with hardly any volunteers, but we are starting to pick back up this week. We've had people in this week from Mississippi, South Carolina, Alabama, and Georgia. They have been working on several different houses. Two houses that I am excited about are Mr. Scarborough's and Ms. Gillum's. Mr. Scarborough's trailer is near completion and it is so exciting to get teams in there to finish up that last few things that need to be done before this elderly man can return to his home. Ms. Gillum, also, is elderly and a team this week began hanging the sheetrock in her house. This dear lady has had many tragedies in her life in the past few years, only one of which was Hurricane Katrina. The house that we are working on for her actually belonged to her daughter, and Ms. Gillum was going to live with her. Suddenly, only months after the storm, her daughter died, leaving Ms. Gillum with no family and no hope of having a house in which to live. The church decided to continue to work on the house and restore it for Ms. Gillum herself and she was speechless. It has been a long road, but we are finally moving forward on her house and it's encouraging to see. There are many other projects going on here currently, I have only highlighted a few. Pray that God continues to sustain those here to work for His glory in the rebuilding of this community, and to keep the mercy of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ the basis of our efforts here in Lakeshore!

Whate'er My God Ordains Is Right

There has been a lot going on in the life of my church body, Immanuel, and, as a result, a lot in my heart these past few weeks and I don't really know how to express where I'm at except through the words of these humbling hymns:

Whate'er My God Ordains Is Right

1. Whate’er my God ordains is right,
Holy His will abideth.
I will be still whate’er He does,
And follow where He guideth.
He is my God,
Though dark my road.
He holds me that I shall not fall
Wherefore to Him I leave it all

2. Whate’er my God ordains is right,
He never will deceive me
He leads me by the proper path,
I know He will not leave me
I take, content,
What He hath sent
His hand can turn my griefs away
And patiently I wait His day

3. Whate’er my God ordains is right,
Though now this cup in drinking
May bitter seem to my faint heart,
I take it all unshrinking
My God is true,
Each morn anew
Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart
And pain and sorrow shall depart

4. Whate’er my God ordains is right,
Here shall my stand be taken
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,
Yet I am not forsaken
My Father’s care
Is round me there
He holds me that I shall not fall
And so to Him I leave it all

©1998 David Braud Music.

How Firm a Foundation

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

1787, John Rippon

I pray for the dear members of Immanuel, who are going through such hard trials this day, that they might be sustained by God's grace and given the faith to trust Him as an all-wise, all-loving Father who is the author of their trials. And these trials, which indeed come to us all, are sent for the purpose of our sanctification and, ultimately, so that God might be glorified more through our lives. Oh that God would strengthen my feeble heart to believe!

2-year mark, Labor Day, and sweat!

While the school year has started and we've had a lull in the number of volunteer teams here, life here in Lakeshore has not been without excitement these past few weeks. Last Wednesday, August 29, marked two years since Hurricane Katrina destroyed this community and the larger Gulf Coast area. That night at church, Pastor Don spoke of how normally an anniversary is something celebrated and, while we do not really celebrate the storm itself, the work that God has done here in His people and through them (volunteers included, of course) in the community in the aftermath of the storm is truly something to be remembered so that God will be praised and glorified.

Over Labor Day two friends of mine from Louisville drove 11 long hours to visit me and see Lakeshore again. It was so good to see these friends, I am so thankful that they would spend the few days they had off for the holiday to come down here to visit and help. Also, Joel, who was here over the summer, came to visit, and we all had a great time. We worked, played Mexican Train Dominoes (very fun!), watched movies, went to New Orleans, and just spent good time together. It was sad to see them go, but made me thankful for God's sustaining grace in my life, this visit from friends being one of those graces!

Lastly, a funny, strangely ironic story. You see, there's this school gym that the county has let the church use for storage since the storm. There have been rumors for some time now that the gym would be torn down at any time in order to move forward with rebuilding the school. In the first few weeks I was here, I lead team after team in emptying the gym, no easy task with some of the items that were in there: industrial kitchen equipment, big sliding glass doors, steel pallets, and all manner of other things. Nevertheless, the teams were great and we got it emptied. It was such an accomplishment to me and I was sooooo happy! Then, the contractors who had begun working on clearing the land for the new school told us that they would not be tearing down the gym for about another 6 months. Great we said, we can put more stuff in it, and we did! Well, that didn't last for long because a few weeks ago we got a letter from the county saying that we needed to be out pronto. We called the contractors to try to get an extension or confirm when we did need to be out of the gym, and they said it was true, we have to be out by the 10th of September. So, for the past few days, since we don't have any volunteers here this week, Jamie and I have been sweating like crazy while working to clear out the gym! It's going pretty well and we will have some local people and maybe a few nearby churches help us finish up on Saturday. It would be easy to get frustrated about this back-and-forth game we've played concerning this gym, but it's all part of life here in Lakeshore: flexibility!! Instead, we laugh and get to work and I wanted to share this little laugh with you!!