I'm focused on the future! 2011

I've been reluctant to blog because I just didn't think I had that much to say but after experiencing 2010, I've had a change of heart!  It has been a hard year but a year that has allowed me to see the authenticity of love when love is needed most and most challenged.

As you are reading this blog, please keep in mind that it is the world as I, Lana, sees it.  The views and opinions of Forest Park Church may be a little different :o)  Seeing as my husband pastors that great church, FPC is a huge part of my thoughts but a lot of what you will read is just me being real!

This year began with incredible anticipation for Ecuador 2010!  We welcomed our precious Dr. Leo and his wife, Rina, to be with us at Forest Park Church in January.  It was an honor to share our vision for Global Outreach as this couple sat in our church to share what Forest Park Church and our involvement meant for them, personally.  Amazing!  It is amazing what you can accomplish when you join together with one purpose, one dream, and one plan:  you can change the direction of an entire community.

Easter was a highlight for FPC!  We had our largest attendance, ever, in the history of this local body - more than 800 as our team served, loved and gave in (4) services.  The message was one of the most spectacular that Scott has ever shared and I've heard a ton of messages over these 20 years of marriage!  The one word that describes him best as he shares his passion for God and for people is transparency.  He is completely open with his pain, his struggle and his love for YOU!

Summer brought great excitement as our FPC Children's Ministries Leadership Team led High Seas Expedition VBS!  I love my team :o)  They give and give and give each and every Sunday to create environments where children feel welcome, have fun, are safe and experience Jesus on their level.  People tell me that the way we do VBS at Forest Park is just all together different.  They describe it as adults going back to childhood in order to allow the "kids" to have a great time and fall in love with Jesus.  I'm okay with that description!  We will continue to do it just that way, every Summer!

Ecuador 2010:  what an adventure!  We carried the largest team that we've ever had the privilege of leading to Guayaquil, Ecuador:  92 Summer Missionaries.  More than 8,000 children were served in local schools, more than 1,500 people were served in our free Medical Clinic and we completed the building requested by Dr. Leo for his ministry in El Recreo.  Our 2010 Team was focused on one purpose, one dream, one plan and the lives of the communities where we ministered were changed but none more so than our own!  I'm so thankful that each of these encounters was chronicled by the videography skills of our friend, Charlie White.

Charlie was a little uncertain about Ecuador and 2010 was to be the first trip for him and his Holly.  He believed that it was a good thing that we were doing but he had a hard time believing that there was a place for him, his skills, and his talents.  Charlie was a "computer guy" - that's what I called him - and had joined our FPC Tech Team.  When we realized that some of our regular "video" people couldn't go with us for 2010, we realized that Charlie was our answer.  This "computer guy" would be the person to carry the Ecuador 2010 experience back to Forest Park Church.  If you didn't go to Ecuador in 2010 you would see this amazing adventure through Charlie's eyes.  The video that was shot by Charlie and edited by Nate Carroll was the most accurate depiction anything that we've ever created.  For those of us who dream about Ecuador all year and dream in Spanish, the video was priceless.  In a few short weeks, I would begin to realize just how priceless that it really was...

August 18th was an average day for us - just work, school and Scott being at church with his staff.  But all that changed when we received a call around 11:00 pm that Charlie had been injured.  It was relayed to Scott that the injury could be serious so he left to go be with Holly and Charlie's family.  What was so amazing to Scott was that when he arrived there was already a large portion of our Community Group that had made it to the hospital before him!  Over the next 3 days we witnessed a group of people who were so much in love with one another because of their love for God.  Holly was never alone, not one moment, as we eventually had to say "goodbye" to Charlie as we sang him into the arms of Jesus on Friday, August 20th. 

Many people have talked about Holly's strength throughout this year.  She is remarkable and has left me speechless many times with her calm, steadfast demeanor.  After all, Holly lost her Daddy in June and I just didn't know how we were going to make it after losing Charlie...but we are making it, day by day.  Her Forest Park friends and community group have rallied around her and she doesn't have to do it alone; she never will!

It has been really difficult for me to make sense of Holly's journey and the pain that so many of our FPC family have experienced over 2010.  To begin to describe it all would take a book rather than a blog and that's not my purpose here.  I just want YOU to know that there is hope and there is a future after the pain.  YOU don't have to live in pain forever and neither do I!

The Fall and Winter months have been filled with OUTREACH!  Our FPC Family Fun Fest on October 31 brought out more than 700 people to enjoy a great event for families.  Our FPC Global and Community Outreach Team served more than 300 meals on Thanksgiving Day!  Adventure Park Gives Back shared a delicious dinner with families and blessed kids with Christmas gifts.  Our annual Angel Project also brought in hundreds of Christmas gifts for the boys and girls in the Elizabeth City Public Schools who wouldn't have enjoyed Christmas!  We concluded 2010 with Christmas at the Park and it was one of the most special events we've ever hosted.  I hope that we will continue to do it each Christmas as we slowed down, enjoyed one another and shared in the true spirit of Christmas, our God.

As I was enjoying the massive "snow storm" of the last week I reflected on 2010 and all that had occurred in the lives of our FPC family and the pain in my friends.  As I watched the snow cover the ground, the trees, the cars, the ROADS, I thought about how the snow just seemed to make everything so fresh and clean.  However, in my pragmatic manner of thinking, I just couldn't get away from the fact that under that entire blanket of white there was a dirty, ugly, ground that would be nothing but mud as the snow melted.  I felt God just nudge me with this thought...Life can be dirty and messy and sometimes, life is just plain ugly.  However, when it is covered with the love of Christ and the beauty of friendship, it makes the messy a little easier to walk through.  I'm glad I'm walking with YOU! 

Until next time...
Lana