As I think back over 2023 the word I keep coming back to is THANKFUL.

I’m so thankful for the generosity of so many who made MOVE a possibility and thus made our Next Gen remodel and Lakeland Park a possibility. Those investments are reaping dividends in our community. I talk with people almost every week whose first encounter with Lakeland has been through Lakeland Park via open park hours or a private party. And countless families are so thankful for this gift to our community.

I’m so thankful for our volunteers. I’m constantly humbled by the way people give of their time and talents to serve here at Lakeland. From those rocking babies, to those running lights and cameras we have such an amazing, committed, and talented church family and they are being used by God in ways most will never know.

I’m so thankful for our groups. We have an amazing team of group leaders and coaches who are committed to helping people, young and old, find community, friendship, accountability and deep discipleship within groups. I hear constantly how individuals lives are forever changed because of their group.

And most of all, I’m thankful for what God is doing. Every week our staff shares stories from within our ministries or our sphere of influence where we’ve heard stories of God at work. And every week we hear of miraculous stories of physical healings, relational stories of restoration, faith stories of risk, and gospel stories of redemption.

I know it won’t be until we get to Heaven that we fully know of all the ways God worked in and through Lakeland just in 2023. But I’m thankful. Thankful…oh so thankful.

In this 2023 Annual Report, there are many numbers and dollars…but behind every number and every dollar is a person and life being changed. God is good and the best is yet to come!