Remember the Dream

Friends and Family make the Shoeline our favorite big event
Our Y-Choir backing up on "I Believe"
Brianna McClain singing "The Climb"
The entrance to the Shoreline
Enjoying the Entertainment
If you love picnics, you will love the Shoreline

So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.

Ephesians 2:19

Driving up to the exit on highway 101, the amphitheatre tent towering in the distance, the anticipation is already building.    Our minds are flooded with memories of shorelines past and our hearts begin to fill with joy.  Carrying picnic dishes and ice chests on wheels while walking through the familiar gates in the cool, crisp air, friendly greeters and familiar faces hand us gift bags, bottles of water and bags of popcorn.  Coming to Shoreline feels like coming home with the sweet fellowship of high fives and warm embraces of old friends and new.  Life can move so fast we can lose sight of God’s Dream, and forget to cherish all God has done for us.  But then there is the Shoreline Service, a time to remember – to awaken our spiritual senses and get the vision – to dream again.

Inside the gates the struggles of our hectic life seem to slip away.  As we find our seats, we realize we are surrounded by friends and begin to feel the strength and the peace that God brings when His family is all together.  The inspiration of the songs, the conviction and hope from scripture, the vision from the young people willing to serve God, renew our faith in the dream.  Just when we think it can’t get any better, we head out to the lawn for the kind of family reunion that most people can only dream about.  An international feast, from fried chicken to chicken fried rice, curried lamb to lumpia, BBQ ribs to homemade chili, and everyone willing to share.  We look around and are reminded of the scriptures that talk about family and friendships that will last a lifetime and remember God’s dream for everyone to experience relationships like these. We have friends who have come for the first time and friends who have come for the past fifteen, friends from San Francisco and friends from Fairfield, friends that helped us become a Christian and friends we helped through a tough time, friends that were in our wedding and friends who live inspiring lives as singles, friends enjoying the blessing of their children becoming Christians and friends going through their spiritual struggles. It is no wonder the Shoreline is such a great opportunity to remember the dream.