Colorado is my home. I love Colorado. I love the mountains, the wide open views, the sunsets, the smell of Colorado air, the four seasons, the people, my church, and so much more. There is much to do, see, and experience. I am thankful that I live in the flourishing town of Loveland. Colorado is a wonderful place to live!
We now have a second home. This past Spring my family purchased a lake house known as the “Fish Camp” on Lake Providence in the town of Lake Providence, Louisiana. I have a special love for our new home and the town it is located in.
Lake Providence is beautiful! I love the Cypress trees surrounding the lake. I love the lake. I love the changing colors of the water, a wide variety of vibrant greens during day and then gentle pinks, lavenders, and blues at sunset. I love the green farmland surrounding the town. I love the humidity (yes, I actually do). I love the mist rising over the soybean fields at dusk. I love the quietness and peace I feel here. I love the people. People here are kind, extremely kind. They are generous, whether or not they have a lot or a little to give. They are welcoming all around.
How did we get here? Why Lake Providence? Why purchase a vacation home in a town that’s been labeled the poorest and most unequal town in America? Why invest time, money, and love into a town with no movie theater, no public swimming pool, no mall, no Starbucks, no Walmart…..?
Let me take you back a few years. My husband Eric had dream that we purchased a house in a city with black people outside our front door. It was a two story, green house, with wood walls in the interior. Our church’s involvement with this town was the reason we were there. One of the pastors was sharing the vision for this town outside of our house. In the dream Eric was crying because he knew that the hand of God was on this town and the work that was happening there. He woke up, shared the dream with me and then wrote that dream down. We prayed about it and forgot about it.
Our senior pastors Jonathan and Amy Wiggins are from Louisiana. They moved to Colorado about 6 years ago and became the senior pastors a little over 4 years ago. They have a daughter named Madelyn who dances in the Rez Dance ministry and who has a huge heart for Lake Providence. I remember hearing about her love for Lake Providence and wanting to go there to see why she loved it so much. Long story shortened, Eric and I decided to take a dance and art outreach trip to Lake Providence summer of 2013. Around this time our senior pastor, Madelyn’s dad, presented our church with a vision and dream to adopt the town of Lake Providence and over time show the people there our love and commitment to them. Through a series of sermons, many people’s hearts, including ours, were stirred for this town and we had no trouble putting together a team to go to Lake Providence.
On this outreach trip we were able to lead a dance camp at the local community center. Black children and white children participated in this camp. We got to build a parade float, and dance in a fourth of July parade. We ate A LOT of delicious southern food! We had a wonderful experience making friends, and feeling so much love from the people in LP. My husband Eric had the privilege of starting a mural on a big building that sits on the main highway that runs through town. Our oldest son, Josiah, felt a deep love for Lake Providence the moment he arrived. He felt like he was home. A feeling he had never felt any where else we’ve been.
Over the course of this past year our son Josiah went to LP on two more outreach trips. Eric went there with the deacons. We took an art team to finish the mural, took another dance and art team this past June and we bought a fish camp. When we entered into our contract on the fish camp I remembered Eric’s dream. He pulled it out, we read it, and we were amazed by God’s divine PROVIDENCE over the past few years and how He knew and prepared us before hand for HIS work in LP. Wow! God is awesome!!!!
We believe Lake Providence is a town marked by God for His good and glory. Just think about it’s name. Providence means the protective care and nature of God. This is God’s plan and destiny for LP. This is a town named after Him and His character. The words Worth, Hope, Change, Love, Vision, Unity, Respect, Impact, Courage, Forgive, Serve, and Believe are painted on the LP Mural. These are the words God is speaking over this town! This is why we love Lake Providence and why we are here.
Destiny Words Mural
We have met so many amazing people in this town: Brother Don and Miss Linda Boyett who pastor Providence Church and run Jehovah Java (a coffee shop and cafe that puts Starbucks to shame!), Andrea of My Dream Eatery, town historian Larry Brock and his author and Prayer Pastor wife Ann, Shellie Tomlinson of All Things Southern, Sucletter Brown leader of Morning Star’s Power and Diversity Dance Teams, just to name a few and we think about how much good is in and has come out of Lake Providence.
When people heard that Jesus was from Nazareth they said, “What good can come out of Nazareth?” The GREATEST Good there is came out of Nazareth! People today ask what good can come out of Lake Providence? I say, look how much good as ALREADY come out of and is currently in Lake Providence right now! I want to be, my family wants to be, a part of the work that God is doing in Colorado, and also a part of the work God is doing here in LP. It’s huge!
We love Lake Providence! We’ve been vacationing in Lake Providence for the past two weeks. I am thankful for our time here. There’s been nothing to distract me from doing what I really want to be doing, and that’s spending quality time with my husband and children. We’re playing in the lake, putting together a puzzle, watching movies, reading, writing, playing board games. We’ll be here for a few more days before we head to our Colorado home to get ready for the new year of school and dance. Before we go, we get to be a part of a fundraiser called LA Delta Field of Dreams. The money for this fundraiser is going towards building a new sports complex for the community. Si Robertson and Mountain Man from Duck Dynasty will be there! I am hoping to get my picture taken with Uncle Si:). People from our church in Colorado are coming to support this event.
There is so much hope for Lake Providence! It’s a city named by and after God! It’s beautiful here! The people are kind, generous, and welcoming. I am so happy to call this place my second home. I am excited to see all that God is doing here and all that He is going to do. I look forward to meeting more and more wonderful people who are a part of this community.
I encourage you to visit Lake Providence. I encourage you to experience the beauty of this town marked by God and to serve this community in some way. For more information as to how you can serve Lake Providence watch this message from our Senior Pastor and check out Hope for LP.
Please also feel free to ask me personally how you can get involved.
Last, but not least, please pray for Lake Providence. Pray for unity. Pray for blessing. Pray those destiny words I mentioned earlier over this town and community. Add Lake Providence to your Prayer Box. I have a feeling you’ll draw it often!
Here are some pictures that bring me joy from our time here in Lake Providence.
The whole fam having great fun on the Lake.
Eric’s Fish Camp.
We are renting our fish camp out as a vacation rental! Please let me know if you would like to stay here sometime:).
This is how we ride the dog!
Lake Providence is great for all sorts of water sports including paddle boarding.
Me and Tirzah having some fun.
Date night. Eric and I took a drive in the boat over to The Dock restaurant. Delicious food and a beautiful sunset. Time together alone is always a good thing….:)
Crawfish Etouffee and Catfish Margaritte from The Dock. Yummy! This town has some seriously delicious food.
View of the sunset from our boat. The house came with a boat!!!
I got to celebrate my birthday here in Lake Providence.
The girls melt my heart.
Plenty of fish to catch in the lake. Judah discovered the joy of fishing during our vacation.
Josiah and Judah.
Bald Cypress trees line the lake. I pretty much adore these trees.
My Dream Eatery. You can’t get more delicious food than what Miss Andrea serves here.
There are beautiful horse pastures and horses in Lake Providence. We were delighted to see this newborn horse and it’s mama.
Emmanuelle and Isabelle.
Lake Providence at sunset.
P. S. If you are interested in renting our Lake Providence house, please comment below and I’ll give you my contact information.
I love this post! My husband and I also have a heart for LP
Jenn, I am so happy that you and your husband have a heart for LP and excited to see what God does with your family!
I’m so glad you love Lake Providence! I came to tears reading this! This place is my home…my heart! Thank you for all you guys have done in LP! It’s been a blessing not only to me, but to the entire community!
Oh, sweet Melissa! My heart has been so warmed this evening by your words. THANK YOU for loving my hometown and my people. Please know that love is so very appreciated and fully reciprocated!
I grew up in Lake Providence. I spent many years in a close knit neighborhood which included many of these incredible people you mentioned n Don and Linda Boyett, along with Chris and Amy (Wiggins) and Mrs. Ann Brock. Most Sundays after church you could find our families sharing lunch and fellowships. Today is my birthday and when my husband asked what I wanted to do for my birthday I said I wanted to go to Lake Providence for the LA Field of Dreams event. I can’t wait to head that way tomorrow and see so many people that have touched my life. Maybe I can meet you and your wonderful family!
Sherry, thank you for your comment. Happy Birthday and I hope to meet you on Friday! Please introduce yourself to me!
Such a beautiful read about a beautiful family that has a heart and love for a beautiful town. Your family is such a blessing to our family and community. I just love that your family has made this your second home 😉
Melissa, it was especially wonderful to see the TLC that you have given to the lake house that you and your husband have purchased. Just in case no one has told you this, a beautiful lady, Martha Carolyn Scott, and her husband were the original residents of the house. She grew up in Lake Providence, her family were “pillars of the The Methodist Church”, her mother was long-time choir director of the Methodist choir, Martha Carolyn followed in her mama’s footsteps as choir director there too, and, on a more personal note, we studied together in some of the first Beth Moore Bible studies until her death several years ago. To the end, her faith made her a shining example of one who praised the LORD and of Him abiding with her. Speaking of her husband James. who had been her childhood sweetheart and the other half of the devoted couple, he really always seemed to me to be a bit “lost without her” until his own death more recently. One of his “treasures” seemed to be his friendship with the “new neighbors”, Vicki and Robert Argoe. I hope you can see why it makes me happy to see the house sparkling now and blessing the neighborhood.
Carole, thank you so much for sharing this with me! This makes me appreciate the background of this home and the Scott family even more. So wonderful!
I’m originally from Lake Providence and so appreciate the love you all have shown my hometown. I enjoyed many Bible studies in your “Fish Camp”. As a teenager in Providence Church’s youth group, way back when, we would dig into the Word right in your living room. May your vacation home continue to be filled with sweet sounds of laughter and God’s love!
Thanks again for loving my hometown and my home church.
Christy Edmondson McMurrian
Christy, It fills me with joy to think about Bible studies taking place in our living room. Thank you for sharing this with me!
Melissa Wow! truly your words and love for our sweet town brought tears to my eyes, I wish more people would take the time to truly see Lake Providence for the loving place it is. Thanks for yours and your families heart for this town.
Hope, I am sure more and more people are seeing and will be seeing Lake Providence for the loving place it is! I would love to meet you sometime!
Melissa, I love seeing that the lake house has received a much needed paint job & new floors upstairs. I am married to Ronald, Martha Carolyn & James Scott’s youngest son (though not so young anymore). They spent their lives in Lake Providence and she would be tickled pink to know that great people like you purchased that home. All of our family has so many memories on that lake & in that house ( my husband & his siblings for sure) but, even I have spent many, many days and nights there since I was 17 years old up until we sold the house. I hope you & your family have as much fun & experience as much love in that home as our family has in the past. Thank you for taking the house into the future! We have wanted to see what y’all did so we loved seeing the pictures! Thank you & God Bless!
Connie. it so blesses me to hear from you! I am happy you’ve seen this post and the pictures. We love this home and we are so grateful to hear some of the history of this beautiful place. We love hearing little bits about your wonderful family and the many special times with the Lord that took place here for many people. We’ve enjoyed being able to fix somethings up. We added a small bathroom upstairs and also fixed the stairway. I absolutely love the kitchen including the flower and fruit tiles throughout and the cupboards and cupboard hardware. I look forward to bringing extended family here from Colorado and hopefully some friends too. We are very thankful! God bless you, and I thank you for commenting here! It made my day!
That is so great, she use to say (as she aged) she wished she had a bathroom upstairs. The stairs were crazy, long strides & watch your head. I know it need a lot of cleaning & updating, my mother-in law was a great lady in so many ways but she would tell you herself she did not care for house work. She use to tell me that I missed the best part of life cleaning, lol! But, she certainly lived! Thank you for responding & if we are ever in LP & you are there we would love to stop by & meet you if you would not be opposed to that. Well, have a great time! Be careful on your trip home!
Connie, we’d love to have you stop by sometime, show you the house and meet you! I’ll email you my contact info.
That would like that!
I mean, I would like that ! Haha!
I loved reading this! I grew up in Transylvania, and when we went to ‘town’ that meant Lake Providence.
I have many many wonderful memories of LP and Transylvania and the people – the best people in the world.
People there were always so kind and generous with their time, their money, their everything if someone needed it. You don’t find that much in the world these days.
I am so glad that you love LP too.
We now live in Mississippi, but would like to maybe rent the Fish House for a weekend, or maybe a week; see people I haven’t seen in a long long time. Could you send me some information on the rates and availability?
Thanks in advance. And thanks for loving Lake Providence.
Julie, thank you for your comment! I will email you information regarding the house soon!
I’m standing in the shop where I work on my knees crying, because it makes my soul and spirit so so so so happy! My grandparents built the house as a second home themselves, and eventually moved into it later, I was raised there. I’m just happy that ya’ll love it like I and my family have ,and I’m so happy that God is still apart of it. Thank ya’ll for loving our home, and lake providence. God Bless
Blake, I am humbled that you have seen this post and that it blesses you! We would love to meet you sometime. God bless YOU and your family!
I also love lake Providence, I spent 10 wonderful years there with my husband VW Hayhurst. I agree it’s a wonderful place there is no other, I left some wonderful friends there, also my heart.
What a beautiful ministry! I lived in Epps, LA when I was a little girl and spent many happy days on beautiful Lake Providence swimming and skiing!!!! I haven’t been there since 1966. I would love to rent your house and spend some time in LP!!!!
Janice, I will email you my contact info and info on renting the house. Thank you for your comment!
I love this! I was born in LP, and grew up in OG. It’s a lovely area. I was so happy to see such lovely pictures and how the area is improving. I moved away five years ago, and I don’t get back as often as I’d like. But boy, I sure wouldn’t mind some of the food from the Dock right about now!
I hope you love your vacation home and my heart overflows knowing what love you are bringing to the area! How amazing is God’s reach!
Melissa and Eric,
I can’t tell you how much we have been touched by your love for LP! I spoke to Eric on the phone back when you purchased your Fish Camp. I knew Eric had something special in his heart, even before he told me he was in Jonathon’s church. I lived next to Amy’s parents and watched her grow up. I watched their journey with God as they fell in love in LP and moving on to where they are today. What an awesome family!! Brother Don was my youth minister, so most of my traveling as a youth was on a bus with Don. I am State Farm agent and I was excited when I got to Field of Dreams and Eric was under my tent. Not sure why we were even there, we had a family wedding in Baton Rouge and had rooms for Friday and Saturday nights. God kept tugging at me that we needed to stay and go to Field of Dreams and I am so glad we did! My husband tried finding you guys Saturday morning to tell you we wanted to help any way we can. We have four grandchildren and are gone a lot on weekends, but we can help! Our soybeans surround the field where new ballpark is going. Please let me know when you all come back. What a blessing your all are to help Lake Providence!
Renee, thank you for your reply and sharing your connection to the Wiggins and Boyetts! It’s SO great to have met you and I pray we can connect more in the future. I love knowing that your beautiful soybean fields surround the new ball park area:).
I enjoyed your blog and see that you have a love for LP. I am the newly elected vice president of the John H. Scott Memorial Fund which has been providing scholarships to youth of Lake Providence and four other northeast LA parishes for over 30 years in honor our deceased father, Rev. John H. Scott, a LP minister and long-time leader of the Baptist Association. When you and your acquaintances are looking for ways that you can leave a long-term impact on children in poverty, I hope that you will consider making the life-altering gift of a college education through a donation to the Fund. We invite you to watch this video showcasing some of our applicants at our annual awards program which is held the first Saturday in May in Tallulah. Maybe you’ll be able to join us one year. Thanks for your consideration. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP3BXJIB_UQ#t=36
Mr.Brown,thank you for your comment and letting me know know about your memorial fund! I will watch the video. God bless you in all that you are doing!
Hello Melissa,
I would love to find out about renting your Fish Camp house in LP. We are looking to go down for the Grand Opening of the Ball Park and wasn’t sure if you were going to be down there then or not. If you aren’t, I would love to see if we could rent your house. Please let feel free to contact me!
Thanks again!
Cathy
Hi Cathy, We will email you soon!