ROSCOMMON, MI – I am extremely excited to be afforded the privilege to serve here at the BSCM and especially Bambi Lake Retreat and Conference Center. God has used Bambi Lake to impact many lives in the past, and I look forward with great expectation to many more lives transformed in the future. Great days are ahead!
At the recent Men's Retreat at Bambi Lake, the guest speaker spoke of being desperate to see an Awakening - a move of God that would shake the foundations of our nation as individuals surrender to the Lordship of Christ. As he spoke I began to think about the word "desperate". I asked myself "what is desperate" and "am I desperate"? God reminded me of a time when my son, Noah, was 16 months old. We were living in a new house, at a new church and my oldest daughter, Julia, was 3 years old. It was a relaxing Saturday morning and I told my wife, Jackie, to stay in bed and I would give the kids their baths. She thought this was a good idea and went back to sleep as I prepared the tub.
I put both children in the tub - Julia in the back and Noah in the front sitting in a bath tub chair for toddlers. I filled the tub a quarter of the way, just enough to cover Noah’s legs and turned off the water. As they were kicking and making waves I decided to check on Jackie and let her know what a great husband she had married. As I headed back to the bathroom the phone rang and I answered. As I was talking on the phone I heard the water running in the bathroom. As quickly and politely as possible I said goodbye and tentatively walked to the bathroom.
In the short time I had been gone, Julia had decided to turn the water on full throttle and fill the tub. This in turn caused the toddler seat to flip forward tossing Noah head first into the water. I quickly removed his floating body from the water and placed him on the floor - he was bloated and blue and not breathing! I yelled for Jackie to dial 911 and began to administer CPR, for which I never had training. In those moments, on the bathroom floor as I administered CPR, I began to desperately cry out "God let me have my son back!","God let me have my son back!". Miraculously, by God's hand, before the paramedics arrived Noah had coughed-up all the water and was breathing on his own. God had let me have my son back.
Desperate? Yes, I have been desperate for my son, for my family. What about the rest of the world? My neighbors, my co-workers, other people groups, those who believe different than I do? Am I DESPERATE for the salvation of their lives? It is a life and death situation. IT'S TIME TO TELL!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Schatz, State Director of Spiritual Enrichments and Retreats since March 1, 2017 when he moved from the Tulsa, Oklahoma area. He and his wife Jackie have 3 children, Julia, Noah, and Emily.