Lake Reflections is a summer weekly series highlighting the insights of Silver Lake Staff during the SLCC Summer Camp Season.

by Hayley Richards

Have you ever looked up at the clouds in the sky and wondered how they got there? Probably not. Most people know that clouds form from the evaporating water that's down on earth. But have you ever witnessed millions of tiny water particles evaporate to form one body, a cloud? If you've ever been down to morning dip at Silver Lake on a cool summer morning, you might be able to say you have.

Early in the morning before the rest of camp starts functioning, the water from Silver Lake (officially named Mudge Pond) separates and evaporates through visible channels, creating clouds. And as the sun continues to rise in the sky, warming our Earth, these clouds gradually climb higher; still visible underneath are the channels that create them, reaching from the surface of the lake. By the time morning dip is done, these clouds have risen so high into the sky, they look like clouds you'd see on any day, and they move with the wind, venturing on the journey that is their life cycle, the water cycle.

I'd like to think that their cycle is no different from our own, physically and metaphorically. Often the work of God or our own work goes unnoticed until it turns into something magnificent and soaring, like the clouds we see sailing by during the day. Some days will feel like we are channeling so much of our energy into the work that we do, with little to no result. And frequently we lose sight of our end goals and ask ourselves, "What are we really working towards?"

On days like those, it is simply hard to remind ourselves that just because we see no result growing near, does not mean that no result came, or will come. The effect of our work could have sailed past our line of vision, like the fleeting clouds. But it's still there, moving on, bringing rain to those who need it, feeding plants and flowers so that they may grow strong and beautiful; filling streams, rivers, and ponds, so that the life in it and around it may be nourished. Just because we don't see God's work, or our own work fulfilled, does not mean it goes unfinished or unnoticed by all. That's what having fearless faith is about. Trusting that what should be done, is being done, even if our eyes may not witness it.

Hayley Richards is the 2016 Waterfront Coordinator at Silver Lake Conference Center.