God's Grace
The past twelve months have taken much from my family and fellow citizens of New Orleans. I need not itemize our losses. This entry is to detail what I have gained since the levies failed. I have gained a level of trust, faith and belief in God that I never had before. Here is a list of reasons why I thank and praise Him everyday - sometimes several times.
1. He gave us the good sense and the means to evacuate before the storm. Some people chose to stay and ride it out because that's what they always did. Some people were forced to stay because they had no way to leave. I thank God that my household was excluded from both groups.
2. He gave us a free place to go where we were welcome to stay indefinitely. Of the people who did evacuate prior to landfall, many had to pay for hotel rooms and eat out every day. I was blessed with a good friend who had spare bedroom, a lovely kitchen and an appreciation of having her dinner ready and waiting when she arrived home from work.
3. He spared our home and belongings. My husband was born and raised in Algiers (the area od New Orleans located on the West Bank, which is actually south of the city, of the Mississippi River.) He and many others call it the Best Bank. When we decided to move back to New Orleans in June 2005, I looked at property all over the city. There were some nice places at really good prices in New Orleans East and some really cute duplexes in cool neighborhoods in Mid-City. I found several lovely homes on tree-lined streets in Gentilly and of course, I found plenty of places in my favorite part of the city - Uptown. My husband nodded and smiled at all of them and said he was not going to fight the rush hour traffic going over the High Rise to the East. He came up with other reasons why we couldn't live in the other areas, mainly being that they were nice, but not as nice as "the Best Bank." We moved into our home in Algiers in mid June, 2005. Every other area of the city where we considered living was flooded when the levies failed.
4. He gave us wonderfully generous friends, family and associates. Within days after the levies failed, former church members, distant cousins, former classmates, close relatives and friends of a friend of a friend sent us checks, gift cards, cash, clothing, shoes, toiletries and anything they thought we could use. Additionally, they convinced the organizations to which they belong to help us too. Much love to the AKA's, Kappa's, Alpha's, Delta's, Mason's, Eastern Star's, Wissahickon High School (my alma mater) staff, Elk's and several other groups who offered support when we had no idea what, if anything, we would find when we returned home.
5. He spared the lives of our loved ones. I don't know a single person who died as a result of the storm or the levy failure. We have loved ones who lost property - all they owned. My father in law was missing for 2 or 3 weeks, but we found him and he's repairing what's left of his home.
6. He gave my husband his job back. My husband's place of business reopened in December 2005. Business is not what it used to be, but a reduced income is better than none at all.
7. He gave us shelter after the storm. Like many others, our landlord decided to increase our rent by $200 per month. To his credit, he let us complete our lease at the originally agreed upon rate. (I know that sounds like something he was obligated to do, but many people came home to find that their landlord had evicted them, put their belongings on the curb and rented the home to out-of-state or foreign contractors - with no legal repercussions!) Anyway, due to my husbands lowered income we were uncable to accept the increased rent and did not renew the lease. Since local rent prices have doubled and tripled and we didn't want to rent an efficiency in the hood, we were planning to move in with family until something better could be arranged. Well, God arranged something better. Now we live in a better neighborhood, in a house with three times the square footage of our previous home....FOR FREE!!! It's a long story so to put it succinctly - God did it.
Although I could go on, I think seven is a good number so I'll end my list here. I am a citizen of New Orleans. That monicker means many things to many people. I normally don't want to classified in a broad group, but this is different. People have a lot to say - good, bad and ugly - about New Orleans citizens. As a proud member of that motley crew I feel I am speaking for myself and many others when I say this. I learned that I should never trust anyone to do anything for me at anytime. I don't depend on the city or state governments and I definitely don't trust the federal government for my safety. But that is as it should be. I put all my trust in God and He has provided what the government could not or would not.
I want to leave you with a beautiful song lyric that is base on one of the Psalms - I think Psalm 86. The song is called Shelter of Yahweh and it's by New Orleans reggae/spiritual group called Zion (check them out if you can.) The lyrics make my point beautifully.
"If you live in the shelter of Yahweh and make your home in the light of the Lord, you can say to Yahweh, my refuge, my fortress, my God in whom I trust. He's my God in whom I trust. My God in whom I trust."
1. He gave us the good sense and the means to evacuate before the storm. Some people chose to stay and ride it out because that's what they always did. Some people were forced to stay because they had no way to leave. I thank God that my household was excluded from both groups.
2. He gave us a free place to go where we were welcome to stay indefinitely. Of the people who did evacuate prior to landfall, many had to pay for hotel rooms and eat out every day. I was blessed with a good friend who had spare bedroom, a lovely kitchen and an appreciation of having her dinner ready and waiting when she arrived home from work.
3. He spared our home and belongings. My husband was born and raised in Algiers (the area od New Orleans located on the West Bank, which is actually south of the city, of the Mississippi River.) He and many others call it the Best Bank. When we decided to move back to New Orleans in June 2005, I looked at property all over the city. There were some nice places at really good prices in New Orleans East and some really cute duplexes in cool neighborhoods in Mid-City. I found several lovely homes on tree-lined streets in Gentilly and of course, I found plenty of places in my favorite part of the city - Uptown. My husband nodded and smiled at all of them and said he was not going to fight the rush hour traffic going over the High Rise to the East. He came up with other reasons why we couldn't live in the other areas, mainly being that they were nice, but not as nice as "the Best Bank." We moved into our home in Algiers in mid June, 2005. Every other area of the city where we considered living was flooded when the levies failed.
4. He gave us wonderfully generous friends, family and associates. Within days after the levies failed, former church members, distant cousins, former classmates, close relatives and friends of a friend of a friend sent us checks, gift cards, cash, clothing, shoes, toiletries and anything they thought we could use. Additionally, they convinced the organizations to which they belong to help us too. Much love to the AKA's, Kappa's, Alpha's, Delta's, Mason's, Eastern Star's, Wissahickon High School (my alma mater) staff, Elk's and several other groups who offered support when we had no idea what, if anything, we would find when we returned home.
5. He spared the lives of our loved ones. I don't know a single person who died as a result of the storm or the levy failure. We have loved ones who lost property - all they owned. My father in law was missing for 2 or 3 weeks, but we found him and he's repairing what's left of his home.
6. He gave my husband his job back. My husband's place of business reopened in December 2005. Business is not what it used to be, but a reduced income is better than none at all.
7. He gave us shelter after the storm. Like many others, our landlord decided to increase our rent by $200 per month. To his credit, he let us complete our lease at the originally agreed upon rate. (I know that sounds like something he was obligated to do, but many people came home to find that their landlord had evicted them, put their belongings on the curb and rented the home to out-of-state or foreign contractors - with no legal repercussions!) Anyway, due to my husbands lowered income we were uncable to accept the increased rent and did not renew the lease. Since local rent prices have doubled and tripled and we didn't want to rent an efficiency in the hood, we were planning to move in with family until something better could be arranged. Well, God arranged something better. Now we live in a better neighborhood, in a house with three times the square footage of our previous home....FOR FREE!!! It's a long story so to put it succinctly - God did it.
Although I could go on, I think seven is a good number so I'll end my list here. I am a citizen of New Orleans. That monicker means many things to many people. I normally don't want to classified in a broad group, but this is different. People have a lot to say - good, bad and ugly - about New Orleans citizens. As a proud member of that motley crew I feel I am speaking for myself and many others when I say this. I learned that I should never trust anyone to do anything for me at anytime. I don't depend on the city or state governments and I definitely don't trust the federal government for my safety. But that is as it should be. I put all my trust in God and He has provided what the government could not or would not.
I want to leave you with a beautiful song lyric that is base on one of the Psalms - I think Psalm 86. The song is called Shelter of Yahweh and it's by New Orleans reggae/spiritual group called Zion (check them out if you can.) The lyrics make my point beautifully.
"If you live in the shelter of Yahweh and make your home in the light of the Lord, you can say to Yahweh, my refuge, my fortress, my God in whom I trust. He's my God in whom I trust. My God in whom I trust."
posted by Tamara at 9:20 PM
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