The Day After

Yesterday was my 21st birthday. It started in New Orleans, stretched across 5 states, and ended in downtown Clemson with some awesome friends I've known for quite a while. By all means, it was an incredible birthday.

Today was a bit different, though. Today was my first day in a good while I've had to really think about things - to let things process.

Over the weekend, I spent three days in the city of New Orleans for fall break. I've been watching pictures on TV, in newspapers and magazines, and in e-mails from folks on the ground there for about 7 weeks. I've read the stories. I've seen the video footage. Nothing... none of this could prepare you for walking through the city.

To give some background, I spent a good number of weeks in a town called West End on Grand Bahama Island in the spring and summer of this year. The town has a population around 800, has cases of extreme poverty, and after being ravaged by two major hurricanes last year looks and, quite frankly, is like a 3rd world country. Homes damaged and destroyed by hurricanes... not just a few, but all of them. Flooding that covered the homes and buildings, at least the ones that remained.

I thought this would prepare me for New Orleans. It helped. But only went so far. As I sit here, I'm still trying to understand the enormity of the destruction. New Orleans is roughly 1400 times the size of West End, and very similar. Our team of 150 worked on roughly 150 homes or sites... this out of hundreds of thousands. I took over 2000 pictures, and was then only hindered by my camera's limited ability from taking even more. Looking back over these pictures, I am simply brought to tears and sadness in trying to remember the city before the wind, rain, and floods ripped through this place. Street after street, block after block... it never ended. Home after home after home with brown lines ranging from 3 to 15 feet marking how high the water sat for weeks. No words can describe what was there...

But I did find something I had been hoping and praying that I would find: hope. A family filled with hope upon word that the beams holding their house up were not structurally damaged so they can rebuild their home after ripping out almost everything that remains. Some people coming home to find that the water only reached so high, and some of their memories remain. An elderly couple who are dragging all of their possessions - and to a great extent their whole life story - to the curb for the garbage truck to pick up and carry off... seeing that couple when five college kids come to help them. Taking stuffed animals and blankets to children in the hospital... seeing the smiles on their faces. Seeing peoples lives changed by a dozen vans full of people coming to help their brothers and sisters. This is hope.

We are constantly struggling to find ways to live life, to love others, to practice Christ. These 150 people found a way. They found a way to let their light shine in the midst of a dark, saddened place. And that light didn't drive away on Tuesday morning... it's still there, still brightening people's day.

What I witnessed over the past five days was Jesus. People living the life that Christ showed us how to live. It's one of the greatest things I've ever seen.

No matter what your background, where you're from, your age or your physical stamina, the opportunity is there for you. Whether in New Orleans or across the street, opportunities to share the love of Jesus Christ are all around you... all you have to do is open your eyes and your heart. It doesn't take a single word... only the genuine desire to live your life the way it was meant to be lived.

That's my story. In all 21 years and 1 day of my life, this is where I am. Living life means practicing love and practicing Christ everywhere that I go... from a restaurant to a bar, from the driver's seat to the post office, from my dining room table to my neighbor's front yard. This is life. Live.

so glad that what I can't God can,
chris

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