New Orleans, trip 3

From wherever spring arrives to heal the ground…
From wherever searching comes (the look itself
A trace of what we’re looking for).
So be quiet now and wait. The ocean is growing.
The tide is coming in.
Here it is… Here is our King. Here is our love.
Here is our God who’s come to bring us back to Him.
He is the One. He is Jesus.

And what was said to the rose to make it unfold
was said to me here in my chest, so be quiet now
and rest. The ocean is growing. The tide is coming.
Here it is… He is our King. He is our love.
He is our God who’s come to bring us back to Him.
He is the One. He is Jesus.
Majesty. Finally. Here…

- “Here is our King” - David Crowder*Band -


Two days from now will be seven months. Seven months since the ocean grew… since the tide came in. Spring is arriving to heal the ground. Green grass is emerging. Colorful foliage spreads out across the land. Hope is there.

In the week that we worked in homes, came to know the stories of the people, and absorbed the entire experience, there wasn’t a doubt to be found that He was there. God was in this place. The truth is, he was there before the storm. He was there in the storm – in every droplet of water. He is there now.

You cannot take enough pictures or video to describe what is there. Homes atop cars – cars atop homes. Families searching for where remnants of their home might be, after days still struggling to find a piece big enough to identify it as their home. Homes collapsed. And yet beneath the rubble of brick walls and a roof torn in two, a fragile light bulb remains untouched. A photo still remains intact and clear. A dog survives for forty-two days on its own.

Amazing. It is the only word that fits. Indescribable.

We found God in a light bulb. In a photograph. In a dog we never met. God is in this place.

Hope in voices of the people. Workers doing more than they could ever do on their own. Scenes that look impossible. There is no logical explanation. There is only God.

We went to be in mission – to take God to these people. We left discovering that God was there all along, and that we’re only left to bring a little piece of Him back with us.

We were inspired. We were welcomed. We were loved. Good things are to be found there. In the midst of the destruction of such worldly things, hope remains, love remains, God remains.

No words can ever describe how this trip left us speechless… in awe of a God beyond description. We are only left with a smile. Knowing that He is our God. Our creator. Our love. The One. He is Jesus. And He came to bring us back to Him.