How many
times do we read in the Old Testament “remember” this and “don’t forget” that?
Blake Newsome mentioned this in his chapel sermon last Thursday, pointing out
that Deuteronomy 8 is full of such references.
So we’ve
been remembering. Remembering what it was like to be a part of the seminary
community eight years ago when Hurricane Katrina came for a visit. Remembering
when three years later, then-mayor Ray Nagin instructed New Orleans and
NOBTS’ers to hit the road again in anticipation of “the mother of all storms”
(a.k.a. Gustav). Remembering the end of last August and the disruption Isaac
brought to our schedules and lives.
Reflecting on her Katrina experience, Courtney Veasey wrote: Eight years ago today, at the age of twenty-two,
I learned a very important life lesson: to hold YOUR plans with open hands. I had just graduated college, spent
the summer doing mission work, and then set off on my first "adult"
adventure of moving to New Orleans
to begin graduate school. Three weeks after that move, I found myself
back in Florida
and watching in unbelief with the rest of the nation (and world) as Hurricane
Katrina invaded our shores and brought with it, quite literally, a flood of
devastation. I lived on a first floor apartment at the back of the school
campus where most of the flood damage occurred. Needless to say, when I
returned nearly a month later to retrieve any belongings I could from the
rubble, what could be salvaged was minimal. It had taken two SUV's to get
my belongings there in August, and one carboard box to carry out what remained
in September ... humbling. [To read the rest of these thoughts, see
Courtney’s blog at http://courtneyveasey.com]
What is it that you need to remember -- not for the sake of
dredging up bad memories but to reminded of how you saw God at work in ways
that you might not have seen Him otherwise? Sheila Taylor, in response to a Facebook
post about the significance of August 29 in our lives, pointed out: “We
will never forget Katrina, but most of all we will never forget the
faithfulness of our God.”
It’s fixin’ to get real,
girlfriends. You may not have a hurricane story in your Christ-walk narrative
but I trust you’ve got something in
your personal journey that reminds you over and over and over that He is
faithful and active and loves to show up in the middle of ‘impossible.’
Your first quizzes are
rolling in. Your first papers are coming due. Your first seminary stress-outs
are lurking nearby. It will be easy to forget the work of the Lord that got you
here. It will be easy to trade the peace you felt as you applied to come here
for sweat-producing anxiety as the due dates pile up.
Instead, remember. And,
even more, don’t forget.
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