Hurricane Isaac

Having moved back to the city of New Orleans three years ago, I have just experienced our first evacuation.  Being the first of three years, Im grateful.  Well, this is my strory....

Watching Isaac in the Gulf on Sunday, Aug 26th, realizing there was a high probability that it could hit New Orleans, my honey got to work.  He filled both the cars with gas, checked the tires, put all of the yard paraphernalia in the garage, etc.etc.etc.  Meanwhile, I on the other hand took the kids down the street and my neighbor and I watched the kids swim on that lovely sunny Sunday afternoon.  As I sat in my neighbors back yard, we both were getting emails (via phone) and texts announcing that the kids would be out of school till Thurs due to Hurricane Isaac.  'Really??' is what came to my mind.  The news was saying that it would probably hit NO sometime Tues., so we needed Mon. to get out of the city and Wed. to get back in - HA!  yea, right!

Early Monday, my honey was strongly encouraging me to take the kids and head to Baton Rouge that morning (not to friends in Birmingham, b/c why drive 6 hours when by the time you get there you'll be turning around to come back).  I made a deal with him, 'If I can take a bike ride this morning, Ill then pack and head to Baton Rouge'.  He rolled his eyes and agreed.  While on my bike ride, I could not get over the weather, it was probably the most beautiful August day New Orleans has ever had.  On my ride, it was far from feeling like a ghost town.  I mean, it was quieter then normal because no schools were in session but people were out for walks with spouses and dogs.  You could gather that quite a few people were even having a normal work day. On the other hand, I knew a number of families getting ready to leave town thinking, 'better safe then sorry'.  I took that time, on my bike ride, to mentally prepare for what I knew I needed to do even though I really did not want to do it without my honey.  (after 16 years of marriage, you know your spouse, and I knew better then to fight him on this)  He wanted to be available for those that were going to stay, be able to help with a fallen tree if necessary, and keep check on the houses of those that would be gone.

The boys and I took off to Baton Rouge and were warmly greeted by friends that we have known for a long time.  Little did any of us know, the Tropical Storm that turned into a catagory 1 Hurricane was going to be a VERY slow moving Hurricane!!!  Slow moving hurricanes, even if it is just a category 1, can grind away at the land it approaches.  It is Friday now, and I am still in Baton Rouge, thinking I might wait one more day till I head back.  There are people without power for miles and miles, the grocery stores and gas stations are outrageous.  High demand of everything and little supply of anything. (a good crowd stayed thinking that it was not going to be all that bad)  Its taking people an hour to wait in line to get gas, hoping that in that hour the pump does not run out.  The bad news this morning for my honey was that the generator that was keeping the fridge and a fan going ran out of gas.  The good news this morning was that my honey was able to get to a open restaurant for a nice hearty breakfast this morning, and even better, he got there right when it opened so he did not have to wait in line!

In Baton Rouge, I'm doing all I can from going stir crazy!  Don't take me wrong, we are so grateful for the love our friends have shown, it is a true delight to be in their company.  And being a home of four boys, my children have NOT experienced boredom AT ALL!  It has taken a lot of mental strength though, for me, to get through this week.  Some highlights: baking a new recipe - Coffee/Date Bread, was able to fit a couple of good walks in before and after the rain and wind here, organized a closet and washed down kitchen cabinets (earning my keep:), reading a great book (Blue Parakeet), picked up debris in my friends yard and their neighbors yard, meeting 89 yr old Ms Jewel, and playing some games with the kids (golf card game and scrabble).  Oh, I cant go without mentioning the beautiful size of the home that allows plenty of private space for all AND the fact that we never lost power (unlike some here in Baton Rouge).  Quite spoiled we are!.....my honey might feel 'spoiled' today having an opportunity to actually use the chainsaw!  :):):)

Thanks to all that keep us southern people in your thoughts and prayers!  Thankful for the way God has preserved the situation and hopeful for 'normalcy' soon.....the feeling of 'normalcy' is far too taken for granted!

The Nelson Boy's Summer Highlights

Athan, Kaleigh, and Aiden

What a beautiful way to start the summer!!!  We began our first official week of the summer with a visit from dear Tennessee friends, the Grants.  They brought several other families with them and we felt loved by them as a family, a church, and a community.  They were genuine, fun, and productive.  Painting classrooms, mulching, removing staples:), dancing at Mulate's.....good times!

Cheers!

The summer continued by having fun play dates with friends.  So thankful for friends (old and new) this summer that we could spend time with where the #1 priority was RELAXATION!  

 

Gulf Shores was most certainly a highlight.  Beach, pool, nightly crab hunting, monopoly everyday (obnoxious), water park (earning man cards!), para sailing, and (for me, since this is my blog:) God time on the porch every morning with a beach front view-oh yea!  It was awesome QUALITY family time!  And memories made that will live on!

Nelson and Daspit boys

It was such a joy for me to hear the boys sing their hearts out at VBS.  God used them to speak to me on how REMARKABLE He is and that nothing is to difficult for Him!  Its always nice to be reminded of that.  Its also nice to watch the kids genuinely enjoy the week.  Raising "preacher kids", you pray that they will Have a faith in God, and pray that its genuine, that they own it and that its not been forced on them.

No pics of the Baton Rouge trip but I must mention it because it is definitely Athan's favorite part of the summer.  Athan taking a road trip mid-week to go to an Astro's game in Houston, eating lots of junk food, Aiden swimming every day and watching all three Ice Age movies....'Foster camp' rocks!.....even mom and dad think it rocks, we enjoyed 'mom and dad all alone camp' :)

Thank you Foster Family!

Now we are trying to face the reality that we HAVE to go back to school (sigh).  I guess its true, we have to work hard to play hard.  Work, here we come!

How's Life Treating You?

Have you ever been in a place in life where you just don't think that God knows what He is doing and so you take it upon yourself to take care of things?  Or you might know someone that is trying to control their own path, doubting that God is as good as He says He is?  Abram and Sarai (in the book of Genesis) at times really trusted God, but then they got to a place where they felt like time was running out.  They doubted God.  (gasp) They disobeyed.  You know the story?  Sarai tells her servant, Hagar, to make love with Abram so that they could have a child.  God had promised them a child but it just was not happening in the time they wanted it to happen.  This is where it gets beautiful:  God was STILL gracious to Sarah and Abraham.  She did become pregnant and birth the baby that God had promised, Isaac.  God STILL loved Abraham and Sarah.  He STILL used them for His glory in spite of themselves and their sin. 

Are you carrying a weight of guilt around?  Or maybe someone you know is living with guilt because of something they did or something they simply think about?  Surely God is disappointed in me, and why would He want to have anything to do with me!?  Think about Peter in the gospels of the New Testament.  He was Christ's disciple for three years and truly loved Him.  He served with Christ, ate with Christ, witnessed miracles that Christ performed.....after all that, he denied knowing Christ THREE times in one night, and of all nights, the night Christ died.  What kind of guilt did Peter feel that night?  (gasp) Peter disobeyed.  This is where it gets beautiful:  Christ is raised from the dead and shows up while Peter is fishing.  God STILL loved Peter.  And He STILL used Peter in spite of himself and his imperfections.

Has life been a roller coaster ride of ups and downs?  Some days you cant praise Him enough, some days you are crying out for His mercy, or some days you hold on to the truth but with white knuckles and gritted teeth?  Think about David in the Psalms.  You can just sense through the words what the emotions must have been like.  In Psalm 69 it starts off, "God, save me.  My troubles are like a flood.  I'm up to my neck in them."  Where as, in Psalm 148 it starts off, "Praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord from the heavens.  Praise him in the heavens above....Praise Him, sun and moon.  Praise Him all you shining stars."  Beauty?  In spite of  David's failings, God STILL loved him.  God STILL used David.  He preserved David and protected him.  God does not promise a perfect life here on earth, but He does promise to always be there.

Do you know someone that has rejected the one true God?  Or maybe your the one rejecting?  You question hope, faith and trust.  Their was a King that threw Daniel in a den of lions because of the God that Daniel served.  The King rejected God AND Daniel.  This is where it gets beautiful:  God STILL saved the King.  God STILL loved the King.  The King saw the miracle of God (shutting the mouths of the lions) and fell to his knees!  This all happened in spite of the King's sins and rejection.

I think of these stories this morning because there are helpful to me.  They give me hope and strength.  They give me a view of God that is mysterious, tender, and a God without limits.  They help me view ALL people with hope.  The stories help me to meet those people where they are on their journey.  It may be ugly, (gasp) there may be disobedience on the journey, it may be confusing at times and it may be a long rode.  But God is good and perfect and creative and loves ALL people and picks ALL sorts of people to bring Him glory!  

Obstacle Course Summer Fun!

Hop, Hop, Hop

Balance!

JUMP

Zig-Zag

With a little
                hopping,
                        jumping,
                                balancing,
                                      tunnel crawling,
                                                    zig-zagging,
                                                                tossing,
                           basketball shooting,
                                                     scooting,
and the big finale 
THE WATER SLIDE
you get a super fun obstacle course
thats fun to share with friends.

The End to a New Beginning

The last day of 4th grade!

Life is full of firsts and lasts.  May we walk with gratitude in all of it. 

This is my first child:)  If your a parent, you know what that means. 

I love being apart of this childs life.  He brings such beauty to my world. 

Congrats, Athan, to another year! 

Can't Live Without!

Community Coffee, New Orleans Blend with Chickory

Its the little things in life!

Tenderness

I go to "my spot" often with hope and an eagerness (ok, and a tid bit of anxiousness) to read, pray, and listen to God.  I also share the space with my hairy friend:), not that she gives me any option in the manner.  Either share or hear her scratch on the door the whole time!

So I spend time with God because I want to.  I need Him, and I want to know Him, grow close to Him, and just maybe be used by Him.  I want to sometimes be quiet before Him in hopes of hearing from Him.

May I share something I read recently from a book I am highly enjoying called, Abba's Child by B.Manning?  I want to experience the tenderness of the Father in my personal journey and have opportunity to share it with others.......

"I am reluctant to push God off His judgment seat and take my place there to pronounce on others when I have neither the knowledge nor the authority to judge anyone.  No one at this table has ever seen a motive.  Therefore, we cannot suspect what inspired the action of another.  Remember Paul's words after his discourse on homosexuality in Romans 1.  He begins chapter 2, 'So no matter who you are, if you pass judgment you have no excuse. In judging others you condemn yourself, since you behave no differently from those you judge.'  I am reminded of a statement by the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy: 'If the sexual fantasies of the average person were exposed to view, the world would be horrified.'
"Homophobia ranks among the most shameful scandals of my lifetime.  In this closing decade of the twentieth century, it is frightening to see the intolerance, moral absolutism, and unbending dogmatism that prevail when people insist upon taking the religious high ground.  Alan Jones noted that 'it is precisely among those who take their spiritual life seriously that the greatest danger lies.'  Pious people are as easily victimized by the tyranny of homophobia as anyone else."
My identity as Abba's child is not an abstraction of a tap dance into religiosity.  It is the core truth of my existence.  Living in the wisdom of accepted tenderness profoundly affects my perception of reality, the way I respond to people and their life situations.  How I treat my brothers and sisters from day to day, whether they be Caucasian, African, Asian, or Hispanic; how I react to the sin-scarred wino on the street; how I respond to interruptions from people I dislike; how I deal with ordinary people in their ordinary unbelief on an ordinary day will speak the truth of who I am more poignantly than the pro-life sticker on the bumper of my car.
We are not for life simply b/c we are warding off death.  We are sons and daughters of the Most High and maturing in tenderness to the extent that we are for others-all others-to the extent that no human flesh is strange to us, to the extent that we can touch the hand of another in love, to the extent that for us there are no"other."
This is the unceasing struggle of a lifetime.  It is the long and painful process of becoming like Christ in the way I choose to think, speak, and live each day.........But whenever I allow anything but tenderness and compassion to dictate my response to life-be it self-righteous anger, moralizing, defensiveness, the pressing need to change others, carping criticism, frustration at others' blindness, a sense of spiritual superiority, a gnawing hunger of vindication-I am alienated from my true self.  My identity as Abba's child becomes ambiguous, tentative, and confused.
Our way of being in the world is a way of tenderness.  Everything else is illusion, misperception, falsehood. 
The compassionate life is neither a sloppy goodwill toward the world nor the plague of what Robert Wicks calls "chronic niceness."  It does not insist that a widow become friendly with her husband's murderer.  It does not demand that we like everyone.  It does not wink at sin and injustice.  It does not accept reality indiscriminately.......The way of tenderness avoids blind fanaticism.  Instead, it seeks to see with penetrating clarity.  The compassion of God in our hearts opens our eyes to the unique worth of each person.  "The other is 'ourself''; and we must love him in his sins as we were loved in our sin."

How do you view God?  How do you view sin?  How do you view yourself in this world?  Are you experiencing God's tenderness?