We were blessed to be able to visit the coastal areas of St. Bernard Parish and learn more about the oil spill and the effects that it is having on the Louisiana marshland and coastal beaches, where fourth generation fisherman, crabbers, oystermen, and shrimpers make their living.  We were fortunate enough to be chaperoned by Steve Gonzalez of St. Bernard Parish’s community center.   He told us an amazing, sad and beautiful story.

Steve was living in St. Bernard when hurricane Katrina hit the area.  His wife of 42 years, seven cats, and his dog rode the storm out.  Thinking that they had dodged a bullet, the sun rose the next morning.  But, the worst had yet to come.  Early in the day, a surge of up to 28 feet pounded St. Bernard parish, covering entire buildings, school buses, and even covering street lights.

Steve’s wife at the time was wheelchair bound, with a heart that was only pumping at 20% capacity.  She had been given only months to live, and when Katrina had hit, it had been six years since her first diagnosis.  Although the doctors were baffled by her health, Steve knew that she was blessed with life from God.

When the surge hit, Steve said that there was quickly over a foot of water in his living room.  His wife’s face was covered with terror, so he quickly tried to think of something to say to calm her down.  It was then that he noticed that the water was almost above the top of his glass front door and fish were swimming by.  So, he said to his wife, “Hey, we are the one’s inside the aquarium this time and the fish are looking in.”  His wife laughed, and was able to calm down a bit so that they could make their way to the attic and pull down the ladder.

It was then that the front door burst open and water rushed in and filled the first floor rooms so quickly that Steve and his wife were holding on to the door frame between the living room and the next room.  Steve’s wife screamed, “I don’t want to go under this dirty water!”  Steve did not listen. He grabbed her by the waste and pulled her underwater and into the next room. She was not able to walk but only a few steps, but as soon as Steve was able to open the stairs to the attic, she walked up without any help.  When Steve entered the attic, she said she didn’t remember how she got there.  He told her that God must have pulled her up by her shirt collar.  It was then that Steve used a compressed air canister to punch a hole in the roof, calling for help.  One of their neighbors arrived in a boat and helped to rescue them by boat.

Steve lost his home, his seven cats, his dog, and later that year, his wife died.  Steve thanks God every day that she was able to die in his arms.  She had suffered a massive stroke and collapsed against his chest most likely from the stress of her traumatic Katrina ordeal.  Many people just gave up and died of broken hearts, he said.

Steve closed this story by saying that before she died, his wife asked that flowers be planted in the front yard in the rubble of their home.  News crews noticed the flowers in all the destruction and stopped Steve and his wife one day when they were returning home in their van.  He remembers fondly that night on the news, he saw the camera panning over the rubble and stopping on the flowers in his yard.  One year from that day, the station decided to run the same footage in remembrance of Katrina.  To see her alive in the video as the footage played in reverse that night was a gift that he will never forget.

To hear Steve tell his story was heart wrenching and some in the crew said, “I don’t know why I ever complain about my life.  My reasons to complain do not even pale in comparison to Steve’s story.”  Isn’t that true? When we find ourselves complaining about our own circumstance; there is always someone in greater peril and suffering.  That got me thinking about my life and Christ.

Just like Steve would do anything to protect and save his wife and loved her so much that he could not ask for anything more than to hold his wife in his arms, Christ wants to protect and save us from this corrupted world.  Steve would have sacrificed himself for his wife, and Christ sacrificed himself for His people.

We must look for the beauty of Christ and the gospel in this world.  Like the flowers amongst the rubble, blessings abound in this world that hates God.  There may be much in our paths, like the rubble and debris in St. Bernard parish that was surrounding Steve’s house, but we must keep our eyes on the beauty that is Christ.  Eternity with him is our reward.  So as the reporters were drawn to the beauty of the flowers, we should be drawn to the beautiful son of God, Jesus Christ in whom God is well-pleased.

As Steve endures such hardships and continues in his service to the Lord, we too must endure.  We are to live in imitation of Christ in word and deed.  Let us be saved by faith in Christ and look continually upwards like Steve’s neighbor saved him as he looked upward through his roof and also be guided to safety from sin by the Holy Spirit that dwells within us as the neighbor guided him to safety in his boat.

We must persevere.  We must find contentment in God’s sovereign will.  We must be in prayer.  We may believe, but we must also strive to do more, just as Steve says he has been doing since he buried his wife.  The Lord will never abandon us.  We must trust that his Word is true and he is mightier than our problems, which Paul calls light, temporary afflictions.  Jesus Christ is love, but a love we do not deserve.  Let us live a life striving to be worthy of such love.