“If you go watch a movie where all this devastation happens you get to walk out of the theater when it’s over with a sense of relief, knowing it’s not real. For us, the past three weeks of our lives have been a movie. A really bad movie, and we don’t get to just walk out. It marks every part of your being when something like this happens. To lose a home suddenly is a death that you have to grieve and go through. There’s the feeling of being overwhelmed, overwhelmed in the sense that you’ve been violated. Your home and your possessions are just sitting outside. For those of us that have been affected, we’re still living in a sense of urgency everyday. And we’re urgently trying to make it back to a life that will never be the same. What has helped us in this is truly understanding the character of God. If we didn’t understand His character we would be struggling a lot more. But knowing who He is and that He makes all things good, I know He will be glorified in this. He’s not going to leave us stranded. We truly cling on to that anticipation and the truth that God is working in the midst of this devastation. And so it makes us excited. Even though we don’t know what that is. It’s going to be something good, right Vivi?”
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Luis, Jennifer and Vivianna (along with their oldest daughter, Taylor) evacuated their home on August 28th as the flood waters rapidly rose to their front door. They quickly moved furniture and placed items onto countertops and tables to save them from the rising water. Little did they know that five feet of contaminated water would sit in their house for weeks. This picture was taken well after teams of friends, family and volunteers had come and gone out of the house, the mucking and clearing out process done and over with. But still, an overwhelming majority of their possessions remain strewn across their lawn, from shiny silver converse to lawn furniture to a fridge. Their pain and loss is real and quite tangible, but their spirits are not crushed. What an encouragement their words are to all of us - those who sustained physical loss and those who weathered the storm. There is grace to grieve the loss of our things, our homes, our lives as we knew them. But as we do so we look higher, above our physical reality, and set our eyes on the unseen. Our God will make Himself known to us, He will provide every good thing to His children, and He will rebuild our lives and our beloved city.
Lighting
Einstein with medium octabox camera right
