Beauty For Ashes: Eight Year Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina
As I enter this whole new world of blogging, I consider today to be a great day for me to write my first blog because it has a lot to do with the title of my blog site. God has been nudging at my heart for the past year to start blogging, but I was too “chicken” to be obedient. Well about 2 months ago, I finally built up the courage to begin this blog with the title being “Cultivating Kerri.” I chose this title because I believe that everything that has taken place in my life thus far has cultivated me into the person I am today and my present and future experiences will continue this development until my life is done.
Well, today marks the eight year anniversary of the day that Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and changed my life forever. I was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana and although, I currently reside in Northern CA {when I am not traveling nine months out of the year}, New Orleans will always be my home. It feels good to say, " I am a SURVIVOR", because I understand that there are many that are not alive to say those same words. Most people had left the city on Friday, August 26 and it was August 28 and my mother had decided that we would not evacuate, since in most cases storms usually pass the city leaving moderate wind and rain. My mother said, "it was the look that she saw in my eyes as we watched Mayor Nagin plead for all New Orleanians to evacuate the city,"
that made her get up, gather her family and a few belongings, and hit the road. After almost 9 hours in bumper to bumper traffic just to get an hour away from the city, we settled in Baton Rouge. We slept safely as the category five storm ripped our city apart. It was my mother’s act of faith and obedience to God’s voice, that saved our lives.
My life was forever altered by this catastrophe, but it’s funny how what the devil meant for bad, God will use for our good. Katrina was the beginning of me pursuing a relationship with God, which I believe was the best thing that has ever happened to me. Lord knows, I don’t know where I would be or who I would be, if it wasn’t for God using that situation to draw me closer to him. I was a senior in high school when Katrina took place and God used that tragedy as a resource for me. I have now graduated college, I currently travel full-time with a ministry that allows me speak to and uplift youth, and I intend to soon return to professional school to obtain my MD or PhD :). I love God and am passionate about making a change in the world. I have chosen to embrace my journey of cultivation. I have found that this journey is not always easy, but proper cultivation (fertile soil, tilling, weeding, sowing seed, watering, harvesting) is necessary to produce the beauty of a garden. In the end, God always gives us beauty for our ashes (Isaiah 61:3).