(written 8/29/08)

It’s hard to imagine that three years have already passed since Katrina’s landfall as a category 5 hurricane!  I remember wafting about whether or not to stay or leave Baton Rouge, but in the end, we made the right decision to leave.  I was 4 months pregnant and my son was only 18mos old.  I’d been asked to be a bridesmaid in my friend’s wedding and had been planning for months to make the trip to Ohio for the week before the wedding.  In a last minute decision, my son came with me on the plane and the very next day, Katrina slammed the coast.  In the aftermath, we helped family and my husband volunteered at the Red Cross set up at the laceName>Baton RougelaceName> laceType>RiverlaceType> laceType>CenterlaceType>, with PRC Compassion at the New Orleans airport.  In the weeks following we distributed several truck loads of supplies from our 3000 square foot warehouse to those in need.  And then, we saw the trauma set in.  Although folks were getting some needs met, the depression of losing everything, some having lost family members, some lost their emotional support like friendships and church homes, had begun to take its toll.  The sadness in the eyes of folks despite their determination to continue rebuilding was pervasive!  That’s when I said to my husband, “I’ve got to do something!  What do I have a voice for, if not this?  Why have I sung at funerals and weddings and other emotional moments to not be able to do anything now?”  In that moment of frustration, Hold On (to Love) was born!  Now, many of those same folks are dealing with a new threat, not only to their safety and property, but to their mental and emotional well being.  Many are clinging to their faith with iron claws while others are desperately trying not to give in to full-blown panic.  It’s at this moment, that I want to reach out and encourage those who already have a relationship with Christ to continue the race!  Remember that God thinks great thoughts towards you and wants you to continue this fight to spread his good news and hope in times like these! 
(Jer 29:11, Heb 12:1-2).  If you do not yet have a relationship with Jesus Christ and right now you or someone you know is struggling with fear about this new storm, I have wonderful news for you!  Your heavenly Father sent his son to be born here on earth, to grow up as the man we know as Jesus, and willingly laid down his own life on a cross to take your place and mine so that we would not have to dwell in our sin, but may now live eternally with him!  This means that when you recognize your own sin and accept his sacrifice making him Lord of your life, then you become eligible for a hope and peace that this world will never be able to give you or take away from you!  In times like these, when hope seems to be running short and folks around you may be “running scared,” I ask you to consider the change you can make within yourself by accepting the perfect love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  Let me hear from you...angie@angieewing.com.  Blessings~ang