How Katrina Made Me Thankful

Christianity Today

Tuesday 29 November 2005, 4:58 pm


"When the deadly hurricane tore me apart from my young son, I reached out to God like never before."

By Stacy Nolan as told to Berta Delgado-Young

I was in a caravan of three cars with two of my children—4-year-old Jeremiah and 1-year-old Ashanti—and 17 other people from our extended family. The goal was to get out of the city. But first, I had to find my youngest child.

My 7-month-old son, A'Mahd, had been staying with his godmother, my friend Nikolle. When it became clear Katrina was definitely coming, I scrambled to contact Nikolle, who lived on the other side of town. I punched her cell phone number repeatedly and heard the same message over and over—"No signal; call again later." We tried to drive to Nikolle's house, but the streets were too jammed with traffic. My heart raced in panic. I have to get to my son!

Suddenly, I faced the most painful decision any mother could imagine: Stay or leave? Wiping the tears from my eyes, I prayed to God that He would keep A'Mahd and Nikolle safe in His hands. I trusted Him to watch over them.

https://www.crosswalk.com/11622645/

20051129d