Green Eggs and Gumbo

Please no. That’s how I felt in December when John and I sensed the Lord directing us to head to New Orleans.

I had a long list of unfounded reasons why I had no desire to go to The Big Easy. I’d never been there, nor had I even eaten anything remotely Creole. But I knew that I did not want to pick up what New Orleans was putting down. Until this point, even the Cajun accent was like nails on a chalkboard for me.

“Fine,” my heart responded to the Lord as if I was willing to do Him this favor. “We’ll go. We’ll pray over the city and we’ll beat a path out of there and never go back. No need to bring any Jonah-sized fish into this or anything.”

I can be so childish in my faith sometimes (and not in the Matthew 18:3 way). I was one step away from a spiritual tantrum. But the Lord, in His kindness, did not let me stay there.

Maybe it’s because the bar for our experience here was on the floor, or maybe it’s because no one actually approached us with voodoo dolls in the likeness of our family, but I loved this city!

The culture, the color, the flavor, and THE PEOPLE were all wildly intriguing. (It turns out that Cajun accents are actually endearing to me.) It’s rich with fantastic and horrible history. And the architecture left me eager to see what was around the next corner.

We prayed for people as we walked, drove, and cabled around the city. There is a darkness here, but it’s not ironic that I’m currently studying Romans and was reminded recently that all have sinned. Ephesians 5:8 says, “For you (I’m looking at you, mirror) were once in darkness.” And of course, there’s this thing in Matthew about a speck and a plank. It turns out that being focused on or afraid of what separates others from Christ removes us from our obligation to (or better, ask the Lord to) examine our own hearts.

All this to say, New Orleans allowed me to take some spiritual inventory that I wasn’t expecting. We had interactions that I hope blessed others. But once again, we’re leaving more filled than we were when we came.