Inspire, Winter 2005

Dear Friends and Family, As Will and I look over these last several weeks, we are amazed and grateful for what God has done in our lives through you. Our God is great, and we would like to share how wonderful and faithful He is. Rediscovering God’s greatness began when we evacuated New Orleans. As we watched the storm from my parents’ home in Florida, we were thankful to be out of harm’s way. As news of the damage to our neighborhood reached us, we were filled with peace — God was in control and He would help us move on. Days passed, and we began to realize that we would not be returning to live in New Orleans. We decided to move to North Carolina where Will’s mom lives and finish school at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. We found a wonderful apartment and new jobs — things were looking up for us. When many people were still homeless, God blessed us with wisdom and strength to move forward. We had only been in our new home a few weeks when we received news that my brother-in-law had been killed in an accident. Nevertheless, through it all, the Lord was with us. Again He filled us with an unimaginable peace. We knew that God would help us through this, but had someone told me months ago about all that would take place, I would have never thought that I could get through it. Shortly afterwards, we received word that we would be able to return to New Orleans to recover whatever belongings we had left. Again God’s amazing grace was revealed. When we reached our second-floor apartment, what we found will always be a great mystery to me. The water came only as high as the top of the first floor. Our apartment was high and dry by only a few inches. Downstairs was completely destroyed. The upstairs was exactly the way it was the day we evacuated. Will’s car was the only thing destroyed — everything else just smelled really bad. Since we couldn’t find anyone to help us move the heavy items, we packed what we could that day and hoped the next day we would find help. On the way out, we received word that the building would be locked that night and afterwards no one would be allowed to enter the building. It was too dangerous. We unsuccessfully begged for more time — after all, everything was packed — we just needed help moving. We then found a person to help us load as much as we could until the truck was full and the sunlight ended. Only a few unimportant things were left behind. God is so good, and we will praise Him. We truly appreciate all that you have done, and we are so blessed by you. Thank you so much, Lucinda King William and Lucinda Hickey King ’03 were attending New Orleans Baptist Seminary when Hurricane Katrina hit. They hope to finish their degrees at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary this year.  You may contact them at wrldchngr4@aol.com. 18 Winter 2005 A Heartfelt Letter f r o m L u c i n d a H i c k e y K i n g ’ 0 3