Goodbye to Louisiana

     It has been a while since my last entry.  I promise I have a good reason.  Our family left the precious swamps of Louisiana to explore a new adventure in the forests of Mississippi.  In October, my husband moved into a hotel in Mississippi to begin his work while the children and I remained in Louisiana to allow them to finish up the school semester.  This also offered the opportunity for us to look for a home, suitable for the 8 of us, (yes, we consider the dog in our decisions).  In addition, I was able to finish directing a sweet group of preschoolers in a Christmas play. 

     Looking back, I remember questioning why I had to go to Louisiana.  I was angry and depressed.  As He has proven time and time again, God had such wonderful plans for our family in Louisiana.  Within months of our arrival I gave birth to a tiny little guy whose life began as a great struggle for him and for everyone who hungered to hold him and bring him home.  You can read more about that trial in "The Elijah Letters" located on this blog. 

     Had we not been in Louisiana at the exact hospital at that exact time, would we be celebrating Elijah's 3rd birthday in 5 weeks?  I don't know.  What I do know is that many people who read about the treatments Eli received say that his doctors were very aggressive, and that is probably what saved him.  God had a plan.

     As if that were not enough, I was able to go through such healing while in Louisiana.  Had I not met some precious ladies with a heart for healing the broken, would I recognize brokenness?  I'm sure I'd still assume that struggles I have are just part of life, unable to be fixed.  I promise you,  there is no area of your life that God is not interested in healing.  As a matter of fact, He hungers to heal you.

     Lastly, I cannot fail to mention the numerous people that have forever touched my life in Louisiana.  Thanks to modern technology, I will stay connected to these people as long as they allow.  What passionate people I encountered on my 3 year Louisiana adventure!  Passionate about God, passionate about family, and passionate about humanity.  Thank you all.

     I thought I would make a list of the things I'll miss the most about Louisiana:

#10:  Bridges--Okay, I'll have to explain, because most who know me know of my debilitating phobia of bridges.  The reason this made the list is because I lived in a Sulphur, LA; nearly everything we were involved in during the week was located in Lake Charles, LA. To get from Sulphur to Lake Charles there were 2 options:  Large tall curvy bridge, or large steep bridge.  God and I had many conversations on these bridges--almost daily.  I will miss the daily reminder that God carries us over every obstacle in our life if we allow Him. 

#9:  Purple and Yellow EVERYWHERE!  I love the color purple.  I love the color yellow.  Between LSU and Mardi Gras, this is a frequent combination to be seen.

#8:  Alligators--I don't know how I pulled this off, but I lived in south Louisiana 3 years with out seeing even one alligator!  Still, I'll miss the excitement of looking into ditches and swamps that we were driving past knowing that there was a pretty good chance I would see one.  By the way, my son went camping with a friend and saw one while he was on a hike.  EEK! 

#7:  Pronunciation of words:  Here I will just put some examples. First will be the spelling of the word, next will be the pronunciation I'm familiar with, and last will be the Louisiana pronunciation I heard at times:  "Praline"  familiar--"pray-lean"  Louisiana "Praw-lean".  "almond"  familiar--"awl-mund"  Louisiana--"owl-mond''.  "Chicken Fricasse"  familiar--"Chicken Frick-uh-see"  Louisiana--"Chicken frick-AH--say".  These are just a few.  I could go on and on about last names!  Please understand, I put this with absolutely NO intention of teasing.  I truly adore this and will miss it.  Besides, who's to say I was pronouncing it right?  I think that "Praw-leans" originated in either Louisiana or Mississippi.  I suppose they know how to pronounce their recipe just fine!  :-)

#6:  Hurricane season:  This sounds strange, but I loved watching the Weather Channel at 50 minutes after the hour to see their update on the tropics.  I loved watching these things travel and how the high and low pressure effected their path.  I wasn't so thrilled the first summer we were there when Gustav and Ike headed our way.  Still, I'll miss the excitement of checking out what is coming off of Africa that just might affect us.
#5:  The letter "X" put at the end of any word ending with the long "o" sound.  For this one we did bring a little Louisiana with us to Mississippi via our dog "Boudreaux".  :)
#4:  The food:  Everything is better with a little Tony Chachere added.  Enough said.

#3:  Fleur de lis:  These decorate my living room right now.  Representing a lily, in France it was a symbol of the 3 classes, those who worked, those who fought, and those who prayed.  I think they are so pretty.  They are taking over my Mississippi house!

#2:  Parish:  I lived in Calcashieu Parish.  Now I just live in a county.  It seems a little boring to say county now. 

And finally, #1:  I was SO close to being comfortable with saying "Sha" when I found a child to be exceptionably adorable.  The first time I heard this said was by a lady my husband and I were visiting in Thibodaux, LA.  She was meeting our first born.  I asked my Louisiana native husband what on earth she said.  I loved that word ever since that day. 

In closing this goodbye to Louisiana, let me say a few things:  NO sarcasm is in this article.  I would be saddened to think that my Louisiana friends would ever think I was making fun of any of them.  I truly LOVED it there and will miss these things terribly.  Second, We take Louisiana with us.  Our decor, our cooking, our pet names, our friends and our vocabulary will forever be influenced by our Louisiana adventure.  Last, I can't wait to see what God has in store for us in Mississippi!  Bring on the magnolias and the pecans!  Who knows?  Maybe we'll be residents of Louisiana again someday.  Or maybe we'll continue our tour of the Gulf.  Let's see....We've lived in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi...better brush up on my Alabama knowledge!



I 10 bridge



210 bridge



fleur de lis