| Jesus does float: A first person account of Hurricane Isabel By Laurie Gates-Ward special to the UMConnection 
When you walk through the waters, I will be with you, and you will not be overcome. Laura Karavas, a member at Lodge Forest UMC, the church I serve in Edgemere, overheard a story the day after Hurricane Isabel hit. She tells it like this: A woman was standing looking out her window during the early morning hours after the storm hit. As she looked out, she saw a statue of Jesus floating by. Chuckling to herself she said There you are, Jesus. I have been looking for you! As the waters of the Chesapeake rose around them in the early morning hours of Sept. 19, other residents of the North Point Peninsula likely were also looking for Jesus to come to their aid. Their homes filled with water, boats came to their doors and asked if they needed rescue. Some waded through rushing water up to their chests to get to safety. Many watched their homes being devastated before their eyes. It was a night I will never forget. After the power had gone out at 10:30 p.m., my husband and I tried to sleep, but within an hour or so this proved impossible. Noises started to emerge from the night. They were sounds of trouble. One by one, rescue vehicles began rushing by the house. At first it was just one or two, and then they kept coming, almost non-stop. I sat in the living room of the parsonage listening to emergency vehicles and helicopters overhead, and I knew that the people of my church and community were in trouble. I also knew something else: I could not go to them. The radio was warning against venturing into the areas that were flooded, mentioning developments in my community by name. The last thing the rescuers needed was to have an added person to scoop into their boats. And so I did what I could. First I prayed. The next thing I did was to call as many people in my church as I could reach who lived on the water. Many had been affected. Some were home and told stories of seeing the water coming up to their houses even as we spoke. One of my members, Celeste Lotz, shared with me how she and her husband, Frank, had gotten into a boat from their front step. I never thought that at our age we could get into a boat, but through Gods help and wonderful rescuers, we did indeed. They held onto Frank the entire ride until we were on dry ground. Within hours, dry ground began to re-emerge throughout the community, but the stories and the effects of Isabel have not receded with the floodwaters. The people of North Point Peninsula, along with those on much of the Chesapeake Bay shoreline, have been left to clean-up the muck and to figure out where to go next. Some are lucky, like me, and just had sewage in their basement. Others have lost everything. And there are those whose living areas were engulfed with water filled with mud, sewage and fuel oil. They face the prospect of replacing furniture, cabinetry, linens and appliances at best. At worst, some will have to replace their homes. One woman I met at the local Catholic Church told me a particularly heart-wrenching tale. Shelly shared with me that only ten weeks ago she had prematurely given birth to twin sons. Her boys, Samuel and Benjamin, have spent the days ever since fighting to survive. Finally, last Friday, the doctors told Shelly and her husband that the boys were well enough to go home. Unfortunately, their home was condemned the same day. I could tell you so many more sad stories. But the question remains, How do we find Jesus in the midst of this tragedy? The answer would seem to be, to simply look for Jesus does indeed float. For every sad story, there is a story filled with hope. Our Savior has not been overcome by the volumes of damage done by water full of oil and sewage. I saw this one day as Shelly and Tony Marzhocci, a couple in my church, lovingly embraced one another while sharing with Bishop May how they were having to tear their house apart. I am seeing that the God we serve in Jesus Christ will not be bogged down by the floods of bureaucracy that add insult to already injured lives. These stories are beginning to become evident as clergy and civic leaders vow to stand alongside the people they serve. There are glimpses all around that the Prince of Peace has been present from the moments when people saw the surge heading their way, to the present moments filled with the surges of pain and grief. All we have to do is stop and look, and we will see Jesus going by. For as we walk through these waters, God is indeed with us, and we are not overwhelmed. But there is another chapter of this story that needs to be written. There is much more to do to help those affected by these floods. In the days and months to come, they will need to be reminded that Jesus is present and that they are not alone. It will be up to us to come by their window, and offer to enter into their lives, so that they will indeed look up and say, there you are Jesus! | 
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