Oak Alley
We were disappointed. We had driven for hours, but we would not be able to reach Oak Alley Plantation near New Orleans in time to tour the grounds. Oak Alley is an antebellum Louisiana plantation built beside the Mississippi River in the early 1800s. As one of the most beautiful restored plantations in the South, it attracts thousands of tourists every year. (Do a Google search on “Oak Alley” and see for yourself.)

Jeannie and I had left Houston that morning after a delightful five-day visit with our daughter Amy. Oak Alley and New Orleans were the last scheduled stops on our two-day drive home. Oak Alley would provide a peaceful respite near the end of our 2,400 mile trip.

But the comfortable 5-hour drive from Houston to the plantation turned into a frustrating 9-hour trip because of numerous delays along I-10. When we finally reached our destination, we knew that tours had eneded more than two hours before our arrival. We were disappointed.

We pulled into the empty parking lot and stared at the back of the mansion from a distance, disheartened that our plans for a peaceful tour of the grounds was now impossible. We were about to drive away when an employee approached us . . . to ask us to leave? . . . no, to invite us to wander around the grounds at our leisure
and free of charge. For over an hour we had the entire plantation to ourselves.

We spent most of that hour walking in the awesomely beautiful and peaceful “alley” of enormous oak trees that create a 200-yard avenue that welcomes visitors to the mansion. It is an amazing scene.

As we strolled among the trees which have stood here as silent sentinels for 250 years, we couldn’t help thinking of all the history they have seen and all the storms they have endured. Through showers, thunderstorms and hurricanes, they have stood here as silent guardians of this mansion.

Isn’t God like that? Life’s storms blow into our lives, sometimes even becoming times of deep worry or raging fear. But our Lord is always present, quietly watching over us and gently holding us in his arms, giving us the courage and peace to endure as we remember that “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters; he restoreth my soul.” Even in the midst of life’s worst storms, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me” (from Psalm 23).

The trees at Oak Alley Plantation have stood for 250 years. But “his steadfast love endures forever” (1 Chron-icles 16:34).

Ted Stephenson