Pull Up a Rocking Chair… Let Me Tell You a Story

There are many famous landmarks around the world—the Pyramids of Egypt, Big Ben in London, and the Statue of Liberty standing in New York Harbor. Each reminds us of history, perseverance, and the people who came before us.

I grew up near a landmark that continues to remind me of life itself.

The Biloxi Lighthouse stands along Highway 90 beside the Mississippi Sound on the Gulf of Mexico. Rising 64 feet tall, this cast-iron lighthouse first began guiding sailors in 1848. For nearly two centuries it has watched over the coastline through calm seas and violent storms.

It has endured at least ten major hurricanes.

I was in Mississippi the weekend Hurricane Camille roared ashore in 1969. Although I was ninety miles inland, I still witnessed the awesome power of that storm.

Years later, in 2005, I was again nearby when Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. Not long afterward, I traveled through Biloxi surveying the damage.

Businesses had been swept away.

Homes had disappeared.

Entire neighborhoods had been reduced to memories.

Yet standing in the midst of all that destruction was the Biloxi Lighthouse.

Scarred.

Damaged.

But still standing.

It became more than a landmark to me.

It became a sermon.

Life brings storms we never expect. Some leave us wounded. Some wash away things we thought would last forever. Yet God’s grace enables us to stand when everything around us seems to fall apart.

Whenever I see a picture of that lighthouse, I remember the frightened disciples in Matthew 8, when Jesus stood in the boat and calmed the wind and the waves. I remember the promise of Psalm 46:1:

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

And I hear again the words of Jesus in John 16:33:

“In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to realize that some places become holy, not because they are famous or beautiful, but because God met us there.

For me, the Biloxi Lighthouse is one of those places.

It is an icon of hope.

A reminder that storms do not have the final word.

A witness that God’s grace can hold us steady when everything around us is falling apart.

Like that lighthouse, we may bear the scars of life, but by the grace of God, we can continue to stand—pointing others toward hope.

Sometimes, the holiest places in our lives are simply the places where we learned that God never left us.