If you read my blog earlier this week, you know that our daughter and son-in-law live in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The Lord recently saw them through the mega-storm, Sandy, as the tropical storm surge brought 14-feet of tide waters along the Battery Park neighborhood where they live. That's the highest tide in New York City since 1821.
Well, still days after the storm, there is still no power, gas, water, or transit in Manhattan. So, about noon yesterday, I texted my daughter to see if she would like me to drive the 350-plus miles and attempt to get into the city and bring them home for a few days just to get their bearings. She replied humbly, "Daddy, can you come?"
A few minutes later I was on interstate 81 north in my Ford making my first trip ever to New York City. As night was falling, I reached the outskirts of the Big Apple. I had heard Mayor Bloomberg was limiting cars through the Lincoln Tunnel, my only way in. It took some time in traffic gridlock, but finally after a few attempts, I came through the tunnel into Midtown and made an immediate right on 34th Street (Yes, it's "The Miracle on 34th Street" street.) to drive towards Lower Manhattan.
After a few blocks of driving through lighted sections of the city, without warning total darkness engulfed me. All traffic lights were out. The skyscrapers were in blackout. It was Halloween. A full moon moved in and out of the clouds to my left. It was eerie. (I never felt such deep emotion entering a city for the first time, except for my first entry into Jerusalem in the year 2000 and those emotions were much different than these emotions.)
As I made my way through the financial district, the full moon gave me hope as it kept reappearing between the tall, silhouetted, steel structures. Though I was not able to really read the road signs very well, my GPS eventually said "arriving at destination". I called my daughter's cell phone and said "I am close." The joy in her voice was unfathomable. In the dark streets we finally found each other. The journey out of Manhattan was much more delightful for the three of us, simply and profoundly because we were all together and we were all leaving the darkness in the rear view mirror while looking through the windshield towards the welcoming lights.
It was a long and wonderful ride back to Virginia. I was the only one awake for most of the trip. At 5 a.m., we pulled onto the driveway at our home. I was so humbled and grateful.
Today, has been a good day so far. And, yes, I am humbled speechless. In case you are wondering, I do indeed sense a message from God's Holy Word working through my mind in light of this experience. It feels an awful lot like The Christmas Story, actually, in that, Father God (in the Person of His one and only Son, Jesus) left his home of comfort and light and came into our dark dilemma to rescue us, His children, by bringing us out of our darkness and back home with Him.
This song is echoing in my heart as well:
Keep praying please, because in the next day or so we need to make a return trip to NYC so our daughter's and our son-in-law's life together can hopefully begin to get back to some sense of "normal". Today's news is still discouraging, saying it could be weeks before power is restored to some of the buildings in their neighborhood. However, they do have to get back to work. I rest in knowing that God is already at work.
And please pray for all the precious souls at risk in the northeastern United States. That's really what I was so emotional about when I drove into New York City for the first time last night.
Grateful
