An Incredibly Blessed Day

It is hard to know where to begin. I guess I'll begin by sharing my Christmas/anniversary present from Matt. I first opened a DVD of The Phantom of the Opera, which thrilled me because I love this movie, but that was not all of the present. The DVD was followed by a well designed flyer of the poster of the Broadway play and a picture of two tickets. As it turned out, Matt had purchased two tickets for us to see the play in New York City with our dear friends Paul and Dar! What an amazing husband!

Needless to say we were very excited and anticipating the day! We watched the weather and soon learned that it was not going to be very good, but we still wanted to drive because we were hoping to pick up our left luggage at the airport. We decided we would wait till the day came and make a decision wether to drive or take the train. When the morning came, though it was very icy and yucky weather we decided to drive. We left about 8:30 and took Kenya Grace to Paul and Dar's youngest son's house. His sweet wife was going to watch KG with her son "Logo" all day. Kenya Grace was excited and gave her normal, "I love you the best Mama," cry. So we headed out towards Dunkin Donuts for a sweet and coffee as traveled to City that never sleeps. As we were bopping along the wet, icy road chatting away like kids, we hit a huge pot hole full of water. Seconds later we heard Paul say, "Uh, Oh!" It' never good when a mechanic says "Uh Oh" while driving. It turned out a very important belt fell off when he hit the puddle. It was such an important belt that the car immediately begin to over heat and we had to pull over. It was clear we were not going very far in the car. We immediately prayed and asked the Lord to guide the day and the situation and our very faithful God did!

We were able to get the car slowly back to Paul and Dar's son's house and decided to take their car to the train station and catch a train to the city. Their car was nice and icy and we couldn't find a scraper (something very common here in these snowy cities) so Paul used a plastic pan. The first blessing we encountered was the ice was not too hard and came off super easy! Yeah, we were on our way! Shortly after being on our way we heard a loud alarm......ahhhh.....but it was only the alert for the driver to put his seat belt on. :) Phew! Paul remembered a wonderful Italian bakery near the train station, so craving a sweet we headed that way!

It turned out to be a darling little bakery with amazing treats! We got a box full, ordered cappuccinos, and a tea for Matt and piled back in the car to see what train we could catch. Another blessing. We were all easy going and in no hurry knowing we just had to make our play at 2. Paul dropped us off to get tickets and went to find parking. We found the next train was an hour later so we bought tickets and were prepared to relax in the old station and enjoy our goodies. Suddenly Matt saw there was another train that left in 5 minutes. We checked with the attendant and found that it was headed to the city, so we shot a couple of pictures and prepared to run for the train as we anxiously waited for Paul. Soon we saw Paul and as he paid for the parking we jolted down the stairs, hopped onto the train and found seating facing each other. Another sweet blessing.

The ride to the city was so quick and full of laughter, discussion, stories and fellowship, and of course the amazing goodies from the bakery. We exited the train at Grand Central Station and I was amazed at how nice it was! Because the weather was yucky there were hundreds of people in underground. (Of course it is New York, so it could be like that all of the time.) We decided to grab a small bite since we knew we would be starving after the play if we didn't eat something and joined the line for Chinese. It was such a blessing how Paul found a table for us (there were people everywhere!) and it turned out God had a divine meeting for us. After being in Africa I always pray with my eyes open so as we prayed I noticed this man watching us at the table next to us. When we had finished he smiled at us and shook his head in approval. It turns out he does ministry with young men in prison and is always looking for places for them to get away from gangs and be discipled. Well, Paul and Dar perked up as they are headed into a ministry where they will serve at a children's camp that ministers to inner city kids. They exchanged cards and contacts and everyone seemed a little awed and blessed the encounter.

We explored the station including the lobby of the Grand Hyatt. So elaborate with a huge waterfall in the lobby. We hopped onto the subway which is always an experience and being our jolly selves, there were several people watching us. As we got off the subway, Paul began to talk to this older man who was very engaged. This man stopped Paul and said to him, I saw you come on and said there is something different about all of them. They have a wonderful ora he told Paul. He told all of us that he noticed how we smiled at our spouses and he seemed amazed. Of course Paul ministered to him and shared that it was Jesus and prayed for him. It was so awesome! Another sweet blessing!

We then came up from the underground into the crazy, lighted, swarming with people city. It was fantastic!!! We headed towards the theatre and just had a blast walking. I was amazed by all the theaters and shows going on and had fun people watching in line. When we entered in and found our seats we found out just how close we were. Are you ready for this? We were orchestra, row two, just off to the left. We could see the actors cry, sweat, and see the expression in their eyes. It was incredible! If you have seen Phantom, I do not have to tell you how amazing the play is, but if you have not seen it, I just have to say, you must try to see it sometime in your lifetime. I could do a completely different blog about the Phantom, so I will save that for another time.

Before I loose this I will conclude this amazing day, by telling you we ended the day by walking and playing through the lighted streets, and eating a diner called Ellen's Stardust Diner where the waiters and waitresses sing. It was great food and fun entertainment. We headed back on the subway, grabbed a Starbucks, and hopped on the 6:30 train. In addition to wonderful fellowship, we had an interesting conversation with a principal from Harlem. We were able to share about Africa and talk a bit about forgiveness. To top everything off, Kenya Grace had done an amazing job for Jen (Paul and Dar's daughter-in-law) and was a good girl all day. How great is our God!!!!! Needless to say were all quite tired but so filled up with special memories and an incredible blessed day! Thank you Jesus!