All Things Work Together for Good

Driving from the highway exit to the Airbnb in the French Quarter of New Orleans, I was taken aback by the boarded up houses, the burnt out houses and empty overgrown lots with chain linked fences. I thought – hopefully this neighborhood will get better as I get closer to the house. I would be staying at an Airbnb with my friends Deanna & Cynthia and they had the neighborhood vetted by someone they knew who lived there. I arrived less than an hour before Deanna & Cynthia. I unloaded my car (because I didn’t feel comfortable leaving my stuff in the car unattended) but when I brought it in, I didn’t unpack. Good move on my part. Deanna’s first words when she walked through the front door were “Oh Hell No”. Now, Deanna is a former NYC Police Officer – so she was looking at the neighborhood with a trained eye. I felt pretty confident we needed to get the hell out of there. I called the Airbnb support line to cancel while Deanna & Cynthia helped me reload the car because we needed to get out before dark. Once we were on our way we met at a Whole Foods parking lot to plan our next move. Well, Deanna and I planned it – Cynthia went in the store to get alcohol. After a quick check on my Bonvoy App, we ended up at a Sheraton right on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. I definitely spent way more on lodging than my norm, but in this case it was well worth it. Safety first.

After the Airbnb debacle, we ended up having a great weekend. We met up with my friends Meg & Tom while there ... they are old pros at the French Quarter Fest in New Orleans and our trip to NOLA was a result of us tagging along with them. We all had a great time together. As I said in a blog post just over a year ago about them, it's awesome when different friend groups of mine meet up and become friends. We had great food and listened to wonderful music. The best part was hanging out with friends. This last year, for the most part, when I see a new place I’m on my own so it was nice exploring a new place, sharing meals and just relaxing with good friends. It would have been better if the Airbnb wasn’t a bust, then I would have had roommates. Being together in a house rather than separate hotel rooms definitely would have been a different experience, probably better too, but when I put the pieces together I realized everything worked out for the best in the end.

Because we made the change to the hotel and the forecast wasn’t looking good for the weekend we decided to book until Saturday rather than the originally planned Sunday departure. This turned out to be divine intervention for me. Originally, I was going to drive to Houston on Sunday afternoon, April 16th then go to Lakewood Church the following Sunday to see Joel Osteen preach. As it turned out – I went to the service a week early on the 16th – that’s where the divine intervention comes into play. While there I found out Joel was not scheduled to preach on the 23rd … he would be away. Had we not needed to change where we were staying in NOLA and the weather looked better we would have stayed until Sunday and I would have missed out on the fantastic message from Pastor Osteen on the 16th.

Going to Lakewood Church was wonderful experience. Greeters were at the door to welcome everyone. I must have looked a little lost because two people said to me ‘is this your first time here?’ I said yes and was then given a tour of the facility … well, the first floor of the facility. When she brought me into the sanctuary I was escorted up front and was given a center seat in the sixth row. The people sitting around me were also visitors. Wonderful people all around. The service was so good I decided to stay for the next one as well. Even though Pastor Osteen wouldn't be there following Sunday I went back again anyway. Before the service I was contemplating this blog. I had a few different ideas in mind and was thinking of titling it for the bible verse, Romans 8:28 “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” It was a toss up between that and what will probably be the title of my next blog (coming sooner than it took to write this one!) But then Pastor Nick started his sermon with “Romans 8:28 tells us that ALL things work together for good ….” That pretty much cemented the title for this blog. It was obviously a sermon I was meant to hear.

After Houston I drove up I45 to Grand Prairie … at one point on the drive there was a sign for a visitors center at the Sam Houston Statue. I thought for a minute to maybe stop at the visitors center to see the statue. I didn’t and soon figured out I didn’t need to – I could see him from about a mile away. The Sam Houston Statue is right along side I45 North standing at 67 feet tall. As they say, everything is bigger in Texas.

I traveled up to Grand Prairie for two reasons, one to see the Yankees play the Texas Rangers and two, to go to a service at The Potters House to see TD Jakes preach. My Yankee Fantasy Camp teammates Christine & Elaine were flying in from PA to meet me for the games. We stayed at a beautiful Airbnb in a great location. Definitely a different experience than NOLA. The Yankees played four games against the Texas Rangers that weekend. We went to three of the four. Unfortunately, the one we didn’t go to was the only one they won. It was a tough weekend for Yankee Fans – who were in full force in Texas. The only consolation with losing to the Texas Rangers is that they are in front of the Astros in the standings. (If you’re wondering why I keep saying “Texas Rangers” and not just the team name it’s because where I come from, Rangers play hockey!)

Christine & Elaine joined me that Sunday at The Potters House. Unfortunately, TD Jakes was not preaching that morning, his daughter Sarah Jakes Roberts is an associate pastor and she spoke in his absence. To say the service was an experience would be an understatement. I guess the best word I could use to describe it was theatrical. It wasn’t my cup of tea but I’d go back in the future to try and see TD Jakes in person.

On Monday we checked out of the Airbnb in Grand Prairie and I brought Christine & Elaine to the airport. From there I headed over to Plano to check in to the next Airbnb that I’d stay in until Saturday when I fly home for Yankee Baseball. The first thing I did was check the WiFi connection since I’d be working from home while there. I had read a review on the place that said they had a terrible time with the WiFi so before I booked the place I messaged the host to find out if it was fixed and they said it was working well and high speed. It’s even highlighted in the headline for the place. But guess what, the WiFi was pretty much non existent. Long story short … I contacted support, they gave me a refund, and I was able to go back to the house in Grand Prairie – it was only available until Thursday so I checked into a hotel for two nights before heading home.

So here we go again … I’m back on the road and I have a loose plan for the next six or so months. This year my travels will revolve around meeting up with friends in different places. I spend a lot of time on my own, and I’m comfortable with that (only child syndrome). I’ve met many wonderful people along the way while on my own, but it’s going to be nice to have roommates and go sightseeing with friends.