"The Rescue"

At the beginning of Feb, my little sister Becky, wanted to go on vac so bad but she had to wait until Sept. for her group home’s vac. I said “Becky, just rent a hotel somewhere and get away for the weekend. It should only cost about a hundred bucks” She became so happy and asked if I could help. At first I thought no way but then I started to think I should get away too. I needed a break from everything. I just got my income tax check back and thought why not. Me & Becky planned and made reservations for March 12, 13, 14 in New Jersey. For the next month that’s all I heard. On Wed the 10th, I helped Becky with her packing and the next day we went out and shopped for some food and stuff. Friday came and we left around 3pm. We got there around 6pm. We had dinner and I became sick for some reason. I wanted to go to Beth Israel for 8pm service but couldn’t. We got up at 7am and had breakfast. We got a paper and checked the movie listings. The only real movie theater was Lowes down in Wayne. Jersey roads can be backwards at times and they have a lot of one ways, not fun when you are just getting use to the area. Abba helped me with that. We had lots of fun. We were out until 8pm. I parked in the back of the hotel and was told I should move just in case the river overflows. The building grade was steep in the back. The grade had about a 10’ drop over 150’span. I parked in the front by the door. We got back to the hotel room and found out the power had gone out. The tv was down so was the wifi. Things started to feel uneasy to me. We had dinner. Becky started to feel sick and threw up. It was around 10:30pm. We should have just packed up and left. I figured maybe by morning she will be ok and we would go to Beth Israel for 11am service. She threw up 3 times during the night. I couldn’t fall asleep. People were up making lots of noise and I couldn’t understand why. I found out later people were being told to move their cars because of the river was over flowing. I finally fell asleep and woke up to the phone ringing. I was told I need to evacuate immediately. Becky was still sick. She put on her Capri pants. When she packed them I thought it was kinda cold for that but Abba knew she would need them. We grabbed our stuff and headed for the truck. I was stopped in the hall by one of the rescue workers and asked where I was going. I was wearing my FH utility jacket. I said “my truck” he asked where it was and I pointed and said "out front." He looked in my eyes and said "you need to leave right now." From one rescuer to another I knew it just wasn’t an evacuation anymore. People were still undressed and didn’t understand what was going on. The evacuation had become a rescue operation. I got out the door and stepped in 3” of water. I walked over to the back of the truck and it was about a foot deep. The water was very cold. I had pain in my legs and feet. We got in the truck and I told Becky to take off her wet shoes. I blasted the heat. I was wearing my nylon slacks that dry quick and running sneakers that acted just like water socks. I didn’t think of it at the time but Abba had guided us on what we wore. I backed thru the parking lot and turned around staying close to the pool fence to the front entrance. I knew the water was shallower there. I could see lots of cars already flooded from the river. I went to the front desk and handed in my card keys for accountability. I heard people crying and yelling about their cars. Being in Colonie, I’ve never really had anything that bad happen. As a rescuer, I had never been on the receiving end of things either. I jumped back in to my truck and headed to NJ-23. I tried to go north but was told it was flooded. I headed south and went to the gas station to fill up. I met another person who was at the hotel also. We talked about what was happening and he showed me the weather on his phone. I knew the only way out was west. I headed south on 202. I got to a junction and thought I had to go right. Abba turned me around and had me go up Main Street which was 202. I didn’t have a street level map. Abba showed me where to go. I got to 287 and headed north. We were blocked again and I had to get off and go to the next exit. I didn’t understand where to go. Abba told me to follow the plow w/ the white trailer. I followed and saw a NJ 17 sign. I had a no turn on red - red light and the trailer disappeared. There were at least 30 cars behind me following me to the next exit. I thought what if I mess up, what if I can’t get them to the next exit? The light turned green and I saw some of the cars going in the wrong direction. I stayed on path and saw the white trailer along with the next exit. I got back on relieved. I finally started to relax. I knew Abba had carried us out of there just like a firefighter out of a burning building. Strange feeling at that moment, Abba has helped me before, but this felt different like there's more of this to come and I need to be ready. After a couple of pit stops, we were home around 10am. We went thru our stuff and our clothes were soaked. The rest of the stuff was in bags and ok. I sit here and think todah Abba for your mercy. Times ahead are going to get tough. We need to be one with him and His will for our lives. This is only the beginning of birth pangs.